Help mis sold pension

Keljayne21

This month i received a Zurich personal pension plan yearly statement and realised I had no idea what this policy was.

I think this is something to do with my first ever employment many years
ago.when I'd just turned 18(back in the 90's).

I remember being told I had to pay into a pension as part of my employment
as there would be no government pension scheme by the time I got to
retirement age.
I don't know any of the details of this policy and hold no paperwork or
legal documents in regards to it.
I was young and financially naive and my mother had died of a long term
illness.

I think any payments I made into this policy must have gone directly out of
my wages and I'm pretty sure I never paid any more into it after I left
that place of employment.

Therefore I believe that this policy was mis sold to me and I would like to
request an end to that policy and my money back.

I spoke to Zurich this morning and they agree that my policy was mis sold to me but say they can't end the policy until I'm 55 (12years time) even though it was a policy that I didn't understand or want when it was sold to me.
Is there anything I can do??

eskbanker

Keljayne21 wrote: »

I think any payments I made into this policy must have gone directly out of my wages and I'm pretty sure I never paid any more into it after I left that place of employment.

Therefore I believe that this policy was mis sold to me

I don't follow that logic - neither of those would signify mis-selling.

Being told you had to have a personal pension because there wouldn't be a state scheme would have been fake news but specifically who told you that (it wouldn't have been Zurich)?

Having a personal pension that will provide you with funds in 12 years time is no bad thing, so it isn't immediately obvious that any mis-selling would actually have disadvantaged you - what does the statement indicate about current (and projected) value versus total contributions thus far?

SonOf

I spoke to Zurich this morning and they agree that my policy was mis sold to me but say they can't end the policy until I'm 55 (12years time) even though it was a policy that I didn't understand or want when it was sold to me.

And when Zurich admitted it was missold, what did they say they would do?

[Deleted User]

Paying into your company’s pension scheme would have been the right thing to do. You didn’t understand what you were doing, but you ought to thank whoever told you to join company pension. Do you know how much was contributed by the company? Do you appreciate tax advantages?

You won’t be allowed to withdraw until 55, but if you were, it does not sound like it would be a good thing. You can probably move the money to another scheme or fund - that’s all you can do.

JoeCrystal

Keljayne21 wrote: »

I think this is something to do with my first ever employment many years ago.when I'd just turned 18(back in the 90's).

I remember being told I had to pay into a pension as part of my employment
as there would be no government pension scheme by the time I got to
retirement age.

Frankly, I am pleased that your employer was looking out for you at the time. Joining the company pension was a good thing and still is.

Dox

Keljayne21 wrote: »

This month i received a Zurich personal pension plan yearly statement and realised I had no idea what this policy was. So you've been receiving statements every year since the 1990s and you've only now stopped to wonder what they might be...

I think this is something to do with my first ever employment many years
ago.when I'd just turned 18(back in the 90's). Policy should give a start date, so easy enough to check

I remember being told I had to pay into a pension as part of my employment
as there would be no government pension scheme by the time I got to
retirement age. You couldn't be compelled to contribute - mandatory membership of company pension schemes ended in April 1988, so you must have chosen to do so
I don't know any of the details of this policy and hold no paperwork or
legal documents in regards to it.
I was young and financially naive and my mother had died of a long term
illness. Then be grateful that you contributed to a pension scheme so early in life, even if you didn't have a clue what you were doing

I think any payments I made into this policy must have gone directly out of
my wages and I'm pretty sure I never paid any more into it after I left
that place of employment. If it really was a company scheme, you could not have continued to contribute once you left.

Therefore I believe that this policy was mis sold to me and I would like to
request an end to that policy and my money back. Missold by whom? It was perfectly lawful for companies to encourage employees to join pension schemes and you haven't been disadvantaged by doing so - quite the reverse, in fact

I spoke to Zurich this morning and they agree that my policy was mis sold to me but say they can't end the policy until I'm 55 (12years time) even though it was a policy that I didn't understand or want when it was sold to me. It wasn't 'sold' to you, so misselling can't apply.
Is there anything I can do?? Yes. Recognise that contributing was a good thing!

From the timing of your membership, it sounds as if this might have been a policy which was used purely to contract out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme. Zurich will be able to confirm.

Aylesbury_Duck

Frankly you should be grateful that you were persuaded to pay into a pension. From what you've written, I think you have an awful lot of reading to do before you start thinking about getting on the compo train.

atush

your pension wasnt missold- it got TR and probably employers contributions too. We call this free money. And has grown over the years.

You should be happy to have found it. Are you paying into a pension now?

Brynsam

Keljayne21 wrote: »

Therefore I believe that this policy was mis sold to me and I would like to
request an end to that policy and my money back.

I spoke to Zurich this morning and they agree that my policy was mis sold to me but say they can't end the policy until I'm 55 (12years time) even though it was a policy that I didn't understand or want when it was sold to me.
Is there anything I can do??

Always assuming you can show this policy was indeed missold, Zurich can't - as they have pointed out - just end the policy and hand back the cash. That isn't how misselling is dealt with. Any compensation would reflect the financial loss you can show you have suffered by taking out this pension - and it isn't obvious that you have suffered any such loss, given the pension pot is there for you.

What loss do you believe you've suffered, in hard cash terms, particularly if this is (as someone else has suggested) a policy set up purely to contract out of SERPS? The pension will have been funded by part of your NI contributions being redirected to the policy rather than building up extra SERPS, so you won't even have had any deductions from your pay.

Davy_Jones_II

Nothing that you have written suggests mid-selling.

What loss do you think that you have suffered?

Keljayne21

They said it was mis sold but said there is nothing they can do!