Sorry if this has been asked before - confused over Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

grahamwild

I am due to retire in July, and my state pension statement shows at £171 per week, but it state I was contracted out for a couple of years and it shows a value of £24 per week.
is this in addition to the state pension and if so who pays this?  The firm, I worked worked  for has since long gone over 20 years ago, I spent many fruitless hours with the pension tracing services, and the contact they have given me, have  been unable to find my details or the said company.
Many thanks in advance

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You can ignore it as far as establishing the actual amount of pension you will be paid.

It will be £171/week State Pension plus whatever the contracted out pension is going to pay.  Which is highly unlikely to be exactly £24/week.

The firm, I worked worked  for has since long gone over 20 years ago, I spent many fruitless hours with the pension tracing services, and the contact they ave given me have and been able to find my details.

Do you mean have been unable to find any details?

grahamwild

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You can ignore it as far as establishing the actual amount of pension you will be paid.

It will be £171/week State Pension plus whatever the contracted out pension is going to pay.  Which is highly unlikely to be exactly £24/week.

The firm, I worked worked  for has since long gone over 20 years ago, I spent many fruitless hours with the pension tracing services, and the contact they ave given me have and been able to find my details.

Do you mean have been unable to find any details?

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You can ignore it as far as establishing the actual amount of pension you will be paid.

It will be £171/week State Pension plus whatever the contracted out pension is going to pay.  Which is highly unlikely to be exactly £24/week.

The firm, I worked worked  for has since long gone over 20 years ago, I spent many fruitless hours with the pension tracing services, and the contact they ave given me have and been able to find my details.

Do you mean have been unable to find any details?

Yes sorry, I meant unable.

grahamwild

So, sorry to be confused, do the government pay this in addition? 

molerat

grahamwild said:

So, sorry to be confused, do the government pay this in addition? 

No.  The COPE is purely there as an indication of what you may or may not receive from the pension you were contracted out into, the value of the portion of the reduced NI you did not pay to the state.  If that company / pension has truly disappeared without trace then DWP will not make up that missing pension.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

No, the probate pension scheme should pay it but that is obviously an issue for you at the moment.

Sounds like it might be too old for the Pension Protection Fund to help?

https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/company-pensions/what-is-the-pension-protection-fund-admh26q2fwxt

grahamwild

Thanks for the prompt replies and links, I think, I am on a NO winner, I can't recall getting any communications from the pension provider (I have lived at the same address  since, I left them)

xylophone

When exactly did you work for the company and for how long?
When you left the company, were you given a statement of deferred benefits?

grahamwild

xylophone said:

When exactly did you work for the company and for how long?
When you left the company, were you given a statement of deferred benefits?

appox 24 years ago, the company ceased trading appox in 2007. The company was A.E Edmunds Walker, who was taken over by a company called Finelist in  Feb 2000
I can't recall any statements.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

I suspect you may not see anything from this pension.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-56725-270

Dox

Were you a member of the pension scheme for at least two years (you may not have joined it at the same time as joining the company)? If not, it is highly likely you received a refund of any personal contributions at the time you left (employer contributions are never 'refunded' to the employee). If the scheme was non-contributory, you would not have received a refund because you didn't contribute anything in the first place. In this situation, the scheme would normally pay a contribution to the state to 'buy you back' into the state additional pension, but clearly this wasn't done here.

I'd be tempted to contact Mercer and ask what they can tell you, if anything. They are still at the address shown in the Gazette, referred to in the previous post: https://directory.birminghampost.co.uk/company/437945711742976

Before doing that, you might have a word with TPAS for some free help/guidance on what to say to them: https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk .  If you haven't moved, you may well have received communications and simply binned them - pension comms aren't the most exciting reading! - so worth asking a few questions, although I wouldn't get your hopes up.

If you get anywhere, please come back and tell us!