The Government and Pension Protection fund are keeping 43 years of my fathers pension investment.

xylophone

He passed away at 62, 2 years into his pension, he had a death benefit on his pension, but the PPF wont pay it out.

Did the original Scheme have a guarantee that if a pension had been in payment for less than five (?) years, there would be a lump sum payment  of the amount that would have been paid between the date of death and the end of the five year period?

If so, was this a payment only to a dependant or to the estate of the deceased?  

Dox

Lisa2108 said:

yes i am aware of the rules, my father had a death benefit, im not trying to get compensation, wonder if it was your 43 years investment down the drain, you would think it was pretty standard?  what is the point in paying into a pension?

Compensation is the term given to funds paid out by the PPF, even though most people call them/think of them as 'pensions'.

The death benefit in a private DB pension scheme is typically the balance of five years of pension where the member dies within five years of retiring and starting to receive their benefits. If you had a much bigger amount in mind, you may be thinking of death in service - typically a multiple of salary, but that would have ceased when your father left the company's service. The PPF does not pay either of these.

The point in paying into a pension is to provide the pension scheme member, and their spouse if they have one, with a pension for life. That's what has happened here. I have great sympathy for your distress, but railing against the type of pension your father had won't change the fact it has been correctly administered now the scheme is in the PPF.

The government is not keeping the money - the PPF is funded by levies on defined benefit schemes and by the 'cross subsidies' described above where some members of the PPF die earlier than expected.

dunstonh

Sorry for your loss.

I am looking for people who have had and experience dealing with the pension protection fund, they have frozen my fathers pension benefits and now are expecting to keep over 43 years of his investment to themselves because he was not married and did not have children under the age of 21 in full time education.

That is correct.  The type of pension your father had was not linked to investments.    Those types are passed onto beneficiaries.   He had a final salary/defined benefit scheme.   There are no investments with those.     You pay a contribution (or often no contribution many years ago as the employer paid it all) and in return you get a series of defined benefits.  Such as pension for you and spouse for life.  When both are dead, it ends unless there are children under the age of 21 in full time education.

It is quite possible your father never made any contributions to the pension for most of the period.

My father worked for the same company all his life from the age of 19 until he was made redundant 43 years later.
He passed away at 62, 2 years into his pension, he had a death benefit on his pension, but the PPF wont pay it out.
Iv pleaded with the Government and the PPF to advise this cant be right, but they are not interested and are leaving the blame with each other.

I'm not sure whether you are interpreting what they are saying incorrectly or they are explaining it poorly. There is no blame to be apportioned.   The scheme rules are clear and the Government and PPF cannot and will not make an exception.

Im ready to take legal action against them but would be good to know of anyone else who has had any bad experiences dealing with them.

That would be expensive and you would lose.   Hopefully, a solicitor would stop you before you incur costs.

it is your lack of understanding that is the issue here. Not a legal one.

snowqueen555

I'm guessing there is no form of death grant, as a lot of the current ones have that?

[Deleted User]

Lisa2108 said:

yes i am aware of the rules, my father had a death benefit, im not trying to get compensation, wonder if it was your 43 years investment down the drain, you would think it was pretty standard?  what is the point in paying into a pension?

Like all investments a pension is a gamble, some people retire and live for another 30 years claiming their pension, others retire and die the day after, personally i've cashed all my DC pensions in just before lockdown so i can enjoy the £ while i'm able.

Dox

xylophone said:

He passed away at 62, 2 years into his pension, he had a death benefit on his pension, but the PPF wont pay it out.

Did the original Scheme have a guarantee that if a pension had been in payment for less than five (?) years, there would be a lump sum payment  of the amount that would have been paid between the date of death and the end of the five year period?

If so, was this a payment only to a dependant or to the estate of the deceased?  

The PPF doesn't have any such guarantee, regardless of the rules of the original scheme. 

Dox

snowqueen555 said:

I'm guessing there is no form of death grant, as a lot of the current ones have that?

Look at the PPF website and you'll get your answer: no.

Brynsam

Lisa2108 said:

yes i am aware of the rules, my father had a death benefit, im not trying to get compensation, wonder if it was your 43 years investment down the drain, you would think it was pretty standard?  what is the point in paying into a pension?

Losing your father when he was so young must have been a horrible shock for you. My sympathies.

I wonder if your father took a tax free lump sum at the time he retired? If so, and he also had two years of payments from the PPF, it is highly likely that any contributions he made would have been more than covered by the amounts involved. I appreciate that's only a tiny crumb of comfort, but it's the best I can offer at this miserable time for you.

Brynsam

xylophone said:

He passed away at 62, 2 years into his pension, he had a death benefit on his pension, but the PPF wont pay it out.

Did the original Scheme have a guarantee that if a pension had been in payment for less than five (?) years, there would be a lump sum payment  of the amount that would have been paid between the date of death and the end of the five year period?

If so, was this a payment only to a dependant or to the estate of the deceased?  

Such payments are almost invariably at the discretion of the trustees and can normally be to pretty much anyone the member nominated, or if there is no valid nomination form, to anyone the trustees may reasonably describe, provided the rules of the scheme permit this. 

The PPF doesn't offer anything similar, not least because there is no certainty that any particular person would have received the guarantee payment.  They offer compensation (i.e. a pension) where the rules of the original scheme provided survivors' benefits. See https://www.ppfmembers.org.uk/~/media/Files/COMPWeb_0315.ashx for full information.

cfw1994

Lisa2108 said:

yes i am aware of the rules, my father had a death benefit, im not trying to get compensation, wonder if it was your 43 years investment down the drain, you would think it was pretty standard?  what is the point in paying into a pension?

As others have said, I echo the sentiments of sadness at losing your father at a relatively young age.

On your last line above: the point of a pension is to have some funding for you (& partner if around) once you stop work. Your father did enjoy that, albeit for a much too short time, sadly.  

The point is unfortunately not to provide an inheritance to children, although with Defined Contribution style pensions, that can be part of it.

Again, sorry for your loss, but please do not waste money on chasing legal help, or at least, not beyond a free meeting with a solicitor to confirm what you have read here.