Any leg to stand on?

Bachelorplace

I recently remembered I had a pension with a firm. 
I call them and obviously asked about charges. The firm took out pension in 1990 - or rather purchased the pension from a different company.
The charges for trading inside the pension were not explained to me - I was a child - I was told by an old school friend it was like savings - the charges to the account were not explained. 
I have asked the firm for confirmation of charges, and also signed declaration that charges were explained. They did not supply this and rejected the complaint. 

dunstonh

The charges for trading inside the pension were not explained to me - I was a child - I was told by an old school friend it was like savings - the charges to the account were not explained. 

I assume you were not a child in 1990 as pensions for children were not possible until 2001.     Pensions in 1990 are very different to modern pensions in terms of disclosure and charging structure.  

I have asked the firm for confirmation of charges, and also signed declaration that charges were explained. They did not supply this and rejected the complaint. 

The disclosure in 1990 would have met the rules of 1990.   The pension provider knows exactly what was issued at the time as it was their documentation and it was the regulator that set the template for that.   So, a complaint would be rejected.

It is a bit of a strange complaint to make 30 years on.  What is your objective here?

IvanOpinion

I have been through this after I found out that a small pension I had, had pretty much been eaten up with charges.  I complained to the company, they rejected it.  I asked for it to be escalated so it went to the 'senior' complaints team, they rejected it but sent me some literature saying I could refer it to the ombudsman.  I looked up the URL and completed an online form referring it to the ombudsman for adjudication (quick and painless) and got a ruling in my favour, the pension firm rejected it.  It then got escalated to the ombudsman who also ruled in my favour 

The pension company finally paid out, but rather than accept that they were wrong and say sorry, the letter actually started 'We are sorry that you felt the need to refer this matter to the Ombudsman ...' ... cheeky gits.  I took the opportunity to remove other investments I had with them.

The main reason I won was, and try not to laugh, in a recorded phone call they told me that they could not give me any information about my pension due to data protection and that I should go to the trustees.  I asked them who the trustees were and they told me they could not tell me that either due to data protection.

So keep pushing.

Brynsam

IvanOpinion said:

The main reason I won was, and try not to laugh, in a recorded phone call they told me that they could not give me any information about my pension due to data protection and that I should go to the trustees.  I asked them who the trustees were and they told me they could not tell me that either due to data protection.

So keep pushing.

Big difference - you are talking about a trust-based occupational pension scheme if trustees are involved. OP was talking about a personal pension, set up under 1990 legislation, so completely different and not worth pushing.

Bachelorplace

Yes I got a shouty letter from them saying they were throwing my complaint out - so I may go to one of these claim things and see what they say - Largely because of the tone of their letter.