ATOS pension

Cluelessidiot

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can help. My late father had been in receipt of a pension administered by ATOS. My mother notified ATOS of his death and they subsequently asked for his death certificate and various documents - which she duly submitted. ATOS then immediately stopped the payments and asked her to repay what she had been 'overpaid' (which she did). It's now been a month since we've had any word from them and nobody answers the telephone. All communication seems to be done by letter which is both deeply impersonal and incredibly onerous. There hasn't been any confirmation of what my mother is entitled to and when she might expect to receive anything. Has any any had any experience with ATOS in this context? I'm getting quite stressed about it all.

mgdavid

there are a multitude of Atos pension schemes, as they expanded by M&A over the last 30 years and took on the staff and existing schemes from those acquisitions. On the presumption that you have a lack of paper records from his employment / retirement, you'd need to establish exactly which scheme your late father was a member of, and then either find a copy of the scheme rules on the net, or phone the administrators and ask for a copy in order to establish what widow's pension your mother is entitled to, if any. Are you sure that Atos administer their own schemes, as when I worked for them prior to 2014 I was in a stakeholder managed by Aegon. They had closed almost all of the DB pensions some years earlier I believe.

Marcon

Cluelessidiot said:

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone can help. My late father had been in receipt of a pension administered by ATOS. My mother notified ATOS of his death and they subsequently asked for his death certificate and various documents - which she duly submitted. ATOS then immediately stopped the payments and asked her to repay what she had been 'overpaid' (which she did). It's now been a month since we've had any word from them and nobody answers the telephone. All communication seems to be done by letter which is both deeply impersonal and incredibly onerous. There hasn't been any confirmation of what my mother is entitled to and when she might expect to receive anything. Has any any had any experience with ATOS in this context? I'm getting quite stressed about it all.

Horrid for your mother and for you trying to help her. Are you able to give any more information about the pension scheme your father was in - the exact name, perhaps?

xylophone

ATOS then immediately stopped the payments and asked her to repay what she had been 'overpaid' (which she did). 

What your late father had been overpaid? This would likely have been on the basis that the pension had been paid in advance.

Was he a member of the ATOS Scheme pre 2008 when it was of the Defined Benefit type?

If so, it is probable that your mother is due a widow's pension.

How old was your father when he died and how old is your mother?

Have you looked into the State Pension situation?

Cluelessidiot

xylophone said:

ATOS then immediately stopped the payments and asked her to repay what she had been 'overpaid' (which she did). 

What your late father had been overpaid? This would likely have been on the basis that the pension had been paid in advance.

Was he a member of the ATOS Scheme pre 2008 when it was of the Defined Benefit type?

If so, it is probable that your mother is due a widow's pension.

How old was your father when he died and how old is your mother?

Have you looked into the State Pension situation?

Yes, what my *late father* had been overpaid. Thanks for pulling me up on that. 

I'll just await further communication from ATOS, I'm assuming we've got the right department if they've managed to stop (my Dad's!) payments so perhaps it's just a matter of time.

Thanks all.