Courthaulds pension

Domingo1

Hi ,ive received a letter from Akzo Nobel who seem to have taken on the pension scheme  over from Sara Lee who had originally taken it over from Courthaulds in the 90s ,i worked for Courthaulds Textiles from1978 till 1988 and it seems that from the letter that i must of been enrolled in the pension scheme all them years ago ,the letter says im a member of Akzo Nobel and maybe missing out on some benefits its definitely geniune but was wondering if it was put in a pension pot could it have gained value throughout the years reason being i spoke to a old workmate who worked there at the same time and he got quite an handsome payout but he did a few more years service than me, just wondered if anyone else had received anything similar being and ex Courthaulds employee ,thank you 

xylophone

It is likely that Courtaulds offered a Defined Benefit pension scheme and that it was "contracted out" of SERPS.

You say that you worked for the company between 1978 - 88 - if you were a member of a contracted out scheme during that time then at the least you would have an entitlement to a Guaranteed Minimum Pension.

https://www.barnett-waddingham.co.uk/comment-insight/blog/revaluation-for-early-leavers/

https://techzone.abrdn.com/public/pensions/Tech-guide-guaranteed-min-pen#:~:text=Guaranteed minimum pension, commonly known,1978 and 5 April 1997.

When you left the company, were you given a statement of deferred benefits showing GMP/excess?

If you have not yet reached State Pension Age, have you  obtained a State Pension Forecast?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

It would certainly be worth your while to contact AN to check on any pension that may be due.

Domingo1

I have sent them my person fetails NI number etc just waiting for a reply Thank you 

Marcon

Domingo1 said:

Hi ,ive received a letter from Akzo Nobel who seem to have taken on the pension scheme  over from Sara Lee who had originally taken it over from Courthaulds in the 90s ,i worked for Courthaulds Textiles from1978 till 1988 and it seems that from the letter that i must of been enrolled in the pension scheme all them years ago ,the letter says im a member of Akzo Nobel and maybe missing out on some benefits its definitely geniune but was wondering if it was put in a pension pot could it have gained value throughout the years reason being i spoke to a old workmate who worked there at the same time and he got quite an handsome payout but he did a few more years service than me, just wondered if anyone else had received anything similar being and ex Courthaulds employee ,thank you 

Yes. Or it could have lost it. No point speculating now, but at least you should have some unexpected benefits from a scheme you didn't even know you'd joined! The pension won't have been frozen, but will have increased in value from the time you left in 1988 until it comes into payment, and could well have done better than if you'd stuck it into a private pension with hefty charges.

CookieMonster

Domingo1 said:

Hi ,ive received a letter from Akzo Nobel who seem to have taken on the pension scheme  over from Sara Lee who had originally taken it over from Courthaulds in the 90s ,i worked for Courthaulds Textiles from1978 till 1988 and it seems that from the letter that i must of been enrolled in the pension scheme all them years ago ,the letter says im a member of Akzo Nobel and maybe missing out on some benefits its definitely geniune but was wondering if it was put in a pension pot could it have gained value throughout the years reason being i spoke to a old workmate who worked there at the same time and he got quite an handsome payout but he did a few more years service than me, just wondered if anyone else had received anything similar being and ex Courthaulds employee ,thank you 

Hi.

I'm ex-Courtaulds Coatings; I worked for them in the late 80's/early 90's for a few years.

The pension was taken over by Akzo Nobel maybe 10-15 years ago, I can't quite remember.
I get an annual letter from them on the general situation with the scheme.

I was a lowly-paid minion at the time, with a minimum contribution: it will translate into £35 per week when I'm 60 (in 6½ yrs), as a Defined Benefits scheme.

It will have increased in value and - as above - you may have done okay with it.
Fingers crossed.

*Edited to add: Monies (reduced) accessible from 50, if I recall correctly...

CookieMonster

From a poor memory:

I recall that Akzo Nobel took over the pension directly from Courtaulds on the coatings side, and they did want me to move into another pension at that time (I'd already left my job by then) - it may have been a different style of pension that they wanted me to go to (defined contribution possibly) but I really can't remember. I will have the paperwork filed away 'though.

I declined to change it, I left it in the defined benefits scheme.

Domingo1 you might find that it was moved to a different style of pension by Sara Lee before Akzo took it on, best ot dig up all the old paperwork (including payslips) that you can. 

Domingo1

I havent any old payslips from then unfortunately but if i wasnt entitled to something im sure they wouldnt of got in contact with me ,thank you Cookie Monster

Domingo1

I got an email this morning saying that i was getting a £250 lump sum none contributed when im 65 as a good will gesture for working for Courthaulds in the past ,disappointed to say the least ,oh well back to the grindstone lol