Private pension company reclaiming overpayment from a settled estate

sukeyboo

Looking for some advice please?

My FIL passed away in May 2020, probate was granted and his estate was settled and monies distributed in February 2021 (this was all done through a solicitor). We have now received a letter from the solicitor saying that my FIL’s private pension company (PIC) are seeking to reclaim an overpayment and as beneficiaries we have to repay this. The pension company were notified at the time of death and long before probate was granted - are they able to still claim this overpayment back now after all this time?

I would be most grateful for any information whether it be good or bad. 

Many thanks

Thrugelmir

Your solicitor unsurprisingly is correct. Is the amount sizable? 

sukeyboo

@Thrugelmir - not really - it is a few hundred pounds but I didn’t want to just pay it without knowing if I was legally obliged too

Brie

I've always understood that pension schemes are different to other financial arrangements (like bank accounts or credit cards) in that when something went wrong you can't get compensated for their error.  A bank which overpaid you (for whatever reason) could be convinced a relatively small amount should just be written off as a good will gesture as the only one that suffers in that situation is the bank itself and it's shareholders.  A pension scheme on the other hand must be fair to all it's pensioners and compensation would disadvantage the others.  In that sense overpayments need to be paid back.  

From a practical point of view your solicitor should know the law and whether this is correct that a repayment is required.

Malthusian

A pension scheme on the other hand must be fair to all it's pensioners and compensation would disadvantage the others.

Not necessarily. If it's not a large amount the scheme administrators can pay it out of their fees without disadvantaging any of the members.

For a few hundred quid I would be inclined to make a formal complaint to PIC that it is unreasonable to expect the money to be repaid two years after the member died when it was PIC's own error and failure to notify the estate's representatives in a reasonable timescale. PIC should have requested the repayment when they replied to acknowledge the death certificate and confirm payments had been stopped.

Complaints are free and at the very least I would expect a deduction from the sum owed as compensation for distress and inconvenience, multiplied by the number of residual beneficiaries.

sukeyboo

@Malthusian - thanks for your reply - I will make a complaint as you suggest - it is definitely worth a try.

getmore4less

Executors have a responsibility to make the correct enquiries and get final balances.

A known pension would fall into the due diligence category.

Executor/Solicitors are probably at fault/negligent completing the estate with out a final from the pension.

Thats assuming the solicitors were aware of the pension when they got involved.

This should have been obvious to the executor/beneficiary from the inventory and account.