Delay with pension lump sum payment

lindos90

My husband took early retirement starting 1st Sept this year. The information he was given from his pension provider (teachers Pensions) prior to this was that he would receive his lump sum on the first day of his retirement. 

The lump sum didn't arrive and since then he has called several times to ask why it's delayed, and when it's likely to arrive. Each time been given contradicting information and empty promises.

Throughout this time he has not been contacted at all by his pension provider by letter/email to offer an explanation, apology or expected payment date.

It's now well over a month since he retired and still no sign of the lump sum. We have therefore lost a fairly significant amount of interest at this point too.

We are in limbo as calling yet again is unlikely to make progress, he's been told that he can't use their complaints procedure for a delay in the payment, therefore we can't consider the pensions ombudsman as they require us to have gone through the company complaints procedure first.

Does anyone have any advice about what we should do next? 
Is it normal/acceptable to have to wait this long for a lump sum payment? 

Marcon

lindos90 said:

My husband took early retirement starting 1st Sept this year. The information he was given from his pension provider (teachers Pensions) prior to this was that he would receive his lump sum on the first day of his retirement. 

The lump sum didn't arrive and since then he has called several times to ask why it's delayed, and when it's likely to arrive. Each time been given contradicting information and empty promises.

Throughout this time he has not been contacted at all by his pension provider by letter/email to offer an explanation, apology or expected payment date.

It's now well over a month since he retired and still no sign of the lump sum. We have therefore lost a fairly significant amount of interest at this point too.

We are in limbo as calling yet again is unlikely to make progress, he's been told that he can't use their complaints procedure for a delay in the payment, therefore we can't consider the pensions ombudsman as they require us to have gone through the company complaints procedure first.

Does anyone have any advice about what we should do next? 
Is it normal/acceptable to have to wait this long for a lump sum payment? 

If he was working until immediately prior to his early retirement, and his last salary payment was for the August holiday period, then there was never any realistic prospect of getting his lump sum to him for 1 September. Has he checked with his last employer if they've provided the necessary information to his pension provider? 

If that doesn't generate the necessary action, then there is nothing to stop him using the complaints procedure - but bear in mind it can be a drawn out process and may in truth only serve to spin things out even further while someone deals with the complaint. I know a month feels like a long time, but I'm afraid it is pretty much par for the course. As for the PO - it's likely to be months before the case is even allocated to someone to review.

lindos90

Thanks Macron. I think our expectations were made based on the information his PP gave. If they had said 'within so many weeks' rather than 'on the first day of your returement' then we perhaps wouldn't have been expecting it sooner. 
In comparison, my husband's colleagues who retired at the same time as him, all got their lump sum on the 1st sept. I have a local gov scheme and also took early retirement, I also received my lump sum on the first day of my retirement, again I guess that made us think there was something not right about his being 'delayed'.

He has received his monthly pension, so we know he's given the correct bank account details, and his previous employer must have done what they needed to do for this to have gone through.

xylophone

If he was working until immediately prior to his early retirement, and his last salary payment was for the August holiday period, then there was never any realistic prospect of getting his lump sum to him for 1 September. 

Why ever not, particularly as

In comparison, my husband's colleagues who retired at the same time as him, all got their lump sum on the 1st sept. 

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/members/faqs/once-retired/payments.aspx#:~:text=Your lump sum will normally,be paid on the 17th.

If you take Early Retirement (AAB) and make the application while in pensionable service, you’ll receive your lump sum on the day following your last day of pensionable employment. If you’re out of pensionable service at the point of making your application, you can pick your own payable date providing that it’s no earlier than 6 weeks after the date of making your application and you remain out of pensionable employment until after this date.

he's been told that he can't use their complaints procedure for a delay in the payment, 

Because?

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/public/contact-us/member-complaints-and-appeals.aspx

lindos90

he's been told that he can't use their complaints procedure for a delay in the payment, 

Because?

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/public/contact-us/member-complaints-and-appeals.aspx

Because he discussed it during one of his phone calls, and was advised that their complaints procedure did not cover complaints about late payments, it was only for things like claiming the pension was miscalculated etc. I'm beginning to think that was probably misinformation tbh. Your quote about lump sum payment date is  what we have seen, it also said the only time there is a delay is when the first day of retirement falls on a weekend, then it is paid on the following Monday. There's nothing that states there's a window for payment any longer than that. 

tacpot12

lindos90 said:

he's been told that he can't use their complaints procedure for a delay in the payment, 

Because?

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/public/contact-us/member-complaints-and-appeals.aspx

Because he discussed it during one of his phone calls, and was advised that their complaints procedure did not cover complaints about late payments, it was only for things like claiming the pension was miscalculated etc. I'm beginning to think that was probably misinformation tbh. Your quote about lump sum payment date is  what we have seen, it also said the only time there is a delay is when the first day of retirement falls on a weekend, then it is paid on the following Monday. There's nothing that states there's a window for payment any longer than that. 

This advice is wrong. Of course he can, and should, complain about the delay. His complaint should ask the TPS to pay interest on the lump sum. 8% + the BoE Base Rate (per year) is the rate for Commercial Debts, and while this isn't a commercial debt, the formula provides some basis for compensating your husband for the worry and time spent chasing this, plus the indignity of being fobbed of with iincorrect information about the complaints procedure. 

Currently the BoE base rate is 5.25%, so 13.25% per year or 0.0459% per day. 

squirrelpie

I've read posts in other threads where people suggest first telling the provider that you will make a complaint in a few days unless the problem is resolved. In some cases that can prompt them to resolve it to avoid the additional workload generated by a complaint, I understand.

MankyVegSoup

My deferred LGPS pension was paid late - both the monthly amount and the lump sum. Luckily I wasn't relying on it. However, interest was added automatically. Of course you can complain - and definitely make sure interest is added.

lindos90

Thanks for all the replies, with the majority supporting the complaints route. I've let my other half know, he thanks everyone for their help too!
Its been suggested by a couple of people that a complaint at this point could actually cause the payment to be held up even more while the complaint is investigated, so my other half is thinking of starting off a letter but not sending it until after the lump sum is paid, and if they have not added on a reasonable amount of interest automatically he will then send the complaint it straight away.
I'm wondering if it would be better to complain before getting the money, as it would be complaining about the delay and asking for it to be paid with urgency, rather than complaining retrospectively afterwards?

xylophone

The lump sum didn't arrive and since then he has called several times to ask why it's delayed, and when it's likely to arrive. Each time been given contradicting information and empty promises.

We are in limbo as calling yet again is unlikely to make progress,

Thinking about it, this all seems rather odd.

I am assuming that your husband received a letter prior to his retirement confirming the details of pension amount and payment schedule and confirmation of the PCLS due and date of payment.

You have stated that his monthly pension  has been received in the amount and on the date expected.

The question "Why has the lump sum payment of £x,000 expected on 1/09/23 not been made"? is a very simple one.

What exactly has your husband been told? 

lindos90

xylophone said:

The lump sum didn't arrive and since then he has called several times to ask why it's delayed, and when it's likely to arrive. Each time been given contradicting information and empty promises.

We are in limbo as calling yet again is unlikely to make progress,

Thinking about it, this all seems rather odd.

I am assuming that your husband received a letter prior to his retirement confirming the details of pension amount and payment schedule and confirmation of the PCLS due and date of payment.

You have stated that his monthly pension  has been received in the amount and on the date expected.

The question "Why has the lump sum payment of £x,000 expected on 1/09/23 not been made"? is a very simple one.

What exactly has your husband been told? 

You would think its a very easy question to ask them wouldn't you, but not so easy to get a response!

The first person he spoke to said for some reason the lump sum payment had not been authorised when it should have been, but there was no reason on file for any delay (the department who deals with that could not be contacted directly by my OH, so the person he spoke to was going to send a message to that department asking for a reason, and asking for it to be authorised asap.

The second person said there wasn't a delay particularly, and some teachers had to wait 'several' weeks for the lump sum and that was acceptable. She was the one that said 'later payment of the lump sum' was not something he could complain about, it was just a matter of waiting! She also insisted that he would not be paid any 'missed interest' due to the delay. She also could give no explanation as to why it had not been paid.

The third person at least agreed that it should have been paid on 1st Sept, and understood why he was getting frustrated. She too said she could not see any notes on file to say why there was a delay, all she could do was agree with OH that it was a very long time, and that there had been no communication from them either with an update or apology.

So, every person he has spoken too has been asked why there is a delay, and when it will be paid by, but none of them have been able to give him an answer!

No he didn't get a posted letter about this figures, its all done through the members portal on the teachers pension website, all the documents with the figures on (for the agreed lump sum and monthly payment) are all on there. Thats not out of the ordinary, my local government pension has done everything through the 'mypension' portal on their website.

The payment dates are all in the general information/guidance about payment thats partly been linked by someone above. The lump sum is paid on the first day of retirement (unless that falls on a weekend when it is then paid on the first working day of the following week). The monthly payment is paid retrospectively, and on the day prior to your date of birth each month (so if your birthday was 4th February, you would be paid monthly on the 3rd of each month (unless that falls on a  weekend, when it is paid on the friday before). Yes he has now received two payments an initial one for a few days, and then a full months payment the following month.