Tracking Lost Pension

se_yp

Hi All,

Trying to track down a a family members possible lost pension (we don't know whether one exists for sure or not).

Short of it is, my family member worked at a factory nearly 30 years ago. Company is dissolved and she's been retired for a few years now. She has spoken to 3 of her ex-work colleagues and all 3 of them have a pension with ReAssure. They all worked together in the same department etc.

Problem is, my family member has moved houses and therefore if there is a pension and they are trying to contact her by post, then the letters will not be received. I have tried contacting ReAssure over the phone a few times as have been told there is no record of my family member on their system (despite providing name, old address, DOB). 

I have also contacted the Data Protection Officer of the Phoenix Group (the parent company of ReAssure) and they cant find any info either. 

As mentioned, we don't know for sure if there is a pension or not, however it cant be coincidental that 3 of her ex colleagues have a pension with ReAssure but my family member doesn't. None of them can recall signing up to a pension all those years ago so it seems like their employer may have signed them up and made contributions on their behalf. Being so long ago, theres no payslips, contracts etc to refer back to now.

My question is, is there any other way to try track down this possible pension? I have tried the GOV.UK link, Gretel and Pensiontracingservice.com. The GOV link returns "Capita Life and Pensions" as the only provider however that postal address is no longer valid. I have called Capita and they cant find any record either. We have written a letter to Capita and are now awaiting a reply. 

While we wait on Capita, does anyone have any other suggestions on how to track this pension (that may or may not exist). Thank you

Marcon

se_yp said:

Hi All,

Trying to track down a a family members possible lost pension (we don't know whether one exists for sure or not).

Short of it is, my family member worked at a factory nearly 30 years ago. Company is dissolved and she's been retired for a few years now. She has spoken to 3 of her ex-work colleagues and all 3 of them have a pension with ReAssure. They all worked together in the same department etc.

Problem is, my family member has moved houses and therefore if there is a pension and they are trying to contact her by post, then the letters will not be received. I have tried contacting ReAssure over the phone a few times as have been told there is no record of my family member on their system (despite providing name, old address, DOB). 

I have also contacted the Data Protection Officer of the Phoenix Group (the parent company of ReAssure) and they cant find any info either. 

As mentioned, we don't know for sure if there is a pension or not, however it cant be coincidental that 3 of her ex colleagues have a pension with ReAssure but my family member doesn't. None of them can recall signing up to a pension all those years ago so it seems like their employer may have signed them up and made contributions on their behalf. Being so long ago, theres no payslips, contracts etc to refer back to now.

My question is, is there any other way to try track down this possible pension? I have tried the GOV.UK link, Gretel and Pensiontracingservice.com. The GOV link returns "Capita Life and Pensions" as the only provider however that postal address is no longer valid. I have called Capita and they cant find any record either. We have written a letter to Capita and are now awaiting a reply. 

While we wait on Capita, does anyone have any other suggestions on how to track this pension (that may or may not exist). Thank you

Can she be more precise about the dates of her employment? Also the name of her former employer might ring bells with someone here - no reason not to give it.

Has she reached state pension age? If so, any idea if there was a deduction for a period when she was contracted out of SERPS? If she hasn't got to SPA, a state pension forecast would clarify that point: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Also worth asking for this, although if the employer's pension scheme wasn't 'contracted out' it isn't likely to help  - but worth a go in case:

  https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/DPU_SAR_NI?_ga=2.230026460.1544670040.1621021753-1315656139.1609178084

se_yp said:

As mentioned, we don't know for sure if there is a pension or not, however it cant be coincidental that 3 of her ex colleagues have a pension with ReAssure but my family member doesn't. None of them can recall signing up to a pension all those years ago so it seems like their employer may have signed them up and made contributions on their behalf. Being so long ago, theres no payslips, contracts etc to refer back to now.

In 1988, it became possible to opt out of an employer's pension scheme (until then scheme membership could be a condition of employment). Is it possible she opted out to save paying her contributions, whereas her colleagues didn't opt out?

Could she have transferred the pension to another provider when she left employment with the factory? It's far easier to overlook than you might imagine, especially if it was some years ago.

Brie

Marcon said:

In 1988, it became possible to opt out of an employer's pension scheme (until then scheme membership could be a condition of employment). Is it possible she opted out to save paying her contributions, whereas her colleagues didn't opt out?

If she did opt out of her employer's scheme for a private pension then she should track down that company and ask for a pension review.  These were done in the late 90s but there were lots of people that couldn't be found so never got properly reviewed.  Or refused to be reviewed because they thought the private pension company was trying to sell them something. 

But what these companies should do is put people back into the situation they were in prior to them opting out to get a private pension.  So potentially Reassure will have no info as she opted out but the private pension company will have info instead.  She may need to get supporting evidence from her friends to confirm dates she was employed etc.  

se_yp

Thank you all. I will look into your comments further.

Employer is M.A. STEINHARD LIMITED - Company number 00832177. They no longer exist.

Marcon

Brie said:

Marcon said:

In 1988, it became possible to opt out of an employer's pension scheme (until then scheme membership could be a condition of employment). Is it possible she opted out to save paying her contributions, whereas her colleagues didn't opt out?

If she did opt out of her employer's scheme for a private pension then she should track down that company and ask for a pension review.  These were done in the late 90s but there were lots of people that couldn't be found so never got properly reviewed.  Or refused to be reviewed because they thought the private pension company was trying to sell them something. 

But what these companies should do is put people back into the situation they were in prior to them opting out to get a private pension.  So potentially Reassure will have no info as she opted out but the private pension company will have info instead.  She may need to get supporting evidence from her friends to confirm dates she was employed etc.  

She might simply have opted out, full stop. People did - even when company schemes were non-contributory! 

If she opted out in favour of a 'rebate only' scheme (where part of her NI contribution was rebated to a personal pension), that would show up on the Subject Access Request.

Marcon

se_yp said:

Thank you all. I will look into your comments further.

Employer is M.A. STEINHARD LIMITED - Company number 00832177. They no longer exist.

Looking at the date of the company's liquidation, knowing the length of her employment and the particular years during which she worked for them could save a lot of effort. Also - was she part time or full time?

xylophone

OP might find this of interest.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-13296671/How-track-long-lost-pension-STEVE-WEBB-tips.html

Note  Steve Webb's recommendation in respect of former colleagues.

The OP's relative has done this.

She has spoken to 3 of her ex-work colleagues and all 3 of them have a pension with ReAssure. They all worked together in the same department etc.