My pension lump sum was paid out but not to me

MallyGirl

There are regular threads on here where pension companies are trying to reclaim payout mistakes 

artyboy

MallyGirl said:

There are regular threads on here where pension companies are trying to reclaim payout mistakes 

I hear you, but my point was a technical one - not commenting on the rights and wrongs of it, there is normally a 6 year period to instigate court action to pursue a debt. 

Tommyjw

I'm not a lawyer but i know S32 of the limitations act does allo,w in my understanding and very basic terms, the period to instead start when it was discovered if there was fraud involved and the person had conceled certain information.

Would likely be down to the individual facts of the wrong person claiming the money whether this may apply or not, and likely would be a costly court case for the Pension Scheme who may just decide to eat the cost instead.

eastcorkram

artyboy said:

MallyGirl said:

There are regular threads on here where pension companies are trying to reclaim payout mistakes 

I hear you, but my point was a technical one - not commenting on the rights and wrongs of it, there is normally a 6 year period to instigate court action to pursue a debt. 

There is a current thread on here about the TPS trying to reclaim overpayment from 8 years ago I think. 

artyboy

eastcorkram said:

artyboy said:

MallyGirl said:

There are regular threads on here where pension companies are trying to reclaim payout mistakes 

I hear you, but my point was a technical one - not commenting on the rights and wrongs of it, there is normally a 6 year period to instigate court action to pursue a debt. 

There is a current thread on here about the TPS trying to reclaim overpayment from 8 years ago I think. 

I guess if they are still paying a pension to the member concerned, it does make it easier just to take it back that way... quite interested in the legalities of this, I think I recall the thread and I'm very much in the camp that if the administrator makes a boo-boo on a complex calculation that the member couldn't reasonably be expected to spot, the administrator should suck it up. After all, you'd expect there to be professional insurance for these things.

But I think we risk this one going OT!

susssy

so update is they are saying they will re instate the pension however it cannot be cashed in as it is a pre 1988 pension.  they located the person they paid the lump sum to via name DOB but did not check NI number.  That person did fill in documentation to claim the lump sum back then and they have said they are terying to recover the funds from her.  I have asked to log a complaint as I still think I should be given the oppurtunity for a lump sum as this is due to their error but they dont seem concerned 

Flugelhorn

susssy said:

so update is they are saying they will re instate the pension however it cannot be cashed in as it is a pre 1988 pension.  they located the person they paid the lump sum to via name DOB but did not check NI number.  That person did fill in documentation to claim the lump sum back then and they have said they are terying to recover the funds from her.  I have asked to log a complaint as I still think I should be given the oppurtunity for a lump sum as this is due to their error but they dont seem concerned 

guess you could have been on the other end of the error if you had applied at the time, been given the lump sum and then they discovered that they couldn't do that and you had to pay it back in exchange for a regular pension. TBH most people would really struggle to pay back a lump sum, they often get spent fairly promptly

Tommyjw

If your pension is all pre 1988 GMP and you can't take cash, I'm a bit confused why this person earlier could have , the same rules still applied . I'd be insistent on very clear information as to what lump sum they took, why ( e.g commuted benefits for it) and why that is now not possible 

BikingBud

Why should the OP care if the other party has to or even does pay back what was erroneously paid? They have no beef against that party. That's for the pension provider to sort.

The only part that the OP needs, and should therefore be interested in, is payment of their dues.

There might be some discussion about retrospective payment to ensure the OP is put in the position they would have been before the error but that should be completely independent of the return of the funds.

susssy

I have now recieved log in details to access the pension and they have basically said this is now re instated end of so I have logged a complaint and they will get back to me in due course they said this was a winding up case and that is why i have missed the boat on the lump sum