Missing NHS pension.from the year 2000.

Marcon

Mr.Snowman said:

So this is an update. Any adice would be very welcome.

I contacted the hospital directly and they put me through to the division that now deals with the NHS pension. Anyway, I gave them all the details, NHS number, NI number, dates, and hospital. They said they have no records, because it was such a long time ago. So that was a dead end. They recommended i contact personel at the hospital.
So i called personnel, ( no letters this time as I never got a reply). I gave them the same info. NHS Number, NI number and dates i was employed there and I also sent them a pay slip confirming my Superannuation payments, and a copy from the tax office of my employment dates. 
They checked their system and they said. They don't have me on the system, and they would need to pass this up to management.
It has now been a few weeks, and they have not even replied. Except from the initial contact confirming my initial query.

I have contacted them again via  email, with the payslip, and dates confirming my employment dates.

So now I am wondering what should be my next step.

 If they say a pay slip showing deduction isn't proof, what should i do? Any suggestions?
 To honest, I'm not sure how your supposed to prove something, if I didn't work in accounts and the only proof I ever had was my pay statement. 
If the hospital says they don't have me on the system, should they explain why deductions were taken? Where did the money go as per the payslip.

Should i take this to the pension ombudsman?

Once again. Thank you for your advice.

What did you get in response to the SAR I suggested on 16 May? Did you actually make the request, which is the only way you're likely to get definitive proof which the scheme won't be able to ignore? A payslip isn't going to help prove you had sufficient scheme membership (at least two years) to qualify for a deferred pension, rather than just a refund of your own contributions.

Mr.Snowman

I contacted the HMRC and I got the SAR. It only  shows the history of my employment and national insurance contributions. Nothing about Superannuation at all.  I would like to ask though, if I had left the scheme, surely the Hospital or HMRC would also have a record of that.  The pension office said, It is up to the Hospital to ensure, that all the paperwork is done. Would it be possible for them to make deductions, and not have some records? 
I would like an answer from the hospital, and to show either I left the scheme,(which I don't think I did leave) or I was in the scheme? but they just seem to be ignoring everything.
I am also going to request another SAR to see if the previous hospitals super annuation show up, because i have confirmation from my other hospitals that I was in the scheme .So i can compare the two letters.

Thanks for your help.

Marcon

Mr.Snowman said:

I contacted the HMRC and I got the SAR. It only  shows the history of my employment and national insurance contributions. Nothing about Superannuation at all.  I would like to ask though, if I had left the scheme, surely the Hospital or HMRC would also have a record of that.  The pension office said, It is up to the Hospital to ensure, that all the paperwork is done. Would it be possible for them to make deductions, and not have some records? 
I would like an answer from the hospital, and to show either I left the scheme,(which I don't think I did leave) or I was in the scheme? but they just seem to be ignoring everything.
I am also going to request another SAR to see if the previous hospitals super annuation show up, because i have confirmation from my other hospitals that I was in the scheme .So i can compare the two letters.

Thanks for your help.

Bother! That was the correct and best starting point, but clearly hasn't cracked it.

If you are just being ignored, then I wouldn't faff around with the hospital any more. Start a formal complaint process using the scheme's Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure - pages 3 and 4: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/DRP1%20%28V10%29%20Online%20-%2004.2019.pdf

Don't worry if you don't have a scheme membership number; you can still use the IDRP, whatever the form says. Remember to enclose a copy of your payslip and details of the requests you have made to the scheme/hospital. Your complaint is about the lack of information/response, and confirmation of whether you have a pension with the NHS.

I doubt the hospital itself will actually have any records after so long - there's no reason for them to keep them for over 20 years (probably a breach of GDPR if they did, so making a SAR to the hospital is likely to be pointless). It's the pension scheme itself which should hold any details. Even so, I'd complain about the lack of response from both the hospital and the scheme, on a 'just in case' basis.

Mr.Snowman

Marcon said:

Mr.Snowman said:

I contacted the HMRC and I got the SAR. It only  shows the history of my employment and national insurance contributions. Nothing about Superannuation at all.  I would like to ask though, if I had left the scheme, surely the Hospital or HMRC would also have a record of that.  The pension office said, It is up to the Hospital to ensure, that all the paperwork is done. Would it be possible for them to make deductions, and not have some records? 
I would like an answer from the hospital, and to show either I left the scheme,(which I don't think I did leave) or I was in the scheme? but they just seem to be ignoring everything.
I am also going to request another SAR to see if the previous hospitals super annuation show up, because i have confirmation from my other hospitals that I was in the scheme .So i can compare the two letters.

Thanks for your help.

Bother! That was the correct and best starting point, but clearly hasn't cracked it.

If you are just being ignored, then I wouldn't faff around with the hospital any more. Start a formal complaint process using the scheme's Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure - pages 3 and 4: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2019-05/DRP1%20%28V10%29%20Online%20-%2004.2019.pdf

Don't worry if you don't have a scheme membership number; you can still use the IDRP, whatever the form says. Remember to enclose a copy of your payslip and details of the requests you have made to the scheme/hospital. Your complaint is about the lack of information/response, and confirmation of whether you have a pension with the NHS.

I doubt the hospital itself will actually have any records after so long - there's no reason for them to keep them for over 20 years (probably a breach of GDPR if they did, so making a SAR to the hospital is likely to be pointless). It's the pension scheme itself which should hold any details. Even so, I'd complain about the lack of response from both the hospital and the scheme, on a 'just in case' basis.

Thank you for your reply. Yes it is a bother. The other hospitals haven't shown up either.but i have confirmed that there is a superannuation to be payed out by the Scotland Pension authority. The English one doesn't seem to have anything.
I think your right. I should now start a formal complaint.

To be honest, i have a deep distrust of things financial. Having been mis-sold pensions, being asked to leave the NHS pension and transfer to a private one back in the 90s, only to be returned. Then then there was endowment mis-selling, PPI, and that's before we even get into  life insurance, and rpivate health care policies where the company trolls through small print looking for get out clauses. 

Anyway I will start the complaints procedure.

Thank you for your guidance. I will try to update this.

Mr.Snowman

Update: Resolved My Missing NHS Pension (After 5 Years)

An update on a long-running issue with my missing NHS pension.

I eventually managed to get my NHS Pension Scheme record reinstated after about 5 years.

The key step was going to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and getting confirmation of my employment history and, crucially, that I had been contracted out. I also established that no refund of contributions had ever been issued (which HMRC would have recorded as a tax event).

Initially, the NHS Business Services Authority rejected my claim, even saying payslips showing contributions weren’t proof of membership. I nearly gave up at that point.

After escalating, NHS BSA contacted HMRC themselves and eventually accepted the evidence. They have now confirmed I was a member and reconstructed my pension record.

They also acknowledged failures on the employer side — Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust — who ignored multiple letters, emails, and recorded deliveries, and failed to follow up on calls. This was effectively maladministration.

The whole situation caused a lot of stress, especially as I was getting closer to pension-relevant years and genuinely started to doubt whether I’d lost the pension entirely.

Next step for me is the Pensions Ombudsman — I’ll be pursuing compensation beyond just correcting the record, given the time, stress, and the long-term value of an index-linked pension.

Takeaway: If this happens to you, HMRC records (especially contracted-out status and no refund evidence, as i would expect it to trigger a tax even too) can be important to proving membership — and it’s worth pushing back. The NHS Pension Scheme is not just worth its current value — it carries a large ongoing value as an index-linked defined benefit, which will grow over time and pay out for life.

I can't imagine how many people may have given up chasing their own pensions and lost out.

So glad I didn't give up.

Thanks for everyone input.

LHW99

Well done Mr. Snowman, and thanks for letting us know. I suspect you are not the only one in this situation so hopefully this thread will help others.

Marcon

It's always great when someone posts an update - even more so to confirm they will receive something to which they are unquestionably entitled.

Just to do a little gentle expectation management…the Pensions Ombudsman has a tariff system of compensatory awards for 'non-financial injustice'. The current details (these are under review) can be found here: https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/files/Updated-Non-financial-injustice-September-2018-2_0.pdf

GrubbyGirl_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81933367#Comment_81933367

That's really interesting. When I complained to the Pensions Ombudsman in 2015 they awarded me £3k and give them their due NHSBSA paid instantly

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81933580#Comment_81933580

I remember you posting that before. It stuck in my mind because if that award was purely for distress and inconvenience ('non-financial injustice' as the PO quaintly describes it) you must have had one hell of a time and for a very protracted period. Looking at the PO database for 2015 and 2016, the highest compensatory award in relation to a complaint about the NHS scheme was £750. There was an award of £2,000 + interest in 2017, but nothing which comes close to your £3,000.

Last year the current PO awarded £2,500 for 'exceptional distress and inconvenience' (and left the complainant to settle a legal bill of £15,979.48 on the basis the circumstances were not exceptional enough to require the services of a solicitor). Anyone thinking of paying for professional help to bring a complaint would do well to read the determination, especially the paragraph headed 'Ombudsman's Determination' starting on page 10: https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/decisions/CAS-121348-Z6R0.pdf

Are you willing to give a brief indication of why you got such a bumper award and/or a link to the determination? Quite understand if not - there's often far too much personal info put on this forum - but I think it's important for people to recognise that the chances of getting that sort of award purely for distress/inconvenience are extremely slender.

GrubbyGirl_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81933873#Comment_81933873

Happy to explain. I was a nurse for my whole 42 year career in the NHS and I was always on the 1995 section and as such I was entitled to retire at 55 on a full pension without any reduction. My annual total rewards statements always gave me the benefits at 55 as well as at 60. I wasn't a hands on nurse as I had gone up through the ranks to a senior level and worked in an area of the NHS that I was very good at but in all the jobs I had I was required to be a registered nurse.

When I was 55 my boss (the Director of Nursing) left and as it would have been a grade higher I was looking to the future as I had a final salary pension coming my way so I applied for the job. I didn't get it and I heard on the grapevine that the boss had said they couldn't afford to give me the job as they really needed me where I was. Needless to say I wasn't happy about that. So I decided I would retire at 55 anyway and I applied for my pension. At that point NHSBSA decided I wasn't a nurse simply based on my job title a few jobs back and that they had got my Total Rewards Statements wrong and if I wanted to go at 55 I would have to take a pension that was 21% less. I couldn't afford to do that so I appealed on the grounds that I was always in a post that required me to be a registered nurse despite my job titles and I was able to provide my job descriptions all bar one post which was 18 months (same organisation just a different job title!). Unfortunately that organisation no longer existed as it was 20 years previously. I had however remained on the NMC register continuously from 1984.

Anyway because I couldn't provide that JD they refused to let me have my full pension so I couldn't retire. Interestingly it wasn't the actual job they queried the job title with in the first instance. The Ombudsman didn't overrule their decision but did say I had been unfairly treated as they had always led me to believe I could retire at 55 unabated and I was awarded £3k.

As it turned out it was very beneficial to me as the CEO heard I was planning on going (and why) and she also thought I was too good to lose and promoted me to the same grade as my boss to persuade me to stay. So I did stay for another 5 years and as a result got an extra £10k pa pension so I can't complain!