Pension Tracking: The Burton Group PLC

diond

HI, all.

I worked at TopMan from 1989 to 1993, and I'd been sure all this time that I'd paid into the pension scheme, which I assume would have been The Burton Group PLC at the time.

There are a couple of contacts on the government's pension tracing website under The Burton Group PLC, but both have come back and said they can find no trace of me paying into a pension.

I remember from a very early age my mum and dad instilling in me to take out a pension as soon as I began working, and as I'm very much a stickler for going by the book and very safe, I find it extremely surprising that the records suggest that I never did.

Unfortunately, I only have my P60s - obviously if I'd kept some old payslips, these would have at least shown proof of whether I'd paid into a pension or not.

So, is there no other avenue I can go down, other than just to accept that me thinking all this time I'd paid into a pension was just the 'Mandela Effect'?

Many thanks.

flaneurs_lobster

I have no specific knowledge of The Burton Group's pension schemes but a couple of maybe's. Were you under 21/22 when you worked there? Many schemes at the time had a minimum age for joining the scheme. If you only paid contributions for a year or so you may have been given the option to have had these contributions returned.

Marcon

diond said:

HI, all.

I worked at TopMan from 1989 to 1993, and I'd been sure all this time that I'd paid into the pension scheme, which I assume would have been The Burton Group PLC at the time.

There are a couple of contacts on the government's pension tracing website under The Burton Group PLC, but both have come back and said they can find no trace of me paying into a pension.

I remember from a very early age my mum and dad instilling in me to take out a pension as soon as I began working, and as I'm very much a stickler for going by the book and very safe, I find it extremely surprising that the records suggest that I never did.

Unfortunately, I only have my P60s - obviously if I'd kept some old payslips, these would have at least shown proof of whether I'd paid into a pension or not.

So, is there no other avenue I can go down, other than just to accept that me thinking all this time I'd paid into a pension was just the 'Mandela Effect'?

Many thanks.

You would have needed two years of membership of an occupational scheme to leave with a right to a 'deferred pension'. How old were you when you joined TopMan's employment?

If Burton had a 'contracted out' defined benefit scheme, it should be reasonably easy to see if you have benefits in that scheme. See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267734/is-there-a-really-detailed-online-method-to-check-nics/p1 (sorry for the length of the thread!) and start with my post of 15 May 2021 - then read on to see why that could help.

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have no specific knowledge of The Burton Group's pension schemes but a couple of maybe's. Were you under 21/22 when you worked there? Many schemes at the time had a minimum age for joining the scheme. If you only paid contributions for a year or so you may have been given the option to have had these contributions returned.

It's unlikely to have been an 'option' - in those days refunds were often automatic is someone left without clocking up the necessary minimum period of pension scheme membership. Entry ages, especially for women, could be far higher than 21/22 - 30 was not uncommon.

westv

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have no specific knowledge of The Burton Group's pension schemes but a couple of maybe's. Were you under 21/22 when you worked there? Many schemes at the time had a minimum age for joining the scheme. If you only paid contributions for a year or so you may have been given the option to have had these contributions returned.

My one had a minimum age of 25. 

Brie

westv said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

I have no specific knowledge of The Burton Group's pension schemes but a couple of maybe's. Were you under 21/22 when you worked there? Many schemes at the time had a minimum age for joining the scheme. If you only paid contributions for a year or so you may have been given the option to have had these contributions returned.

My one had a minimum age of 25. 

A DB scheme at that time would very likely NOT have given an option to remain in if membership was under 2 years.  Refund would have been automatic.  That was certainly the case when I was working retail in the early 90s.

The other thing to check was whether you had a personal pension at that time.  If you did you would not have been allowed to also be in a work scheme and might be entitled to compensation for being talked into not joining or leaving it if you were already enrolled.  I've been told that the pension review that was done by the industry closed down a few years back but it's worth checking just so you know for sure.    

diond

Thanks all for your input. I'll take a look at the thread and see if it helps, which I'm sure it will.