Have rules changed for Small Claims?

goodValue

I will try to answer some of the questions posed.
I think the timescales (now 8 years), have been due to evasive/delaying tactics by the company, and poor management and investigation by FOS.
When I first contacted FOS (about 7.5 years ago) they did not accept the case.
I then put it in the hands of the Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).
After about 2 years the TPO suddenly found a mistake made by the company.
After this the company would not co-operate with TPO and questioned its jurisdiction.
There was a very long delay whilst jurisdiction was considered.
It was a surprise to find that TPO did NOT have jurisdiction over a pension. (It is a workplace pension that was bought out by the pension company).
TPO arranged for the complaint to be taken over by FOS.
There were many delays, and I was outraged by some of the decisions FOS made.
I was so angry with the final decision that I went through FOS's complaints procedure.
This took much longer than the 8 weeks limitation time mentioned.
FOS did say that I could seek legal redress, but they did not mention that it had to be done in 8 weeks.

The outcome is that each year my pension is further diminished from the value it should be.
So I am very enthusiastic in wanting to right this wrong.
I found FOS extremely biased, particularly in rejecting written evidence in favour of what the company said - and this is just what they said, without providing proof.

So I am extremely angry with both FOS and the company, not only because of the loss of pension, but of the blatant lack of justice.

voluted

goodValue said:

I will try to answer some of the questions posed.
I think the timescales (now 8 years), have been due to evasive/delaying tactics by the company, and poor management and investigation by FOS.
When I first contacted FOS (about 7.5 years ago) they did not accept the case.
I then put it in the hands of the Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).
After about 2 years the TPO suddenly found a mistake made by the company.
After this the company would not co-operate with TPO and questioned its jurisdiction.
There was a very long delay whilst jurisdiction was considered.
It was a surprise to find that TPO did NOT have jurisdiction over a pension. (It is a workplace pension that was bought out by the pension company).
TPO arranged for the complaint to be taken over by FOS.
There were many delays, and I was outraged by some of the decisions FOS made.
I was so angry with the final decision that I went through FOS's complaints procedure.
This took much longer than the 8 weeks limitation time mentioned.
FOS did say that I could seek legal redress, but they did not mention that it had to be done in 8 weeks.

The outcome is that each year my pension is further diminished from the value it should be.
So I am very enthusiastic in wanting to right this wrong.
I found FOS extremely biased, particularly in rejecting written evidence in favour of what the company said - and this is just what they said, without providing proof.

So I am extremely angry with both FOS and the company, not only because of the loss of pension, but of the blatant lack of justice.

Why did the legal claim have to be done within 8 weeks? If it was 8 weeks until it was time-barred, I don't think the FOS likely wants to (or should) get involved in the hornet nest of giving you advice which may or not be correct and which may or not land them in hot water if they get wrong.

It is ultimately your responsibility to be aware of what your legal rights are, rather than their responsibility to hand-hold you through a legal case, so to speak.

eskbanker

voluted said:
Why did the legal claim have to be done within 8 weeks?

See post on page 1 about Limitations Act and ADR.

voluted

eskbanker said:

voluted said:
Why did the legal claim have to be done within 8 weeks?

See post on page 1 about Limitations Act and ADR.

So as I mentioned, it was until it was time-barred. 

A_Geordie

OP, I'm afraid I can't understand your response.

The key issue is when did the FOS issue their final decision? You then have 8 weeks after that date to issue a claim. If you are still within that 8 week window then you can issue a claim within time. If you are out of time, your only option is to make an application to the court to seek an order (at their discretion) to disapply the limitation period and allow your claim to proceed. 

Unfortunately, that kind of application is not one someone without legal knowledge of the Limitation Act should take on. If you are out of time, you would be wise to spend some money and seek independent legal advice from a specialist lawyer who has a good legal grasp of the Act and can consider whether there are any real chances of being successful. That might be money well spent before you go down a path that could end up costing you tens of thousands of pounds if you lose.

goodValue

OP, I'm afraid I can't understand your response.

I was pointing out that in the 8 weeks after the FOS decision, I spent my time going through FOS's complaints procedure, so that the 8 week period has been passed.

Was there something else that wasn't clear?

It has occurred to me that each year my pension is calculated in error.
Does that mean that I can make a claim for the pension shortage over the last six years?

voluted

goodValue said:

OP, I'm afraid I can't understand your response.

I was pointing out that in the 8 weeks after the FOS decision, I spent my time going through FOS's complaints procedure, so that the 8 week period has been passed.

Was there something else that wasn't clear?

It has occurred to me that each year my pension is calculated in error.
Does that mean that I can make a claim for the pension shortage over the last six years?

It would not take you 8 weeks to do this, and it isn't the responsibility of the FOS to guide you in litigation.  If nothing else it would make their position as an impartial third party highly questionable.

A_Geordie

Thank you, what you have said is now clear and in that case it would seem your only option is to ask the court to disapply the limitation period. 

However, I have to wonder - and I'm only thinking out loud as I don't have the full ins and outs of your issue, is whether all of your past or future claims are time barred. What I mean by this is that if the pension company continues to put the incorrect amount into your pension each month, then for each month, that may be construed as an individual breach, each of them will have their own 6 year limitation period. 

To help you understand, here's an example: 

Company A agrees to purchase services from Company B for 12 months. Company B invoices Company A on a monthly basis but Company A does not pay Company B the full invoice amount. Each of those invoices will be treated as individual breaches of Company A's contractual obligations and therefore have their own 6 year limitation period. So if Company A fails to pay January's invoice on time, the clock will be 6 years from the due date for January and then if February's invoice is not paid it will be 6 years from February's due date and so on and so forth.

If we apply the above to your situation each month they failed to contribute the correct amount would be treated as giving you the right to claim 6 years from that date it was supposed to be paid. Now, as I mentioned I am working off the assumption there is a limitation period of 6 years for general contractual claims but I did a little reading and from what I've gathered, if the pension scheme is a contract based pension scheme (which seem to fall within the remit of the FCA), the limitation period is 6 years but for trust-based pension schemes (under the purview of the Pension Regulator), it appears that there may be no limitation period based on case law in the last few years unless the trust-based pension rules suggest otherwise. 

You mention in an earlier post that the FOS passed it to the Pensions Ombudsman which could be an indicator that your pension is a trust-based scheme rather than a contract-based scheme, though I do note it got passed back to FOS. Have you tried reaching out to the Pensions Regulator for advice/guidance? I believe they have the power to fine companies who fail to contribute the correct amount into the pension and could also use their leverage as a regulator to ensure you are back-paid. 

Report missing payments to your workplace pension | The Pensions Regulator

Edit: I should also repeat however, independent legal advice would be a sensible approach to this. Depending on the amount owed, some law firms may take your case on a no-win no fee basis if there is real merit in your claim. 

goodValue

However, I have to wonder - and I'm only thinking out loud as I don't have the full ins and outs of your issue, is whether all of your past or future claims are time barred. What I mean by this is that if the pension company continues to put the incorrect amount into your pension each month, then for each month, that may be construed as an individual breach, each of them will have their own 6 year limitation period. 

Thanks again for such detailed help.
I was thinking along similar lines.
However, I thought that the incorrect calculation at the beginning of the payment year would be the triggering event. From what you said, it is actually the incorrect payment being made, and this is done monthly.
So I should be able to make a legal complaint about the last 6 years shortage in payments.
As for going further back to claim for the whole 8 year period, I do not know if it is a contract based pension scheme or a trust based pension scheme.
FOS did not pass the complaint to TPO, they just declined to investigate the complaint. So I don't think that gives any indication as to the type of pension scheme.
I looked at the Pensions Regulator link you gave. It appeared to be concerned with payments to build up a pension, but I will have another look at their website.

You have raised a lots of issues that I wasn't even aware of. So I need to spend some time finding more about them.
Thank you very much your time and effort over this.

born_again

Given the OP's situation. They need to take paid for legal advice from experts in the legal area this covers.

Personally on above post. As any wrong amounts stem back to the original error, it would not bring anything back in time.

I wish you good luck, but it is not going to be cheap & needs to be costed out so that you do not end up spending more then you get.
Just for the satisfaction of the win.