DB Pension PCLS late - when to complain?

Pat38493

I requested to put my DB pension into payment in January with a PCLS.

It is now nearly a month late (no PCLS nor any pension payments).

I know from other threads that this is not uncommon, but I'm wondering how often I should chase.

I vaguely remember posts on here saying that if you make an official complaint, it could actually slow the process down, so it's better to request an update and say that you are going to complain if you don't get it soon or something like that?

If even that fails, what is the complaint route?  I guess firstly it would be via the administrator's own complaints channel, and after that to the (professional) trustees?

I am ok to wait for a month or two, but I'm wondering if I need to regularly request updates so that I can prove I was chasing it if necessary later?

Silvertabby

Any number of reasons for this paynent to be 'late''.

Is this a deferred DB - or is it linked to a job that you left very recently?  

Cobbler_tone

The only real life experience I followed was with my brother, who left (to retire) as a civil servant after 40 years. He isn't the type to chase or make a fuss. He did in the end and it took over 9 months (!!) to get his first pension payments and lump sum. He tried to call the office, central numbers and never really got to the bottom of it, other than someone hadn't filled the right forms in and then no-one chased it. He ended up getting a loan and still don't think he was proactive as I would have been.

In essence, there are no issue at all chasing people or just asking the questions of when you can expect the first payment. I personally wouldn't wait a couple of months.

Albermarle

Silvertabby said:

Any number of reasons for this paynent to be 'late''.

Is this a deferred DB - or is it linked to a job that you left very recently?  

I think the issue ( like mine was), is with the well known general failings of some of the big pensions administrators.
Not enough trained staff, clunky systems etc 

Pat38493

Silvertabby said:

Any number of reasons for this paynent to be 'late''.

Is this a deferred DB - or is it linked to a job that you left very recently?  

It’s a deferred DB from a scheme that was all deferred since 2008.

I know that the fund has a buy in, and Aviva is the insurer.  For sure this could cause part of a delay.

However I did ask them the question last summer - how early do I need to submit the forms for the pension to be paid on time.? Their answer was 2 months.  I submitted the forms 3 months earlier so I gave them an extra month.  The pension buy in had already occurred years before that so the administrators knew that it was insured.

Silvertabby

Pat38493 said:

Silvertabby said:

Any number of reasons for this paynent to be 'late''.

Is this a deferred DB - or is it linked to a job that you left very recently?  

It’s a deferred DB from a scheme that was all deferred since 2008.

I know that the fund has a buy in, and Aviva is the insurer.  For sure this could cause part of a delay.

However I did ask them the question last summer - how early do I need to submit the forms for the pension to be paid on time.? Their answer was 2 months.  I submitted the forms 3 months earlier so I gave them an extra month.  The pension buy in had already occurred years before that so the administrators knew that it was insured.

Plus add in a fortnight for the office Christmas parties/shut-down from just before Christmas to just after New Year.

Pat38493

Silvertabby said:

Pat38493 said:

Silvertabby said:

Any number of reasons for this paynent to be 'late''.

Is this a deferred DB - or is it linked to a job that you left very recently?  

It’s a deferred DB from a scheme that was all deferred since 2008.

I know that the fund has a buy in, and Aviva is the insurer.  For sure this could cause part of a delay.

However I did ask them the question last summer - how early do I need to submit the forms for the pension to be paid on time.? Their answer was 2 months.  I submitted the forms 3 months earlier so I gave them an extra month.  The pension buy in had already occurred years before that so the administrators knew that it was insured.

Plus add in a fortnight for the office Christmas parties/shut-down from just before Christmas to just after New Year.

Yes I know, and generously speaking I could then say that I was still 2 weeks earlier than what they asked for.  I could also say - Xmas is at the same time every year so when they said 2 months they knew that.

Anyway - I also wonder if part of the delay is that they don’t trigger anything until x weeks before the payment date, even if they know it will take longer.

squirrelpie

If you asked for it to start in January, it still isn't late at all is it? Maybe they only pay at the end of months? I'd call them when it actually is late and ask where it is, and say how inconvenienced you are, and when will you receive it. Depending on what they say, I might then consider further action.

eastcorkram

@Pat38493

Did you ever get a clear notification of how much the PCLS and the pension would be?

Pat38493

eastcorkram said:

@Pat38493

Did you ever get a clear notification of how much the PCLS and the pension would be?

I got a quotation last Summer.  I have not received anything updated by the quotation said that it would be re-calculated at the time it's put into payment.  I hope the recalculated amount is not lower!

The quotation was in the ballpark that I expected based on my spreadsheet that tried to calculate what it should be based on my research and the data that I have about my entitlements.  It's complicated because there are several tranches of the entitlement, and one of them has a different NRA.

(in my opinion I got stuffed because of the way they do the revaluations followed by the ERF adjustments but I don't think there is anything I can do about it).

Pat38493

Cobbler_tone said:

The only real life experience I followed was with my brother, who left (to retire) as a civil servant after 40 years. He isn't the type to chase or make a fuss. He did in the end and it took over 9 months (!!) to get his first pension payments and lump sum. He tried to call the office, central numbers and never really got to the bottom of it, other than someone hadn't filled the right forms in and then no-one chased it. He ended up getting a loan and still don't think he was proactive as I would have been.

In essence, there are no issue at all chasing people or just asking the questions of when you can expect the first payment. I personally wouldn't wait a couple of months.

Sorry I had missed this point earlier.

Surely if someone had to take out a loan because they didn't have money to live on, waiting for a DB to be put into payment, they should claim back the loan interest (and compensation for inconvenience) from the administrators (assuming that they had made the original aplication on time and correctly)?  

I fear that someone who works in this industry will be along shortly to explain why it's actually your brother's fault and so no compensation would be due! LOL.

I also wonder if there is theoretically any way to sue the administrators or the scheme for this, even if they refused to compensate you and even if the ombudsmun ruled against you - not sure on that.