paperless retirement admin

mcn99

Hi

Trying to help my dad out, he has been getting letters asking him to log onto a new pension site to check and confirm his details. He is 89, has no interest or access in Internet. he claims to not have any account on their system.

He has a db pension that's recently changed administrators.

I sent an email to trustees asking that any correspondence be by letter, but they said they could accept me handling his affairs, I can't be bothered jumping through all their requirements to handle my dad's affairs at the moment. I do have POA

So my dad is scared his pension will stop because he hasn't done anything, He has had the letters for months before telling me.

So question is, can administrators insist on having pensioners using their online systems. My dad like a lot of his generation doesn't trust computers and won't have anything to do with them

Thanks in advance

gm0

They can't insist.  But they don't necessarily make everything available in paper channels alongside.  
You may not care about such info as you are missing out on.  

So long as the uprating letter shows up and the payments.

"Proof of life" tends to be more a factor with expats and those here in receipt of overseas pensions where either way around the validation of who hasn't died yet.  Is more difficult to robustly achieve.  So the pensioner is prompted - regularly - prove they are still them - ID and alive - and legitimately in receipt of it.  

And that a relative hasn't attempted to "inherit" a pension without any contact.

Letters inviting to join in online view my account etc. can usually be ignored with impunity. 

In the long term - a DB scheme will wonder if the person is still alive past a certain point with no contact. But based on the checks they can do absent an interaction. Mostly its fine. They may - at some point of unusually extreme old age and with other record anomalies present - write to last known address and seek a "proof of life".  It's hard to say it never happens.  But relatively rare.  For UK pensions and UK residents - much less common.

If a proof of life request is ignored - pensions do get stopped.  As a further prompt to contact and get it fixed.  
Or because they should be because the person has indeed gone - but without anyone tidying their affairs.

Yorkie1

Mum had an old County council pension; she'd received letters informing her that it would go online unless she responded. She didn't respond, and she stopped getting letters. When I realised she didn't have P60s for several consecutive tax years, I looked into it and successfully contacted the new administrator, getting them to put her back on postal communications rather than an online account.

Marcon

mcn99 said:

Hi

Trying to help my dad out, he has been getting letters asking him to log onto a new pension site to check and confirm his details. He is 89, has no interest or access in Internet. he claims to not have any account on their system.

He has a db pension that's recently changed administrators.

I sent an email to trustees asking that any correspondence be by letter, but they said they could accept me handling his affairs, I can't be bothered jumping through all their requirements to handle my dad's affairs at the moment. I do have POA

So my dad is scared his pension will stop because he hasn't done anything, He has had the letters for months before telling me.

So question is, can administrators insist on having pensioners using their online systems. My dad like a lot of his generation doesn't trust computers and won't have anything to do with them

Thanks in advance

I really feel for your dad.

The administrators aren't going to know whether it's you or your dad setting up an account on their system and confirming his details, so wouldn't that be the obvious easy answer?

mcn99

Marcon said:

mcn99 said:

Hi

Trying to help my dad out, he has been getting letters asking him to log onto a new pension site to check and confirm his details. He is 89, has no interest or access in Internet. he claims to not have any account on their system.

He has a db pension that's recently changed administrators.

I sent an email to trustees asking that any correspondence be by letter, but they said they could accept me handling his affairs, I can't be bothered jumping through all their requirements to handle my dad's affairs at the moment. I do have POA

So my dad is scared his pension will stop because he hasn't done anything, He has had the letters for months before telling me.

So question is, can administrators insist on having pensioners using their online systems. My dad like a lot of his generation doesn't trust computers and won't have anything to do with them

Thanks in advance

I really feel for your dad.

The administrators aren't going to know whether it's you or your dad setting up an account on their system and confirming his details, so wouldn't that be the obvious easy answer?

I have looked through drawers of his correspondence,  anything he doesn't understand he puts in some random  drawer, he must have a login letter somewhere, but I couldn't find it, as I was just going to login for him.

 

But to get a new account, he has to phone up, and he won't use the either because his hearing is so poor.

I will try write a letter to the admin dept, and get him to sign it, again demanding all correspondence be by letter

squirrelpie

mcn99 said:

I will try write a letter to the admin dept, and get him to sign it, again demanding all correspondence be by letter

Try to moderate your demands. Mention his age, and explain why he can't, or doesn't want to use the internet, and why he can't use the phone and therefore why he needs everything to be sent by letters. I think a positive attitude may help get a good response. And if not it provides good evidence for an eventual complaint!

Marcon

squirrelpie said:

mcn99 said:

I will try write a letter to the admin dept, and get him to sign it, again demanding all correspondence be by letter

Try to moderate your demands. Mention his age, and explain why he can't, or doesn't want to use the internet, and why he can't use the phone and therefore why he needs everything to be sent by letters. I think a positive attitude may help get a good response. And if not it provides good evidence for an eventual complaint!

Good advice...and don't be afraid to send a copy of the letter directly to the trustees. Your dad has every right to let them know his concerns. Administrators act in accordance with instructions from the trustees; they don't set the rules themselves.

PensionsStuff

I mean.. have you just .. asked? It seems like you've jumped straight from them asking to go online, to you saying youll make demands and everything about it. 

Of course they can only deal with yourself in a limited fashion, what if his neighbour got his post and tried to access everything instead ?.

"Jumping through hoops" seems like a very very odd way to describe a completely legitimate process to only allow the correct people access, something both of you will benefit from having in place, if not now but in the future.

I have been a part of many online exercises, there will always be alternatives (e.g, a form in the post, a telephone call, rather than logging in online) and often a "tick box" on the administration system for X member to get things automatically uploaded e.g. p60 and for Y member to get things posted instead. 

grn99

In my experience, if you call them whilst you're with your dad, you can explain why you are making the call (hearing, POA etc)... They normally just want to briefly check with your dad that they can speak to you about it, and relay any questions to him so he can hear you. Much easier in my view, than reverting to physical correspondance at this stage.

Brie

You might find it easiest to send them a letter of authority rather than try to invoke the POA on his behalf.  All it needs to be is a short letter from dad stating "I, (dad's name and address) authorise (OP's name, address) to deal with everything regarding my (DB pension name) on my behalf."   Signed and dated.  

This can normally be scanned and emailed to the admins and then if you give it a couple of weeks to be logged on their system you can ring them at your convenience and get them to resend the login details so you can update things on dad's behalf.

edited to add:  Re Proof of Life for pensioners in the UK.  The large schemes tend to run their membership list against the death registers to ascertain who should not be getting a pension anymore.  Usually this works fine but occasionally it will go awry if there are 2 members with similar details.  They may also revert to posting out proof letters where someone is particularly old and may have moved to a retirement facility in a different part of the country as happens sometimes when they may want/need to be closer to their children etc.  Return to send responses will flag moves and some deaths that may have slipped through the net as will simple non response.