Missing Pension Transfer

Huskywhisperer

Hi Everybody

Just joined the forum to get some help with a pension issue.

Back from 1987 to 1993 I worked for Natwest Bank. I vaguely remember being "contracted out " of SERPS and did some investigating and found that I had a pension fund with the Natwest Group Pension Scheme.

After loads of hassle and heated discussions I eventually managed to get into my pension records held by them (turns out they had a wrong postcode for the address held on file from where I was living in 1993 ) Anyway, they have now informed me that in August 1993 when I left the banks employment my pension was transferred to "N POTTER ESQ and they have confirmed an amount of nearly £2400, however they are saying they have no record of who this is or where the money has gone and hold no further records from that time and have confirmed this in writing in an email to me today.

I am appalled that they have done this without any authorisation from myself and they have no idea to WHO or WHERE the money has gone.

What are my options with regard to this and does anyone know who I should be approaching next and where I would get advice on maybe taking this forward legally, Pension ombudsman ? Or a solicitor as this should have been left alone and be worth probably over 10K by now.

Many thanks for any advice from ypu lovely people.

JoeCrystal

It is 1993! For all we know, this person could be dead. If I may be frank, did you ever get a leaving statement that outline your benefits and so on back in 1993? Or you never got any paperworks at all, and you never bothered to chase it up until now? It might be worth checking records back in 1993 with the incorrect postcode and see if there is any Potter there as well.

flaneurs_lobster

Can we assume that your name is not "N POTTER ESQ"?

FIREDreamer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81995939#Comment_81995939

Bit obvious, but I think he would have said if it was the same name as himself.

However, I could be wrong…

EDIT: If it was short service its possible that there was no value and a payment (CEP?) might have been sent to the DWP to buy him back Into SERPS and there is a N Potter at the DWP. Long shot, admittedly. At the bank for 6 years but might have been a late joiner to the pension scheme.

Marcon

Sounds as if you've been well and truly confused with another scheme member. Did they have the correct NI number for you? Have a look at

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267734/is-there-a-really-detailed-online-method-to-check-nics

and make a SAR as outlined in the second post in that thread. I suggest you ask for years covering 1985 to 1995 to make absolutely sure your period of NatWest scheme membership is covered.

Once you have (further) confirmation that you were indeed a member of the scheme (which, as you say, meant you were contracted out), go back to the scheme and make a formal complaint.

In theory you can't do so using the scheme's own 'Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure' because that can only be used by former members who left within the previous 6 months, but I'd argue that as you didn't transfer out, you are still a member and therefore entitled to use it - so ask the scheme to provide a copy. If they refuse, the way is clear for you to go straight to the Pensions Ombudsman and complain. If they agree, it's worth going through the procedure, which might get the matter resolved more quickly than going to the PO.

When a pension is transferred, it has to be transferred to another registered pension scheme - not an individual - so that alone raises an eyebrow.

I would flag one thing: this all happened over 30 years ago, and memories fade. I've seen many a scheme member swear blind they didn't transfer out ("I'd remember if I had!"), only to be genuinely stunned when the paper trail confirms that very often they did…

Marcon

EDIT: If it was short service its possible that there was no value and a payment (CEP?) might have been sent to the DWP to buy him back Into SERPS and there is a N Potter at the DWP. Long shot, admittedly. At the bank for 6 years but might have been a late joiner to the pension scheme.

I wondered the same thing - and the 'transfer' was in fact a refund of OP's personal contributions. A SAR should sort out whether that's the case - the NI records would show that a CEP was paid and it would also explain why the payment was to a person rather than a pension scheme - BUT OP has said the scheme has confirmed the money was 'transferred'. OP, maybe that's a point to go back and check with the scheme before you do anything else?

Membership of a scheme could be a condition of employment (until 1988), so if OP joined the bank in 1987 and was eligible to join, it's likely they were enrolled then, so OP would have had more than 2 years of membership by the time they left. That assumes they didn't opt out in 1988 and then join at a later date…bit of a memory test after all this time.

In short, if OP left with under two years of scheme membership and is called N Potter, and the SAR shows 'method of preservation was Contribuitons Equivalent Premium', then that might explain things. The refund would have been automatic - no authority needed from the member, that's just what would have happened.

Huskywhisperer

Apologies for not being clearer, my surname is Williams so this "N Potter esq" is a complete mystery to me, thanks for all of your advice. Yes I know it's over 30 years ago but I was only notified of being in a contracted out scheme in my working years by my tax record I recently looked at and managed to pin it down to my years at the bank.

Natwest pension group have been very difficult and still won't reveal what postcode they have on file although they confirmed that the address on file I gave was correct but postcode doesn't match, they also admitted checking online and confirming the postcode I had given was indeed the correct one, I presume because it's an "archived record" that they can't update it to the correct one and have made a note that their data is incorrect.

Silvertabby

CEP payments were just made to COEG (HMRC Contracted Out Employment Group) and never to a named individual.

Huskywhisperer

This is the email I received from the natwest pension group today...........

[Removed by Forum Team]

 

Thank you for your recent email

 

I can confirm that on 02/08/1993 a transfer of your benefits totalling to £2,387.58 was transferred away from the NatWest Group Pension Fund and we do not have further information as to where this was transferred.

 

Furthermore, to trace this pension please use the pension tracing service on the GOV.UK website.

 

I hope this is of assistance and please let us know if there are any further questions.

DRS1

Well that email is singularly unhelpful. It doesn't even mention the elusive Mr Potter.

I think you should look at what pension scheme you belonged to on 2 August 1993 and see if that has any record of a transfer in from the NatWest Scheme.

Huskywhisperer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996075#Comment_81996075

Yes it's not very clear is it, the elusive Mr Potter was mentioned on the phone by the administrator I was dealing with who confirmed that the record stated thats who it went to however now saying they don't know in the email ? Makes it even more suspect, when i left the bank I joined Pizza Hut who's pension scheme i didn't join until 1999 when I became a manager, so a transfer in 1993 out of natwest i am convinced was not done or authorised by me, think an SAR is definitely the 1st step