Pension Advice
Discussion
Evening,
I am wondering if there are any pensions experts on here?
I pay my pension through my company scheme. We normally get paid the last Friday of each month and then the pension provider would purchase units on the 20th day of the following month. I noticed an issue in January this year where no units had been purchased from our October/ November pay packet. I emailed them and then suddenly three months worth (Oct, Nov and Dec) were all purchased at the end of Jan. I checked with our company who confirmed they paid the pension provider at the normal times. (I have no reason to doubt our company either).
Now, our Feb and March pay packets have not been used to purchase any units. I have written to the pension provider again with no response.
Are there any regulations being breached here? Do the pension providers need to purchase units at regular intervals or within a set time period? I am finding it slightly worrying that a) my money has disappeared and b) I cannot get a response (admittedly only through email)?
We have used the same pension provider since auto-enrolment in late 2015.
What action should I take? Should I contact the trustees? Or am I worrying about nothing?
TIA
Mike
I am wondering if there are any pensions experts on here?
I pay my pension through my company scheme. We normally get paid the last Friday of each month and then the pension provider would purchase units on the 20th day of the following month. I noticed an issue in January this year where no units had been purchased from our October/ November pay packet. I emailed them and then suddenly three months worth (Oct, Nov and Dec) were all purchased at the end of Jan. I checked with our company who confirmed they paid the pension provider at the normal times. (I have no reason to doubt our company either).
Now, our Feb and March pay packets have not been used to purchase any units. I have written to the pension provider again with no response.
Are there any regulations being breached here? Do the pension providers need to purchase units at regular intervals or within a set time period? I am finding it slightly worrying that a) my money has disappeared and b) I cannot get a response (admittedly only through email)?
We have used the same pension provider since auto-enrolment in late 2015.
What action should I take? Should I contact the trustees? Or am I worrying about nothing?
TIA
Mike
Sounds like your pension provider has some kind of Internet Portal which you are able to log in to?
If they are not buying units when your scheme says they should and you're not getting answers I'd be inclined to call up and make a complaint. They are obliged to deal with your complaint in line with FCA guidelines so you should either get an explanation that puts your mind at rest or they'll realise they need to take action to resolve.
If they are not buying units when your scheme says they should and you're not getting answers I'd be inclined to call up and make a complaint. They are obliged to deal with your complaint in line with FCA guidelines so you should either get an explanation that puts your mind at rest or they'll realise they need to take action to resolve.
I think that legislation requires that contributions are within the pension plan within 21 days of them being deducted from pay. Maybe the company make the deductions and promptly pay the money to the trustees or the pension provider within this period so it must be them who are delaying investment.
Ask the company for an explanation or contact the office of the Pensions Ombudsman and ask them to investigate the matter via their Early Resolution Service:
https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
If there is no satisfactory explanation you can raise the matter to a formal complaint and the PO's ERS will be able to investigate matters further and if necessary make a legally binding decision on what action must be taken and by which party.
Their services are entirely free. By the way, if the pension provider says that you can raise the matter with the Financial Ombudsman Service ignore that advice because FOS will transfer the case to the PO once they realise it's a pensions matter. There is an agreement between FOS and PO to make this happen.
R.
Ask the company for an explanation or contact the office of the Pensions Ombudsman and ask them to investigate the matter via their Early Resolution Service:
https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
If there is no satisfactory explanation you can raise the matter to a formal complaint and the PO's ERS will be able to investigate matters further and if necessary make a legally binding decision on what action must be taken and by which party.
Their services are entirely free. By the way, if the pension provider says that you can raise the matter with the Financial Ombudsman Service ignore that advice because FOS will transfer the case to the PO once they realise it's a pensions matter. There is an agreement between FOS and PO to make this happen.
R.
Just to update and open the issue to another audience.
The pension provider have ignored two emails requesting an explanation for the time of investment. A third email has gone to them requesting the contact details of the trustees. They have replied stating I cannot have the direct contact details of the trustees and requested what the issue is? (This cannot be right …. and surely they could have checked the other two emails where I was requesting information?)
So, I have made contact with a trustee independently. He is investigating what is going on.
My employers have noted the issues too. They 'may' look for a larger provider - I will wait for the time being and see what the response is from the trustee. Then make my choices.....
Mike
The pension provider have ignored two emails requesting an explanation for the time of investment. A third email has gone to them requesting the contact details of the trustees. They have replied stating I cannot have the direct contact details of the trustees and requested what the issue is? (This cannot be right …. and surely they could have checked the other two emails where I was requesting information?)
So, I have made contact with a trustee independently. He is investigating what is going on.
My employers have noted the issues too. They 'may' look for a larger provider - I will wait for the time being and see what the response is from the trustee. Then make my choices.....
Mike
OP - This does indeed sound very worrying.
As it is a company pension scheme it has to comply with the very strict Automatic Enrolment Rules, and it appears it may be in breach of these.
It also may be the case that the company sponsoring the scheme (the Master Trust company) is not FCA authorised and regulated as, perversely, this is not a requirement for occupational pensions.
If you like I can have someone from our occupational pensions team look into this for you and your company. There is no charge BTW.
PM me if you prefer.
As it is a company pension scheme it has to comply with the very strict Automatic Enrolment Rules, and it appears it may be in breach of these.
It also may be the case that the company sponsoring the scheme (the Master Trust company) is not FCA authorised and regulated as, perversely, this is not a requirement for occupational pensions.
If you like I can have someone from our occupational pensions team look into this for you and your company. There is no charge BTW.
PM me if you prefer.
JulianPH said:
OP - This does indeed sound very worrying.
As it is a company pension scheme it has to comply with the very strict Automatic Enrolment Rules, and it appears it may be in breach of these.
It also may be the case that the company sponsoring the scheme (the Master Trust company) is not FCA authorised and regulated as, perversely, this is not a requirement for occupational pensions.
If you like I can have someone from our occupational pensions team look into this for you and your company. There is no charge BTW.
PM me if you prefer.
Hi Julian,As it is a company pension scheme it has to comply with the very strict Automatic Enrolment Rules, and it appears it may be in breach of these.
It also may be the case that the company sponsoring the scheme (the Master Trust company) is not FCA authorised and regulated as, perversely, this is not a requirement for occupational pensions.
If you like I can have someone from our occupational pensions team look into this for you and your company. There is no charge BTW.
PM me if you prefer.
I have PM'ed you. I am worried about setting two bodies off investigating the same issue, but just require some simple advice of where regulations are being breached.
Many thanks
Mike
Sorry to resurrect an old thread of mine.
The pension company is starting to do my head in. Sorry for the next rambling bit.
I eventually got in contact with the trustees who were 'fairly' good and everything got back on track again. Through the summer we had a further announcement that the pension fund was closing (in the near future) and all funds would be transferred to a new provider. No precise date was given but a vague commitment to November/ December (All good from my perspective)
End of October arrives and the original provider closed access to my account and I just get a splash screen on the portal pointing me to the new scheme/ provider. No contact from the existing provider. No contact from the new provider, so I contact them. I am now able to log into the new provider's system and see my balance is zero. I write to the new provider asking when the transfer will occur and they state in 'two months', but don't worry 'interest' is being paid on my pension pot. So now, I have no visibility of the fund value for a couple of months, no idea where the pot is sat, no idea what it is invested in - it all feels a little unsettling.
I suspect I need to contact the 'old' provider to see what is going on - but based on previous experience I reckon I might get the radio silence treatment especially given the response on the splash screen.
I spoke to our accounts dept. and they have been left in the dark too. They had not been asked to set anything up in advance with the new provider until they got a phone call from them earlier this week. (which they thought was a scam call because it was so out the blue).
Not quite sure what I am asking, but is this normal?
I have yet to speak to our company owner (don't often see him....), but our accounts lead has said we will be looking at the whole pension system at a senior level (which will involve me). Any advice?
Our company is privately owned and about 75 people.
Thanks again
Mike
The pension company is starting to do my head in. Sorry for the next rambling bit.
I eventually got in contact with the trustees who were 'fairly' good and everything got back on track again. Through the summer we had a further announcement that the pension fund was closing (in the near future) and all funds would be transferred to a new provider. No precise date was given but a vague commitment to November/ December (All good from my perspective)
End of October arrives and the original provider closed access to my account and I just get a splash screen on the portal pointing me to the new scheme/ provider. No contact from the existing provider. No contact from the new provider, so I contact them. I am now able to log into the new provider's system and see my balance is zero. I write to the new provider asking when the transfer will occur and they state in 'two months', but don't worry 'interest' is being paid on my pension pot. So now, I have no visibility of the fund value for a couple of months, no idea where the pot is sat, no idea what it is invested in - it all feels a little unsettling.
I suspect I need to contact the 'old' provider to see what is going on - but based on previous experience I reckon I might get the radio silence treatment especially given the response on the splash screen.
I spoke to our accounts dept. and they have been left in the dark too. They had not been asked to set anything up in advance with the new provider until they got a phone call from them earlier this week. (which they thought was a scam call because it was so out the blue).
Not quite sure what I am asking, but is this normal?
I have yet to speak to our company owner (don't often see him....), but our accounts lead has said we will be looking at the whole pension system at a senior level (which will involve me). Any advice?
Our company is privately owned and about 75 people.
Thanks again
Mike
The pension company would have purchased the units and then undertaken a calculation to see if you had been disadvantaged.
The period in question was highly volatile for investment markets: big falls through Nov, Dec and the rallying in the following months. It’s quite possible that the calcs showed you had benefited from the delay and subsequent re-purchase after the market had fallen.
If they are still cocking up the please seek proper regulated advice when moving a pension.
Edit: on your second point, yes, pension transfer are slow. Think of it like a property transaction, phoning the solicitor everyday wont speed things up - let the cogs turn.
Edited by DoubleSix on Saturday 9th November 09:21
Another update..... I hate pensions companies.
So the transfer is going ahead. Latest is it will be completed by end of Q1 2020!!!! That is up to five months to transfer my pension from one to another.
During this time I have no visibility of my fund. Also the last two months contributions have not been invested yet. I get quick feedback from the new company but they never answer my questions.
I really despair....
My other pension has also been transferred recently. I noticed it had decreased by about £6k, chased them up and they stated it was transferred in two lots and miraculously the fund then increased again.
The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
So the transfer is going ahead. Latest is it will be completed by end of Q1 2020!!!! That is up to five months to transfer my pension from one to another.
During this time I have no visibility of my fund. Also the last two months contributions have not been invested yet. I get quick feedback from the new company but they never answer my questions.
I really despair....
My other pension has also been transferred recently. I noticed it had decreased by about £6k, chased them up and they stated it was transferred in two lots and miraculously the fund then increased again.
The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
mike9009 said:
Another update..... I hate pensions companies.
So the transfer is going ahead. Latest is it will be completed by end of Q1 2020!!!! That is up to five months to transfer my pension from one to another.
During this time I have no visibility of my fund. Also the last two months contributions have not been invested yet. I get quick feedback from the new company but they never answer my questions.
I really despair....
My other pension has also been transferred recently. I noticed it had decreased by about £6k, chased them up and they stated it was transferred in two lots and miraculously the fund then increased again.
The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
Sounds pretty dishonest to me: I recall a colleague grumbling about our work payments not being invested in a timely manner a few years back - he reckoned they were obliged to do it properly & raised a complaint. https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/... has more. So the transfer is going ahead. Latest is it will be completed by end of Q1 2020!!!! That is up to five months to transfer my pension from one to another.
During this time I have no visibility of my fund. Also the last two months contributions have not been invested yet. I get quick feedback from the new company but they never answer my questions.
I really despair....
My other pension has also been transferred recently. I noticed it had decreased by about £6k, chased them up and they stated it was transferred in two lots and miraculously the fund then increased again.
The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
mike9009 said:
Another update..... I hate pensions companies..
The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
I still suggest that you contact the Pensions Ombudsman's office (see my earlier post), although the nature of the issue may have changed and become more complex. I would have thought they will be able to investigate this and sort out what's been (not) happening. You will need to have made a complaint before going to the PO, though: he will not investigate until a complaint has been made and a response received.The whole system is appalling. Absolutely no transparency and just feels either incompetent, dishonest or both.
Mike
R.
mikeiow said:
Sounds pretty dishonest to me: I recall a colleague grumbling about our work payments not being invested in a timely manner a few years back - he reckoned they were obliged to do it properly & raised a complaint. https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/... has more.
My workplace scheme has on two occasions failed to pay money to the pension provider within 31 days of the deduction being made. They have always notified members of this and mentioned that, as an 'isolated' breach, it does not require them to notify the Pensions Regulator, though this does suggest that there is a regulatory framework to ensure monies are invested in a timely manner. OP - It may be worth contacting the regulator.Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff