Public sector DB scheme - no statements after leaving employment

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amtc

Registered User
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I used to work for a public sector orgn that sent yearly statements to its members

I left in 2005

Recently I recalled that I had no statement and emailed the trustee (the financial controller) to ask for statement.

To my amazement I received an email back to say that they do not adviser leavers of entitlements and are under no legal obligation to do so.

I replied to say in 2038 when he and I are long gone who will know how to contact me.

No reply.

Sure;y this can't be right???
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

This is certainly the case with private sector occupational schemes - i.e. if you leave but leave your pension savings invested in the occupational scheme then they are under no obligation to issue you with annual statements/reports which they are while you are an employee. I thought that this was odd too but it seems to be kosher. Seems that the onus is on you to contact them about performance/valuations etc. With a private sector scheme at least you have the option of transferring to a buy out bond which may be a good idea depending on charges, fund selection, customer service, tracking etc. Not sure if this is an option in your case though?
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

so how does anyone know that i exist as a beneficiary?
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

You and the trustees/scheme underwriters know because you have a membership/policy number, certificate or policy document etc. It's up to you to record these details for the benefit of others in case you croak or become incapable of dealing with your affairs I guess? If you feel that even former employees who remain members of an occupational scheme should get annual statements as a matter of course then I would agree with you but as far as I know (I checked it up too when I came across it) they are not obliged to issue these and they generally don't.
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

but the details they have of me relate to a previous address (in my case my parents so at least i get any correspondence)...just struck me as an obvious loophole.
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

I had the same situation in the private sector. I contacted the pension people who said that they would not be forwarding an annual statement as I was not longer an employee. I had no intention of changing but since they weren't willling to pay for the price of a stamp to keep me updated once a year i decided to walk away.
I shopped around and asked loads of questions and I'm now in another policy which has performed exceptionally well (up about 30% in one year but impossible to judge after such a limited time frame). Do loads of your own research, advice is great but at the end of the day, it's your money!!
 
Re: public sector defined benefit q

amtc said:
but the details they have of me relate to a previous address (in my case my parents so at least i get any correspondence)...just struck me as an obvious loophole.
Click to expand...
It's up to you to keep them updated so. I'm not saying that this is how it should be (in my opinion) but it is the way it is.

I know nothing about public sector pensions - do you have the option to transfer to another scheme or a buy out bond as a private sector occupational scheme member has for example?
 
still in a public sector job so could transfer. head of pensions at work gave me some nice legalese so that's my next route
 
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