Pensions and Retirement

Raise the problem with whoever is at fault first: your employer, the trustees or managers, or the administrator. Workplace schemes should offer a formal internal dispute resolution procedure, usually in two stages, and each stage can take up to four months. source

The Pensions Ombudsman looks at how pension schemes are run, for example taking too long without good reason, not following the scheme rules or the law, or giving incorrect or misleading information. Its decision is final and binding, and it aims to put you back where you would have been. source

You generally need to bring a complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman within three years of the event, or of when you knew or should have known about it. It can extend this only where it is reasonable, such as serious ill health. source

The Pensions Ombudsman does not handle complaints about the sale or marketing of pensions or about financial advisers (these go to the Financial Ombudsman Service), the State Pension (Department for Work and Pensions), or data protection only (ICO). source

The full rate of the new State Pension is £241.30 a week. If your National Insurance record started after April 2016, you need 35 qualifying years for the full rate. You can check your forecast on GOV.UK. source

Pension Wise gives free, impartial, government-backed appointments about your options for taking money from a defined contribution pension, usually from age 50, whatever the size of your pot. source

The Pension Tracing Service can give you contact details for a pension scheme you have lost track of, but it cannot tell you whether you have a pension or what it is worth. source

Cold calling about pensions has been banned since January 2019. Offers to unlock a pension before 55 are a warning sign, and taking money out early can lead to tax charges of more than half of it. source