Never Received a Leaving Service Option Letter

[jumper1]

Hi
I worked for a company for 8 years and was part of a Company group Pension Scheme . I left the company back in 2014 but never received a Leaving Service Option Letter . Shortly after leaving i asked the pension provider what i could do with my pension and I was told that I could do nothing with it and it had to stay that way until retirement. I am starting work again and am trying to set up another pension and have been told that this is not true and I should have received a 'Leaving Service Option Letter' with the options that I had regarding my Pension . So basically I have lost any gain I could have had over the past 6 years if i had received a Leaving Service Option Letter.

Is there any value in complaining about this to my previous Employer or the Pension Provider

Regards

 

[elcato]

So basically I have lost any gain I could have had over the past 6 years

The money has been in the previous employer pension for the last 6 years and being invested accordingly so you have'nt 'lost' anything. It will continue to be invested till you reach pension age. It doesn't just lie there and stay the same value for all those years. You can move it to your current employer if it's a normal pension but may be subject to remain in some cases. Was it a PRSA ?

 

[jumper1]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I dont think though that you or anybody can say that I did not loose any money .I may have wanted to invest it into something that would have doubled my pension and equally may have invested in something that would have lost all my pension. .My point here is that I did not have a choice and like the majority of people i did not know squat about pensions, so it was up to my Employer /Pension Company to inform me of my choices when I left . The Pension was a Group Pension Scheme not a Group PRSA Scheme .

 

[Steven Barrett]

Yes, you could have bet on black and it came up red or vice versa but all things being equal, you didn't lose anything. What Elcato said was a perfectly reasonable answer to your query.

Get onto the trustees and ask why you didn't get a leaving service options letter and ask for a new one. Transfer your funds to your chosen provider or leave them where they are.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie