Annual Statements from Old Employer

I left a job in Nov 05 and had about 5 years contributions into my then employers DC scheme. I opted then to leave the money in the fund until such time as a I set up my own occupational scheme for mysef and Dh's own business, at which point I'd transfer the value in there. Which I am getting ready to do.

The broker who deals with the company's scheme has been helpful at all times.
But the probelm is that I'm not getting any annual statements about my pension from my previous employer.
The broker says it's my ex-employers job to do this.
I have emailed the HR department a few times and they have not sent on any statements.
I have looked on this site and pensions board site and can't figure out...are they legally still obliged to send me annual statements??
With the stories I'm hearing from old colleagues about the state of the company, I am worried for its future and want the money out.

dee06 said:

are they legally still obliged to send me annual statements??

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No - at least that's what I was told by Eagle Star a few years back in relation to a paid-up occupational scheme that I had. I could email/write to them at any time asking for a valuation on demand but they did not send out annual statements as a matter of course and were not obliged to.

Exactly - there is no legal obligation to furnish an annual statement to a member that is no longer in employment of the sponsoring employer...but such a member may request an updated value at regular intervals.

The mechanics of it seem a bit murky, from past experience.

I have contacted past employers before (in their role as trustees of the scheme) and they have failed to respond. Then I contacted the pension company and they said that their contract was with the employer, not with the individual member and they would only provide details to the employer. At this stage I wrote to the trustees and copied the Pensions Board, pointing out their statutory obligations to provide this information. Shortly after this I got the information I required from the trustees.

Equally, I contacted another pension company directly and they provided the valuation to me without any problems. As above - the mechanics are a bit murky.

I still have one scheme I can't get a valuation for - it's on my list of things to do in the medium term. Basically the company I had worked for (and left) was taken over, the pension schemes were merged, the new company was taken over again, schemes merged, etc . . . and eventually I lost track of where the scheme should have been. I still know the pension company that handled the original scheme so I reckon with enough work they will be able to track it down. Obviously this type of situation causes some difficulties, especially where the employer has closed entirely - tracking the trustees would not be easy.

My advice is to *write* to the employers (well the trustees as set out in the original documentation you received - probably the HR and/or Finance people in the employer) asking for a valuation of your scheme and give them a reasonable period to supply the information - like 2-3 weeks. If the information still has not surfaced after that time, send the letter again, noting the failure to supply the information and indicate you are copying the Pensions Board. Then ring the trustees a few days later and ask for an update. Trustees have a statutory responsibility to scheme members whether they are still employees or not, so this should focus their attention.

z

In my experience with two occupational schemes that I left paid-up before dealing with them later one after leaving the job I was able to get statements and process transfers by contacting the pension consultants in one case and the underwriter in another. I never found it necessary to contact the former employer or trustees directly but obviously transfer documents were passed on (e.g. by the consultants or underwriter) to be signed by them.

Thanks everyone. The 2 names of trustees that I can remember have both left that company and the document listing the rules and trustee names *might* be in the attic somewhere.

I'll get a valuation from the broker again, he gave it to me over the phone last year anyway (while trying to sell me a new scheme to transfer it into ). I'll set it up and take the commission myself thanks!

Have a read of [broken link removed] from the Pensions Board.

That booklet seems a little unclear. Does it say that members (including those who have left employment and left their policy paid up in the former employer's occupational scheme) should get annual statements as a matter or course and is the 1st January 2007 date of any significance in this context?

It seems to say on page 32 that members in employment and in the scheme automatically must get annual statements.
It does not say anything about members not in employment that are members. I guess that means there is no automatic right to annual statements in that case.
Very hard to read brochure, isn't it! Way too many tables!

dee06 said:

I guess that means there is no automatic right to annual statements in that case.

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Thanks. That would certainly tally with my own experience. The booklet is a bit technical alright.