martinharris
Registered User
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Current value is around 80k. I was with that employer for 14 years but the termination payment was related to last two years of service. I’ve worked for two other employers after that but didn’t earn much to pay for a new pension..so this is all what I have.Hi martinharris,
What’s the value of the pension? How many years’ service did you have with that employer? How many places have you worked since then and are you a member of another pension scheme now?
Gordon
It's standard practise in any of these situations for the employer to advise you to take external financial advice. It would not have cost much to be honest from a reputable pension adviser or solicitor. Given that you would also have got statutory on top of any ex-gratia payment it would have been a small sum will spent. Most employers are also very cautious as to the advice they give any staff member in a redundancy situation because inevitably it will come back to haunt them. I don't see the employer doing anything unethical here unless there is anything in their communication to you that indicates they did something wrong. Ultimately (and sorry to be so blunt here) but you are responsible for your own tax and financial affairs, not your former employer
You mention in your post that the company went into liquidation. If that is the case then there is no one to take an action against and to be honest, I doubt very much that you would win anyway.
What you need to do now is get some professional external advise as to your next options
Based on the numbers you mentioned, I'm not sure the €200k is relevant. You waived your future right to the retirement lump sum from the Pension fund in order to get a higher tax-free redundancy lump sum (SCSB). Was your redundancy or pension lump sum likely to be close to €200k?
Based on the numbers you mentioned, I'm not sure the €200k is relevant. You waived your future right to the retirement lump sum from the Pension fund in order to get a higher tax-free redundancy lump sum (SCSB). Was your redundancy or pension lump sum likely to be close to €200k?
The money I received from the statutory redundancy was all spent on paying off my unsecured debt as my employer stopped any increase for 7 years before they went into liquidation.. so I was desperate to get the ex gratia for which I had to sign the waiver..the unethical part in the whole process was the miscommunication from the solicitor by not mentioning the maximum limit to compare (200k) and to prove that I’ve the letter of the solicitor. I know that the company doesn’t exist anymore but my query here is can I take this case to FSO? I am again jobless for 11 months now due to COVID and can not afford the fee for professional advice at this point
If the OP received a redundancy payment of €17k AND waived his right to a tax free lump lump from the Pension Scheme in the future, then the €200k is irrelevant. Normally one might waive the right to the pension tax free lump sum because under SCSB they are opting for a higher tax-free redundancy payment. If they retained the right to the Pension lump sum then more of the redundancy lump sum would be taxed.I don’t understand
nothing to stop you raising a complaint but I presume it would need to be against the solicitor and unless you are expecting compensation from the solicitor, I'm not sure you are going to get anywhere.
You waived your future right to the retirement lump sum from the Pension fund in order to get a higher tax-free redundancy lump sum (SCSB). Was your redundancy or pension lump sum likely to be close to €200k?
I don’t understand the point you are making. How did you “put my pension at risk”?This is my point that they didn’t mention the maximum limit for me to compare... based on the information provided by the solicitor I took the tax free ex gratia payment..if I knew the maximum limit I wouldn’t put my pension at risk for saving €1600 (that was the tax due on the ex gratia) at that time..
“Was your redundancy or pension lump sum likely to be close to €200k?”
NO!
Where is that pension money now? Is it still in the same scheme?
I don’t understand the point you are making. How did you “put my pension at risk”?
What you did was simply forgo the right to taking part of your pension as a lump sum later at retirement (thus ending up with a higher pension - but no lump sum). Even if you were made aware of the €200k , how would it have affected your decision if the redundancy or pension lump sum was going to be less than €200k.
Perhaps you need to give all the figures to get a coherent response.
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