I am trying to track down a pension for a relative. They worked in the motor industry. I know the pension was run by MAA Pensions Ltd based in Leighton Buzzard. They seem to have become Motor Industry Pensions Ltd based at the same address, but a letter was returned addressee unknown and the telephone number is never answered.

I can find Motor Industry Pensions Plan Trustees Ltd, but this seems to be a private limited company.

Any information gratefully received.

Hi Sali

Here's some info:- http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Companyandpersonalpensions/DG_10027189

Thank you for that. My relative seems to recall contacting them some years back and reaching a dead end. I might try again. I'm hoping that there are other people out there who also worked for the motor industry back in the late eighties and were in the same scheme. Keeping my fingers crossed for them that the fund has been taken over by another company and that the money paid in is not 'lost.'

Hello Sali did you manage to find out anything about the MOTOR INDUSTRY PENSION LIMITED group.

I am also trying to find out for my dad he also had his pension with them from 1982 to 1995.

I have contacted almost all the people who deal with lost pensions and had no luck. A

s you say the numbers etc are all not recognised and companies house show that they have dissolved in 1998.

If you have any info on there services could you please let me know if not i will keep looking thank you for any help.

Best regards Alan

Hello there.

I would start with the Pensions Tracing Service in Rebel's link above.

My best, HB

Hi HB

Thanks i have tried the pension tracing service they only got records of the motor industry pensions plan. They have about 60 companies on there list but non of them are where he used to work.

Thanks Alan

That's disappointing.

I guess the scheme hasn't been sending annual statements or keeping in touch then?

I'll see if I can find anything else that might help.

HB

Hi HB

Yes i dont think he received annual statements but we will keep looking thanks for your help.

Alan

Hello again.

This is really obvious and I apologise. Have you tried googling this?

I only ask because my OH has some dealings with pension matters and says that often he's told that a scheme has disappeared and finds it in a few minutes on the interweb.

Sorry if you're not like the people he deals with.

HB

Hi HB

Thanks i have tried googling it but i'm afraid noting comes up. I will try the pension tracing again after i try and get more details for the companies he worked for.

Regards Alan

Hi.

I think that's the way to go. It's always tricky with multiple employers or if companies merge. Stick with it.

HB

I had an MAA Pension Plan from 1980 to 1985.

I put this out of my mind until September 1996 when I contacted the MAA Pension Admistrators who were based at 10 Church Street Leighton Buzzard.

They then confirmed by letter that they had my details and indicated that the administration of the pension scheme was being handled by one of the large insurance companies.

Foolishly I have misplaced this letter and spent the whole of last week end looking for it.

Prior to being at 10 Church Street they were at 17 Market Square Leighton Buzzard.

The registered number was 1281183.

Manging Director: P.A.E.Herring Directors: K Dowson, J.R.Boast, B.W.H.Nurse , J.D.W. Gwent and the Company Secretary was N.B. Lowry.

I'll keep looking and let you know if I find out anything,

Bob

Legal and General took over some of these pensions

Tel 01737 376976. Victoria

Prior to this AON took over some of the MAA pensions Tel 0121 262 5093

Hope this helps

Sorry, I haven't been back here in a while.

I knew there would be others out there in a similar position to my relative.

Back in September I did alot of googling and did find people who were directors of MAA and now are directors of other funds and companies.

I didn't contact them, as I just thought it would be a waste of time.

I also wrote to the pension tracing service again, but they could not help.

It does seem so wrong.

Successive governments have encouraged everyone to pay into pensions, but certainly there seems to be very little help for those who have lost money in various schemes.

Even recently was it Equitable or Standard Life that failed its contributors?

By the time the politicians got round to doing anything about it, people had died waiting or suffered extreme hardship...and even then they did not get fully recompensed.

Maybe this is a question for Radio 4's Moneybox.

Well, I had a spare hour this afternoon and have done some more digging.

Basic company details for c:

Registered no: 01518632

Registered office: 201 Great Portland Street

London

W1N 5HA

Incorporated: 24 Sep 1980

Status : LIVE

Previous names:

11/07/1990 M.A.A. PENSION PLAN TRUSTEES LIMITED/MOTOR INDUSTRY PENSION PLAN TRUSTEES LIMITED

However, another site shows me that the scheme for the garage I am looking for transferred to PPF - which I guess means that you may be entitled to some compensation.

http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/TransferredSchemes/Pages/AllTransferredSchemes.aspx

I'm going to drop them a line to find out

This is turning into a bit of a saga and I feel the need to rant.

As I previously said the Pension Tracing Service contacted twice could not help on this matter. However, during a trawl of the web I stumbled across the Pension Protection Fund which listed the company I was looking for having transferred to them in 2010.

Would it be too much to ask for the Pension Tracing Service to look at this site or at least let people know of its existence if their enquiry draws a blank. They are all in the same business - pensions - after all.

Anyway, PPF Darlington after being provided with all the details - name of company, name of pension scheme, dob, ni number - were unable to help. Their response was puzzling as the company was listed on their own website. PPF Darlington suggested I contact PPF Croydon, their stakeholder team. They sent the exact same letter twice. However, why they could not send the enquiry from their office in Darlington to Croydon remains unexplained. So I sent PPF Croydon a copy of PPF Darlington's letter and repeated all the information, company name etc, in a covering letter.

PPF Croydon have confirmed that the company had been transferred to the Pension Protection Fund in 2010 and suggested I contact PPF Darlington with DOB, NI etc - information they already had in duplicate!

The PPF seems to be funded by government, aka the taxpayer.

I am not expecting their employees to have a First from Oxford, just an ability to read, a smidgen of commonsense and a 'phone or email link between their offices.

I am not surprised that millions of pounds go unclaimed in old pension schemes.

Well, I've written back to PPF Croydon. I await their response.

The moral of this tale is to not end your search with the Pension Tracing Service and don't take the word of Pension Protection Fund. Thank god for the web.

Hi Sali,

Firstly, I input a reply several days ago but it did not log I have now found its by using the smiley faces so I will now start again. Several weeks ago I came across you thread whilst searching the web for the type of information you were looking for.

I was advise by the Citizens Advise Bureau that under Law the company which NOW hold the Pension Plan must contact you near the time of your retirement. This is correct but In my case I found that they sent my information to my original address from 30 years ago when the policy was started by a previous employer who has now creased trading.

To assist you & anyone looking for the MAA NATIONAL MOTOR INDUSTRY PENSION PLAN I have compiled MY JOURNEY which give's as much information as I can without using my contacts names & where possible I have supplied contact information which are correct to the best of my knowledge.

May I clearly state that it is important to tack if you come up against what appears to be a brick wall as a new direction in your search may well pay off as in my case.

MY JOURNEY

The (MAA) Motor Agents Association now trades as (RMIF) The Retail Motor Industry Federation Ltd.

All MAA Pension Plans started MAA NATIONAL MOTOR INDUSTRY PENSION PLAN & when / A N OTHER MOTOR DEALER or DEAL GROUP, this is because the MAA offered their dealer members a pension service which was tailored to their needs which was underwritten by several insurance companies.

Contacted the Pension Tracing Service Team via email after completing online form Tel: 0845 600 2537 received 4 days later reply that I should contact Prudential, Reading,RG1 3AA Tel: 0845 300 2634 , wrote to them with full supporting information to receive reply 16 days to advise me that they did not cover by ex employers pension plans until after April 1995.

(B2S) Back to start - Contacted (PPF) Pension Protection Fund Tel: 0845 600 2541 sent email enquiry to receive a will reply in 5 days Auto-acknowledgment received telephone call from Croydon telling me that 24 days advising me that the PPF HOLD NO RECORDS of my policy which they confirmed by email.

B2S - I started searching the WEB again by inputting Motor Industry Pension Plan Trustees Ltd which came up on the DueDil company search site which listed the trustees as having a parent group which was RMIF also the Finance Director was the same for both companies.

Sent email to RMIF, 201 Great Portland Street, LONDON . W1W 5AB TO RECEIVE A PROMPT REPLY 4 days informing me that the pension Administrator was now with Aon Hewitt consulting Retirement Practice, Birmingham,B3 2QD Tel: 0121 262 5083 & that they had forwarded my enquiry to them.

Aon Hewitt responded next day to advise me that they would investigate my pension benefit & reply within the next week. I emailed them again after 10 days to which they replied that MY pension plan was now with PHOENIX LIFE, GLASGOW, G2 6HR Tel No: 0845 938 0523 who they had contacted on my behalf & Phoenix confirmed they had my policy & had sent my notification to my old address several weeks ago.

The GOOD NEWS is my policy is all sorted & will start paying out shortly.

Finally, sorry for being so long winded but its the only way to get the inform across, remember its your money they got & my opinion is that the Pension Industry needs a good overall as the Companies are on a WINNER every time & we policy holds loss out again & again.

Luck Good & Keep searching it's your moneys out there somewhere.

PS Hope the spellings OK

That's interesting TimoSapp. I'm very glad you found your policy. My journey to discover the long lost pension was very similar. I feel like I have been thwarted at every turn by incompetence and/or inertia. After months of waiting for a response from the PPF I was so fed up that I emailed the CEO and finally was pointed in the direction of Aon Hewitt. They too were slack, so I emailed their CEO and was pointed to Legal and General. Success! Months and months of perseverance, but it's paid off.

Honestly, it does seem rather like a conspiracy by these companies to keep people away from their hard-earned money.

Hi Sali,

Thank for your reply,

I am happy that you have now been able to track down your policy & resolve the pension issue for your relative.

I share your concern regarding the Pension Industry & their pass parcel approach with our policies, it makes me feel that someone is making a small fortune moving paperwork around which will most likely be at our expense.

Whilst I am lucky I have a working knowledge of computers to enable me to track down both companies & information, there are many people out there now reaching retirement age who do not have the skills to be able to get what is rightfully theirs.

I as many was unaware that I had to input a claim for my state pension which I have been able to do online & that to can be a long winded process.

It has taken me three months to resolve all my pension issues in advance of my retirement & have had to experience numerous delays & conflicting information from call centre staff who do not understand their own companies products & procedures.

That's me done, I am off to fight yet another battle.

Yes TimoSapp, life does seem rather like a battle sometimes and one which those who do not have access to the powerful and empowring web are less likely to win. The longer I live the more I realise just how dreadfully we are served by the our inefficient and rickety Establishment.

Absolutely agree.

My late father paid into his scheme for 33 years before he was placed in the position of either waiting an shortish but unspecified time for redundancy, or leave.

Joining the company (Motor Industries Exports Ltd, later Nuffield Exports Ltd, the export division of Morris Motors) in Oxford in 1934, his job was moved to Birmingham in 1967 and he was given the big elbow out of the door.

We emigrated to NZ in July 1967.

Before he left he asked about his pension and was told in very stern terms that as he was going to the other side of the planet he should expect anything as it would be impossible to contact him. Haha!!

There was pigeon post even in those days.

Ironically, it was British Leyland (NZ) Ltd who employed him when we got here.

After 14 years here in NZ my father passed away aged 61 (an ex-serviceman. 6 years with the RAF during WWII).

All the while here he religiously kept "them" informed of any change of address.

He never once received a reply.......... from anyone.

To this day 37 years since he passed away we have never been able to trace where his pension disappeared to and the online Pension Tracing Service is a waste of time as I am told much of the info on there is either out of date or incorrect.

Aon Hewitt who it told me are the administrators the Nuffield Organisation Staff Pension Fund (BMW (UK) Operations Pension Fund) tell me they have no record of him.......... because their fund only started in 1975 and since he left before that in '67, as far as they're concerned he never worked for the company.

We (that's myself and my father's now very elderly (90) wife, have tried and tried since 1981 to find what happened and still we are no further forward.

Yes, it's like a big set up to ensure people and their money are well and truly parted.