Writing about my late father's pension fund.

My mother just received a letter from a pension company who wrote they made a mistake and owe my late father £1500.

He closed the account 20y ago

I have successfully claimed compound interest against late payment charges on some credit cards - so I am just wondering if we can claim compound interest on this £1500.

Any thoughts??

no

you mighth be able to get statint at 8%

but I doubt it.

how do they calculate the £1500?

Important question because it is likely that this is an accumulated amount and not the amount originally owed.

This needs to be asked of them.

If they say that it was £1500 20 years ago and nothing added

then that is something to take to the Pensions Ombudsman

if they dont add either interest or the capital gain on the money as it was invested at the time.

Get the information first rather than indulging in a fantasy

Thanks dx

for my info

- what is the difference between being able to claim compound interest on late payment fees against a credit card

but not being able to claim compound interest on money that should have been given to (late) father 20y ago?

If 8% statutory interest may be possible to claim

- should I put the amount the pension company offered into the "statutory interest calculation" template that I would have used for my credit cards reclaim?? Does this template work for this scenario and does it calculate the 8% over the 7000+ days?

I had a go and the template calculated quite a large sum but then I wasn't sure?

For example - I inputed apx £1500 as original pension company offer amount and the template gave me interest at 8% simple of apx £2500 - would that mean they may owe my mother apx £4000?

see EB's post above...

Thanks ericsbrother

The letter says the amount refers to "proceeds of the above policy".

It continues that it was a "historic processing error".

That "when the policy was terminated 20y ago the value paid was less than it should have been".

They do conclude their letter stating that they have "taken steps to ensure the beneficiaries do not lose out financially"...

They also apologise for their bad service!

I am not quite sure I understand what they mean happened.

You are correct that it is quite ambiguous and they may be doing that deliberately to hide a bigger payout.

That's why I am investigating a bit further for my mother.

then as eluded too

she has been denied the option of having this and investing it

statint sheet.

but whatelse is there lurking? sar time get the truth?

I gather from the info I have been given that the company was taken over. So would the new owner have all the historical data if we send in a SAR?

cant see they could have offered this without it?

ok.

So is it best to first write and ask for a first response from them about the amount and where/how they came up with the figure?

Or just go straight for the jugular and get all the info from them via SAR?

why cant you do both?

dx

Ok - sounds good. A gentle request for more info and because so unsure of the scenario also attach a SAR.

Will work on both then... Thanks.

you shouldnt even need to push the SAR bit, just ask for their calculations as to how this figure was arrived at.

IF they dont provide this then you take it further,

starting with the Pensions Advisory Service,

who are the little brother of the Pensions Ombudsman.

From what you say I assume that they paid too little at the time and have now added a sum to reflect the growth of the fund/inflation/ some other marker

you need to know what was the shortfall at the time and how that have calculated the figure for now.

Their answer should be straightforward

thanks ericsbrother

Will help draft a letter

Update.

Have had a reply.

Pension Company say they underpaid a specific amount - just under £750 - in 98.

They have then calculated a repayment on the basis of Bank of England base rate + 1% over 20 years. They calculate this to be almost the same as the underpayment - so the total they suggest repaying is almost £1600. But they have not shown their calculation.

There is a website showing the BoE historical changes. So BoE rates vary from 7.5% down to 0.25% in the last 20 years.

They have not shown which % they have used or if they used each historic BoE % rate to calculate the proposed repayment figure.

If I put the underpayment figure into a cis template with the 98 date (7000+ days) and use statutory interest of 8% - would this be a correct method?

I have tried this method and the total amounts to £300+ more than they have offered.

Or is there a different % rate I should use? ie should I add 1% to the highest BoE rate (7.5% + 1%)??

Or is there a completely different % I should use to calculate the correct amount I feel they should repay mother.

Or any other compensation?

Thanks

would you have been able to of invested this money if you'd had it?

or is your pension untouched and locked away so to speak?

It was late father's pension. He was scrupulous about where he invested his money. So I guess the answer is yes - he would have invested it. And then started reaping the rewards due to being able to...

What difference does this make to mother's next letter to pension company?

IMHO they should then be giving you 8% statint like the FOS recommend on say a PPI refund

because he could have invested at that rate

then you should respond and ask how much would £750 be worth if invested in the fund wth all monies reinvested. If it was a unit trust then what did the units cost then and what are they worth now?

Investments have nothing to do with bank rates and they know it, that is just laziness on ther part. Any idea what thescheme the money was in was called as you can often find published details as they have to produce them.

In short, money I have in a pension scheme from about the same time has QUADRUPLED so that should give you a guide to performance.

Tell them to go and think about it a bit more and produce the correct figures for investment growth (and no deductions for management as it was their cock up)

Gosh - thanks ericsbrother.

i have no idea of the details of late father's pension. So yes - another type of letter can be drafted and sent to the pension company asking for the details you have outlined. Thank you.

And I like the idea of 'no management deductions' !!

Thankfully caught sight of your post as I was just about to draft the stat int claim letter!!

stat int is simple interest set at 8% pa so only applied to the capital sum which would give you a payout of approx £1950. still more than their offer of supposed bank base rate.

Agreed ericsbrother. I think I will still write/ask about the type of fund etc you mentioned above. Maybe the units did fare better than just claiming stat int 8%.

Will write and update when hear back.

Thanks

Writing about my late father's pension fund.

 

My mother just received a letter from a pension company who wrote they made a mistake and owe my late father £1500.

He closed the account 20y ago

 

I have successfully claimed compound interest against late payment charges on some credit cards - so I am just wondering if we can claim compound interest on this £1500.

Any thoughts??

You sure this payment does not include the compound interest already?

Thanks Russell - as per post #16 they have since advised the original figure that they underpaid and to which they added bank base rate +1%. The updated question is if stat int % is applicable or the unit trust value? Will update the thread when have a reply.