Any one heard of motor industry pensions ltd

[Sali]

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.

[Sali]

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.'

[Sali]

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.

[Sali]

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

[Sali]

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.

[Sali]

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.

[Sali]

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.