Armed Forces Pension Scheme (PO-18022)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Outcome

I do not uphold Mr N’s complaint and no further action is required by Veterans UK.

My reasons for reaching this decision are explained in more detail below.

Complaint summary

Mr N is unhappy for several reasons regarding how his benefits from the Scheme have been calculated.

Firstly, Veterans UK initially included Mr N’s Belize Defence Force service (the BDF service) in his recorded reckonable service, and as such his pension forecasts were higher than they ought to have been. Mr N says he relied on this information when leaving his employment.

Secondly, Veterans UK has refused to include his BDF service in his reckonable service for the purpose of calculating his Scheme benefits. As such, his Scheme benefits are lower than he believes they ought to be.

Lastly, when Mr N began to receive benefits from the Scheme, he opted to commute part of his income for a larger tax-free lump sum. However, he believes his total commuted income will be greater than the additional lump sum he received. He complains that he was not informed this would be the case.