GKN Group Pension Scheme No.1 (CAS-49476-Z4S2)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Outcome

I do not uphold Mr R’s complaint and no further action is required by the Trustee or Mercer. 

Complaint summary

Mr R complained about a number of issues concerning the Scheme. In particular:- 

• Mercer made errors over a period of several years and provided incorrect retirement illustrations consequently he has no way of checking whether his retirement pension is correct. He would like his pension data independently audited to ensure that he is receiving the correct level of pension.
• He was misinformed that his pension would be backdated.
• He was not informed that his Defined Contribution (DC) pot would prevent him from taking a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) from the defined benefit section (the DB Section) of the Scheme. If he had been correctly informed at the time, he would have stopped paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) into the Scheme.
• Contributions were missing from schedules that were provided to him.
• He asked to be provided with annual benefit statements but did not receive any.
• The Scheme’s complaint procedure was poor, and he had to continually chase Mercer for updates.
• He asked for substantial compensation in recognition of his poor health and the time he had spent dealing with this matter.