Barloworld UK Pension Scheme (CAS-30320-D2J5)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Outcome

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

Complaint summary

Mr L said that he and his financial adviser (the Adviser) encountered delays in obtaining late retirement and transfer illustrations from JLT. He also highlighted further delays in JLT answering follow on questions that were raised by the Adviser. He stated that these delays resulted in him being unable to make a benefit choice and take his benefits when he wanted to.

Mr L considers he has suffered the following financial losses:-

· He was forced to defer taking an annual pension of £13,567.42, thus losing income for ten months from 1 July 2017 to 12 April 2018 of £11,306.18.

· He has calculated that adding 8% pa interest to the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) figure in the original illustration for 10 months gives a figure of £17,847.93. He stated that, as the final CETV illustration was only £4,931 higher than the original, he has lost out on £12,916.93 interest that he could have earned.

· He was forced to encash other investments to maintain his income.

· He was forced to take a loan to replace his company car. He had purchased the car in May 2017, in the expectation of receiving benefits from the Scheme. He calculated that this, together with unplanned use of credit cards and bank overdrafts, resulted in a total additional cost to him of £983.

· He was forced to continue to work as he was not confident that he could retire due to the delay in getting details of his benefits from JLT.

Mr L has highlighted the considerable stress and frustration that he has felt. He also mentioned the time and effort that he and the Adviser had put into trying to resolve his case.

Mr L considered it appropriate for there to be a substantial increase to the distress and inconvenience payment offered by the Trustee on 16 January 2019.