Subject

Mr Smith has complained about the decision not to include certain allowances paid to him during his employment in the calculation of his pensionable pay.

Appeal

Subject

Dr Langdell complains that Abbey Life repeatedly verbally assured him that his tax free cash was in the region of £13,845.6. However, he was subsequently paid around £7,800. He also says that they failed to follow his instructions regarding the set up of his pension benefits, given that he had stated that if he was to receive less than £13,845.61 of tax free cash, he did not wish to receive his pension benefits at that time.

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should be upheld against Abbey Life because they:

Subject

Miss Hunter complains that the Trustee has applied the state benefit deduction from age 65, even though she will not receive her state pension until age 66.

Subject

Mrs Counsell complains that the Trustee has applied the state benefit deduction from age 60, even though she will not receive her state pension until age 65.

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should be partly upheld against the Trustee because even though it applied the state pension deduction at the correct age, it provided inaccurate and misleading information about her entitlement.

Subject

Mr Brown’s complaint against the Service is that his retirement date was incorrectly recorded as 18 November 2013 with his lump sum figures also being calculated based on the maximum possible entitlement as at that date. He says he planned his life and finances around this retirement date but now has to wait until December 2015 to take his benefits.

Subject

Mr Hadland’s complaint is that following a change of the rules of the Scheme, the commutation factor and annuity rate is different. He says that the factor and the rate would essentially be the same if the administration charges were not paid out of the members’ funds.

The Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should not be upheld against the Trustee because the rules have been correctly applied.

Complaint summary

Miss Moody complaint which is against the Trustee is that it provided incorrect information about the application of the state pension deduction (the Deduction).

Subject

Dr Levinson has complained about the change to the method and late retirement factors used to calculate his late retirement pension and that he was not informed of the change before or after it occurred.

Subject

Mr Lambert has complained that HCC have declined to grant him 10 years’ additional pensionable service. He has complained that they have failed to exercise their discretion in a proper manner.

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should be upheld in part against Hertfordshire County Council because they failed to consider whether there were exceptional circumstances which warranted the exercise of their discretion under Regulation 12.

Subject

Mr Atkinson has complained about the change to the method and the late retirement factors used to calculate his late retirement pension and that he was not informed of the change before or after it occurred.