The Pensions Ombudsman
The Pensions Ombudsman is appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. His role is to investigate and decide complaints and disputes about the way that pension schemes are run. He is completely independent and acts as an impartial adjudicator.
The powers granted to the Pensions Ombudsman by the Government are similar to those of the Courts. His decision is final and binding on all the parties and can be enforced, if necessary, in the Courts. A decision made by the Pensions Ombudsman can only be changed by appealing to the appropriate court on a point of law.
An individual, if eligible, can ask the Pensions Ombudsman to consider a complaint or dispute against any of the following, so long as it relates to membership of an occupational or personal pension scheme:
- all or any of the scheme trustees, past or present;
- the scheme manager (which could refer to a body that runs a public sector scheme or the provider of a personal or stakeholder pension plan);
- the employer (but only in relation to pension scheme membership and not for general employment matters); and
- the administrator of an occupational pension scheme .
Those individuals who are eligible to ask the Pensions Ombudsman to consider a complaint or a dispute are:
- members of occupational or personal pension schemes;
- spouses or dependants of members who have died;
- anyone claiming to be a member, or the spouse or dependant of a member;
- people entitled to pension credits following the divorce of a member; and
- the personal representatives of any of the above.
In this context, a complaint relates to a claim that the party complained against has behaved in a way that constitutes maladministration and, as a result, has caused an injustice. A dispute, on the other hand, is a disagreement concerning fact or law.
The Pensions Ombudsman cannot deal with complaints or disputes that:
- relate to the sales and marketing of pension scheme as these are dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) ;
- relate to the State Retirement Pension and other State benefits as these are dealt with by the Parliamentary ombudsman (with the help of a Member of Parliament) ;
- are subject to court proceedings;
- are subject to regulation by the Pensions Regulator; and
- are being, or have been, investigated by another ombudsman.
Complaints and disputes must be put to the Pensions Ombudsman within three years of the act or omission. If an individual was not aware at the time of the act or omission, the three years run from the time he knew or ought to have known.
The Pensions Ombudsman may extend the time limit if the complaint or dispute is made outside of the three-year period, but only as long as he thinks that any further delay beyond three years is reasonable. In particular he will usually treat time spent using an Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP) as a good reason for delaying complaining to him.
Complaints and disputes to the Pensions Ombudsman must be presented on an official complaint form. In the case of a complaint or dispute against the trustees of an occupational pension scheme , the Pensions Ombudsman will only accept the complaint form for investigation if the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP) has been exhausted.
