Pension complaints and disputes: are you a member of a pension scheme wishing to raise a complaint or a HR personnel, employer or trustee needing advice on handling disputes?

Most pension schemes are run well; the correct benefits, are paid to the correct people, at the correct time.  Job done!

However….. issues arise where this is not the case and then where to turn?  Parminder K Latimer, Pensions Partner shares her tips.

Pension schemes should have in place an Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP) and members or beneficiaries of a pension scheme should be informed of this procedure, how it works, how to complain, should a member have a cause to complain.

If you are a trustee or employer and do not have an IDRP in place or it needs updating, at gunnercooke we can help to put this in place for you for a fixed price.

Employers and Trustees should have procedures in place to review and decide on such complaints through their IDRP.

The Pensions Ombudsman will insist that members or beneficiaries have been through the IDRP process before they make an application to the Pensions Ombudsman.

Our pensions team can help, guide, and advise members on their IDRP applications, ensuring all relevant material is included, and irrelevant factors are excluded. 

We have put in place streamlined processes for Trustees and Employers and work with HR personnel to handle and advise them on complaints raised by members or beneficiaries.  We can fix our prices for our initial review and advice, so it doesn’t need to be a costly and time-consuming exercise.

To prevent or reduce the risk of complaints arising we can review your processes and procedures.

Quite often we see complaints about underpayments of benefits or beneficiaries complaining that death benefits have not been paid to the correct beneficiaries.  These situations can be costly and time consuming to unravel and advise on.  We have saved our clients costs and time by putting in place robust streamlined processes to reduce the risk of these situations arising.

If the above sounds familiar or you would like to chat through areas where we can help you, please do contact Parminder or your pensions contact at gunnercooke.  We are happy to have an initial discussion at no cost, so you can help us, to help you.