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  • Benefits
  • Everyday money
  • Family & care
  • Homes
  • Money troubles
  • Pensions & retirement
  • Savings
  • Work
  • Universal Credit Find out how Universal Credit works and how to manage your payment
    Benefits if you have children Entitlements to help with the cost of pregnancy or bringing up children
    Benefits if you’re sick, disabled or a carer Understand what support is available for coping with ill health
    Benefits in later life You may be entitled for help with other costs on top of your State Pension
    Benefits and work Extra support if you’re working, self-employed, or you’ve lost your job
    Benefits to help with housing costs Support to help with rent or mortgage payments if you’re on a low income
    Problems with benefits What to do if something goes wrong with your benefits
    Benefits All Benefits guidance
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    Tool

    Money Navigator

    Tool

    Money Manager

    Calculator

    Benefits calculator
    ALL TOOLS
    Pensions issues? Join our community group

    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

  • Banking and payments How to choose, use and manage bank accounts
    Budgeting How to budget, find the best deals and switch to save money
    Buying and running a car How to buy and finance a car, deal with problems with car finance, and cut running costs
    Credit Credit basics, applying for credit, credit ratings and problems with credit
    Insurance Insurance for cars, health, travel, and help with insurance
    Everyday money All Everyday money guidance
    Tools

    Tool

    Compare bank accounts

    Tool

    Budget Planner

    Tool

    Money Midlife MOT
    ALL TOOLS
    Pensions issues? Join our community group

    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

  • Becoming a parent Having a baby, returning to work, childcare costs
    Death and bereavement Wills, inheritance, sorting out estates
    Divorce and separation Sorting out money and homes, what if you have children, money after break ups
    Illness and disability Managing costs, extra financial support, help with work or study
    Long-term care Paying and getting funding, ways to pay, problems with care
    Student and graduate money Credit cards, bank accounts, student debts
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    Baby costs calculator

    Tool

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    Pensions issues? Join our community group

    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

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    Stamp Duty calculator

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    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

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    Money troubles All Money troubles guidance
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    Tool

    Debt advice locator

    Calculator

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    Tool

    Bill prioritiser
    ALL TOOLS
    Pensions issues? Join our community group

    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

  • Auto enrolment Introduction, how it works, all about contributions
    Building your retirement pot How much do you need, ways to build your pot, transferring and merging
    Pension basics Starting a pension, types of pension, understanding pensions
    Pension problems Complaints, financial help when retired, changes to schemes
    State Pension How it works, what you might get, National Insurance
    Taking your pension Ways to draw your pension, when can you retire, Pension Wise appointments
    Tax and pensions Tax allowances, tax paid on pensions, tax relief
    Pensions and retirement All guidance, including how to use the Pension Wise service
    Tools

    Appointment

    Book a Pension Wise appointment

    Calculator

    Pension calculator

    Tool

    Money Midlife MOT

    Tool

    Find a retirement adviser
    ALL TOOLS
    Book your free Pension Wise appointment

    Over 50? Get free, impartial guidance from our government-backed service. We’ll explain your options for taking money from your pension pots.

  • How to save Getting started, getting the most out of savings, problems
    Investing How to invest, types of investing, buying and managing
    Types of savings Help with meeting goals, tax-friendly saving, saving for children
    Savings All Savings guidance
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    Savings calculator

    Tool

    Budget Planner
    ALL TOOLS
    Pensions issues? Join our community group

    Join our private Facebook group ‘Your pension and planning for the future – by MoneyHelper’ to get help and to chat about pensions

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Cymraeg
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  2. Pensions & retirement
  3. Pension problems
Pensions & retirement Pension problems

Getting compensation for a pension problem

Even with the best-run pension schemes, providers can make mistakes or take too long to correct them. If something goes wrong – leaving you worse off – you might be entitled to compensation. If you’ve lost out financially, you might be awarded compensation that aims to put you back in the position you would have been in had the problem not happened. This might be paid to your pension or directly to you.

What’s in this guide

  • Compensation if your pension or pension investment provider has failed
  • Compensation if you’ve received bad advice regarding a pension
  • Compensation if something has gone wrong with the management or administration of your pension

Compensation if your pension or pension investment provider has failed

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Financial Services Compensation Scheme

Find out more, and what they’ll pay, on the FSCS website

If your money is with a UK regulated pension or annuity provider or it is in investments in a pension that are managed by UK-regulated firms and they fail, you may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The FSCS was set up by parliament to provide a completely independent and free service that can protect you when things go wrong with financial firms where you hold money.

The FSCS operates different levels of compensation according to the type of investment involved. There are limits to how much they can pay.

The FSCS don't cover most defined contribution trust-based workplace pensions. If you’re contributing to or have contributed to one of these schemes and are concerned about the security of your pot, contact the employer or the trustees.

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Find out more from the section ‘pensions regulated by the Pensions Regulator’ in our guide How safe is your pension?

The FSCS also doesn’t protect defined benefit pensions. These are likely to be protected by the Pension Protection Fund.

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Find out more on the Pension Protection Fund website
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Need more information on pensions?

Call us free on 0800 011 3797 or use our webchatOpens in a new window. One of our pension specialists will be happy to answer your questions.

 

Our help is impartial and free to use, whether that’s online or over the phone.

Opening times: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Closed on bank holidays.

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Compensation if you’ve received bad advice regarding a pension

If you’ve lost money because you have received advice about a pension from a UK regulated financial adviser you may be entitled to compensation.

If the adviser who gave you the advice is still trading, you will need to contact them first to complain. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service

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If you've transferred out of a defined benefit pension and want to make a complaint about the advice you've received, you can find out more about what to do and who to contact in our guide Dealing with pension problems and making a complaint
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Compensation if something has gone wrong with the management or administration of your pension

In these situations, it’s always best to contact your pension provider first. Talk to them about what’s happened and give them a chance to put things right.

It's always best to put your complaint in writing to your provider, and make a note of who you spoke to and on what dates. This is so you have a record of what you’ve asked them to address.

If you're unhappy with their reply, you can escalate your complaint through your scheme’s Internal Dispute Resolution Process. Your scheme provider should give you all the information you need to do this.

If you’re unable to resolve the problem in this way, your next step is to contact The Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Ombudsman is an independent organisation set up by law to investigate complaints or disputes about pension schemes. They are completely independent and impartial. They look at the facts without taking sides and their service is free.

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The Pensions Ombudsman

Find out more on The Pensions Ombudsman website

The Pensions Ombudsman deals with complaints and disputes about the administration and/or management of occupational and personal pension schemes.

They can look at things like:

  • taking too long to do something without good reason
  • failing to do something they should have done
  • not following the rules of the pension scheme or the law
  • breaking a promise
  • giving incorrect or misleading information
  • not making a decision in the right way.

If the ombudsman decides your complaint should be upheld (agreed with) or partly upheld they will usually tell the party at fault to put things right. That might include making good a financial loss or taking other steps to correct the problem. You might also receive compensation for any distress or inconvenience caused.

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If you’re having problems with your pension, find out who can help you and what to do with our guide Dealing with pension problems and making a complaint
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Pension problems

Complaints

  • Complaining about delays to your pension
  • Dealing with pension problems and making a complaint
  • The Pension Protection Fund
  • Problems with a decision about ill health in retirement
  • Dealing with mistakes and overpayments with your pension
  • Getting compensation for a pension problem
  • Help if you’ve transferred out of the British Steel Pension
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Looking for us? Now, we’re MoneyHelper

MoneyHelper is the new, easy way to get clear, free, impartial help for all your money and pension choices. Whatever your circumstances or plans, move forward with MoneyHelper.

Continue to website
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Looking for us? Now, we’re MoneyHelper

MoneyHelper is the new, easy way to get clear, free, impartial help for all your money and pension choices. Whatever your circumstances or plans, move forward with MoneyHelper.

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Complaints

  • Complaining about delays to your pension
  • Dealing with pension problems and making a complaint
  • The Pension Protection Fund
  • Problems with a decision about ill health in retirement
  • Dealing with mistakes and overpayments with your pension
  • Getting compensation for a pension problem
  • Help if you’ve transferred out of the British Steel Pension
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