1. Pensions Ombudsman Service
Presentation to the Ombudsman Association First Contact Group
Jane McCue and Paul Strachan
27 November 2015

2. Who we are Public body sponsored by Department for Work and Pensions
Set up by law to investigate complaints about pension administration
Combine functions of the Pensions Ombudsman and the Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
Service funded by levy on pension schemes
Help scheme members and dependants / employers and trustees
Determinations are final and binding with no financial limit

3. What we do Independent and impartial – not a regulator
40 staff, working within legislation set down by parliament
In 2014/5 we received 4236 complaint enquiries
Responded to 97% of enquiries within two working days
In 2014/15 we took on 1,280 new investigations

4. Gateway team and TPAS
Team of nine dealing with all new enquiries through the post, s, phone calls as well as jurisdiction matters
Many consumers use the services of the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) before making a formal complaint to the Ombudsman
TPAS works with consumers to try and resolve their complaints informally
Many complaints are resolved by explanation or mediation, without the need for our involvement

5. Gateway team challenges
Increased numbers of people applying to us:
automatic enrolment, pension liberation, recent changes in the Budget to how pension benefits can be taken
Consumers’ expectations:
Waiting times at different stages
Time taken to reach a resolution (around 12 months for entire process)
Signposting:
More effective signposting may help to shorten the consumer’s waiting times, reducing frustration and entrenched positions
Jurisdiction overlaps with FOS

6. Pension Products
UK has many different legal structures for personal and occupational pensions:
Occupational pension scheme run by the employer, with an administrator and trustees – public or private sector
Personal pension policy, run by an insurance company, held in the name of the consumer
Self -invested personal pension plan (SIPP)
Small self-administered pension scheme (SSAS)
Additional Voluntary Contribution Contract (AVC)
Deferred annuity or Section 32 Agreement
Executive pension plan

7. Examples of the consumer’s journey
There are many ways for a consumer
with a pension problem to reach the Ombudsman
Here are two examples of typical journeys

8. Personal pension signposting
Consumer makes a complaint about poor service to the administrator of their pension policy
Final response from pension provider signposts them to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) should they remain unhappy
Consumer completes a FOS application form. When FOS looks at the papers, it’s apparent they cannot deal with the complaint
FOS signposts consumer to TPAS or to us, and their papers are passed accordingly, with consent of the consumer

9. Personal pension signposting
If TPAS first: consumer completes a letter of authority. The complaint may be resolved with TPAS’s input, if not TPAS will advise the consumer to apply to us
Consumer completes our application form, including the TPAS reference number
We put in a request for the consumer’s file from TPAS
Once papers received from TPAS, our jurisdiction investigators review paperwork to decide if we can investigate the matter

10. Occupational pension signposting
Consumer doesn’t agree with the way their pensionable service is calculated. It has been raised with employer. Consumer calls us about the grievance
We signpost the consumer to TPAS as we cannot advise whether employer is correct or not
Consumer doesn’t want to speak to TPAS – the employer hasn’t sorted out the issue and they want us to take this up
We establish if the consumer is a member of an occupational scheme. Explain it’s a legal requirement to attempt to resolve the issue using the scheme’s Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP).

11. Occupational pension signposting
Consumer should contact us again when the IDRP is completed
Hard to give practical guidance on how long the IDRP should take
The Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice - where an application is made for a dispute to be considered under scheme’s IDRP, the trustees or managers must “make a decision on the matter in dispute within a reasonable time period of them having received the application”
After several months the consumer contacts us again, having been through both stages of the IDRP and still dissatisfied. Sends us a copy of complaint correspondence and a signed application form

12. Jurisdiction investigators
Only when we have all of the paperwork can we decide if able to investigate
Have to verify that parties to the complaint fall within our jurisdiction, establish the correct complaints procedure has been exhausted, and the matter falls within our statutory time limits
If unable to investigate, we write and explain this, giving the applicant the right of review. If our decision is upheld on review, then the applicant’s recourse is via judicial review
If we can investigate, the applicant is notified the case has been accepted for investigation - the file joins a queue, waiting for an investigator to become available

13. Gateway team – the future
Automatic pension scheme enrolment
Mandatory for all employers to enrol eligible staff into a pension scheme
Large numbers of employees not previously included in pension schemes brought into our jurisdiction
Their expectations of us may not be same as current consumers
Our process may need to align more closely with their experience of pension scheme membership e.g. quick, web based access
Will bring smaller employers within our jurisdiction, less used to dealing with pension scheme matters

14. The future Increasing numbers of consumers looking to use our service
Smarter and more innovative ways of dealing with complaints
Fluid approach, rather than one set way of dealing
Gateway Team first to see any increase to the level of work
Need to ensure all cases dealt with quickly and proportionately
Consumer’s journey should be no longer than necessary

15. And finally….
Have you seen an increase in workload either over the short or longer term?
How did you deal with the increase in work?
What other ways can we use to simplify the journey from dispute to resolution?