The Pensions Regulator

Is your complaint about the Pensions Regulator?Complaints

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Who can help?

The Pensions Advisory Service

The Pensions Advisory Service provides free help and advice to people with queries about their occupational, personal or stakeholder pensions. It has a telephone helpline which is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. The service may be able to help you directly or, depending on the nature of your query, they will advise you which other organisation can help.

The service's advisers will also try to help you sort out problems you may have with the way your pension scheme is run. In some cases, the adviser may correspond with the scheme on your behalf to help resolve matters. These could include discrepancies with benefit payments or a disagreement with certain decisions made by the trustees. The service cannot normally help if you are simply disappointed with the investment performance of your pension fund.

enquiries@opas.org.uk
Visit the Pensions Advisory Service website

Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Ombudsman deals with complaints about the running of pension schemes that have not been resolved by the scheme's own complaints procedure or by the Pensions Advisory Service. The Pensions Advisory Service can provide advice on taking your complaint to the Ombudsman. However, even if they do not advise this, you may still go to the Ombudsman if you wish.

The Pensions Ombudsman has the power to make a final decision on a complaint. He will investigate the case and reach a decision that is legally binding on you and the scheme. Possible outcomes may be to confirm a scheme's actions were correct or to direct a party to pay compensation where the Ombudsman considers there was maladministration by the scheme.

enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
Visit the Pensions Ombudsman website

Pension Tracing Service

The Department for Work and Pensions maintains a register of pension schemes. They provide a tracing service which can help you if you have lost track of your pension scheme. For example, you might have lost touch with your scheme when you changed jobs, or if a former employer has changed its name. This could mean that you cannot claim your pensions when you retire.

Visit the Pensions Service website

Pension Protection Fund

The Pension Protection Fund was established to pay compensation to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes where the sponsoring employer becomes insolvent and the scheme is underfunded. The Pension Protection Fund is a statutory fund run by the Board of the Pension Protection Fund, a statutory corporation established under the provisions of the Pensions Act 2004. It began work on 6 April 2005.

If you have a query about whether you may be entitled to compensation from the Pension Protection Fund you should, in the first instance, contact your pension scheme trustees.

Visit the Pension Protection Fund website

Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The FSA is the independent watchdog set up by government to regulate financial services in the UK and protect the rights of retail customers. By law, most financial services firms, including providers of personal and stakeholder pensions, must be authorised by the FSA. You can check that the firm you are dealing with is authorised by using the FSA Firm Check Service on their website or via the consumer helpline.

The FSA also regulates the selling and marketing of personal and stakeholder pensions. (The Pensions Regulator regulates the administration of pension schemes but not the selling of pensions.)

The FSA provides general information about personal or stakeholder pensions. But it cannot give you advice specific to your circumstances. The FSA does not investigate individual consumer complaints but has a complaints process that firms must follow. The firm will advise you of this.

Visit the Financial Services Authority website

Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service can investigate a complaint about the selling or marketing of a pension scheme when a consumer is not satisfied with the way the firm has handled the complaint.

Visit the Financial Ombudsman Service website

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

FSCS is the UK's statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. Authorised firms are those that are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). FSCS may be able to pay compensation if a firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it.

For pensions this may be, for example, where a consumer has a complaint about the selling or marketing of a personal pension, and the firm has gone out of business and is unable to pay claims against it, or where a pension provider goes out of business and is unable to meet its commitments to policyholders.

Visit the Financial Services Compensation Scheme website

The Pension Service

This service is part of the Department for Work and Pensions. It manages the payment of state pensions and benefits. You should contact them if you have a query about the benefits and entitlements provided by the State.

Visit the Pension Service website

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