Complain about TPR

If you’re not happy with how The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has acted, you can use our formal complaints process. We will always take any issues that you raise seriously.

What is covered by our complaints process

We can only deal with complaints against us. This includes complaints about our own:

mistakes or lack of care
unreasonable delay
unprofessional behaviour
bias or lack of integrity

If your complaint is about an employer not meeting their pension duties, or your scheme not being run properly, you can report the scheme or employer to us.

How to complain about us

You should contact the member of staff or team that you first dealt with to discuss your concerns. They may be able to resolve your concerns there and then.

If you’re not satisfied with how we handled your concerns, you can make a formal complaint. You can do so by completing our complaints form.

We strongly encourage you to submit your complaint electronically as this is the quickest and easiest way for us to address your concerns.

Alternatively, you can write to us at:

Post

TPR Complaints Team
The Pensions Regulator
Telecom House
125-135 Preston Road
Brighton
BN1 6AF

What to expect when you raise a complaint

We know your complaint is important to you and it’s important to us too. Our customer charter explains the commitments we make to you when you contact us. It also explains what we expect from you.

We use a two-stage formal complaints process.

Stage 1

We will aim to acknowledge your complaint within seven working days of receiving it. We will then review all the information we have about your complaint.

We will look at whether:

staff have taken the right actions
staff have been polite and fair
there has been any unreasonable delay or withholding of information

We will write to tell you of our findings within 30 working days. If it takes longer than this, we will inform you of progress, the reasons for any delay and when we will reply in full.

In our response we will:

explain anything that went wrong
set out any steps that have been or will be taken to put matters right
state whether your complaint is upheld or not

If your complaint is not upheld, we will explain why in our response.

Stage 2

If you're not satisfied with our response, you may be able to request stage 2 of the process. Our stage 1 response will tell you if this is the case.

At stage 2 you can ask us to review the way we handled your complaint. When seeking a review, you will need to set out in writing those matters that you’re still not satisfied with.

We will acknowledge your stage 2 complaint within five working days. We will aim to reply to you within 30 working days.

Time limits

The following time limits apply to making a formal complaint.

Stage 1 complaint: any time. But if the complaint is about a particular incident, you should make it as soon as you can after the event.
Stage 2 complaint: within 28 working days of the date of the stage 1 reply from us.

We understand that each case is different so we may extend these time limits.

Public Service Ombudsman

The Public Service Ombudsman can also investigate complaints against us. The Ombudsman usually only accepts a case after our complaints procedure has finished.

You should write to your MP. They will refer your complaint to the Ombudsman.

Victims of crime

If we have taken on a criminal investigation and you don’t believe your rights under the Victims’ Code are being met by us, you can make a complaint. See our page on victims of crime for more information.

Data protection

Our privacy notice gives more details about how we look after personal data.