Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)

[Tom Hill]

Hi everyone.
This my first post and I hope someone can help. Sorry if it is a bit long winded
I was in a final salary pension scheme and the company I worked for was taken over in early 2002, I was then aged 60 and the company that took us over immediately stopped contributions to the scheme and proceeded to wind up the scheme. Shortly after I was made redundant and they eventually closed the company
In April 2005 I received a letter from the trustees giving details of the benefit amount available to me form the scheme, which was the amount” in line with the current legislation on minimum funding arrangements.” This letter also gave me a figure that I should have had to secure my full benefits “based on an annuity purchase with Equitable Life” The difference between these figures was roughly £70,000. That is I received £70,000 less than my full entitlement. I opted to transfer my benefit amount to another pension policy with another insurance company.
In December 2005 I received letter asking me to confirm that the money had been transferred and confirming that the scheme would be fully wound up within the next few weeks “and at this point the Trustees will be discharged of their duties”. The scheme closed in February 2006.
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']The scheme is listed on Financial Assistance Scheme web pages (now The Pension Regulators Web Site) as being at “stage 3 (Notified (successful) progressing to Qualification”[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']I t has never moved from this stage so I have been phoning, emailing and writing to the FAS for the last 12 Months[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']They have been chasing the company who took us over to provide them with data they require to progress the scheme and after ignoring the letters they eventually informed the FAS they did not have the data they wanted. The FAS are now trying to get information from the Pension Regulator, and again this seems to be progressing very slowly.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']My query is their any legal requirement for the company who took us over to keep this data[/FONT][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']? As the scheme is fully wound up the Trustees no longer exist.[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Will any other government dept have this data? I believe that when a pension scheme is wound up HMRC must be kept informed[/FONT][FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'].[/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif'][/FONT]
[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']I am now 68 so I am getting worried if this matter will be resolved[/FONT]

[TUTTSI]

Re: Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)

Hi Tom

Welcome yo Leagle Beagles.

I have noticed that this post has not been answered and have now bought this to the attention of the team.

Hopefully someone will answer you very soon and hope that someone will have the answer for you.

This is from the DWP site.

The Financial Assistance Scheme

Background

The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) offers help to some people who have lost out on their pension because:

• they were a member of an under-funded defined benefit scheme that started to wind-up between 1 January 1997 and 5 April 2005, and either:
  • their scheme began to wind-up and did not have enough money to pay members’ benefits, and
  • the employer cannot pay the shortfall because it is insolvent, no longer exist or no longer has to meet its commitment to pay its debt to the pension scheme: or
• they were a member of an under-funded defined-benefit scheme that started to wind up after 5 April 2005 but before 22 December 2008 and is ineligible for help from the Pension Protection Fund because the sponsoring employer became insolvent before 6 April 2005.

The FAS is managed by Board of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), a statutory corporation established under the provisions of the Pensions Act 2004 which is accountable to Parliament through the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
The FAS is administered by the FAS Operational Unit (FAS OU). It makes payments to top up scheme benefits to eligible members of schemes that are winding-up or have wound-up.
Current information on the Financial Assistance Scheme for pension scheme members and pension professionals is now to be found on the Pension Protection Fund FAS website.

• Pension Protection Fund FAS

Our Timeline of events shows the developments in the FAS since it was announced in 2004 and Legislation summarises relevant Regulations as they came into force.


Tuttsi