Pension overpayment

[pricey1976]

My dad has been waiting to hear back about how much pension he will receive, out of the blue he received a large lump sum in his bank account and was then told he would be receiving almost twice as much as he was expecting.

He felt that there was an error made so he called them twice. They came back to him and told him that it had been fully investigated and that the figures were correct.

He and my parents resigned from their jobs (something they wouldn't have been able to afford on his expected pension) gifted 2 of my siblings 10k each and brought a new car, spending a total of 40k of the lump sum.

Yesterday they received a letter from the pension company, explaining an error was made and they need him to pay back the lump sum and that his pension would only be half of what they previously had told him. They accepted that they had told him twice that these figures were correct and apologised.

So my parents are now 40k out of pocket and have resigned from their jobs do are earning appox 20k a year Les than expected, plus needless to say they are full of worry.

Anyone got any advice or any experience of anything similar?

[des8]

I think that having questioned the amount due, and having had it confirmed the pension company are on a losing wicket, especially as your father has changed his position i.e. has spent the money thinking he was entitled to it.

Re the diminution in his ongoing payments, he will only receive the lesser amount, even though he has retired early due to the company error.

I'm sure others will be along with further advice, bit it is bank holiday weekend so there might be a delay.

Help might be available from the Pension Advisory Service https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice....d-overpayments

[pricey1976]

Thank you for your reply, comforting to hear we may have a case.

At the moment he's drafting a letter of complaint and plans to go down the pensions ombudsman route If needed. I'd be interested to hear if people think heshpuld take formal legal advice prior to sending the letter.

Thanks again

[des8]

I'd hold back on sending that letter immediately, and wait to see if others have any advice.

possibly a good idea to run it past a solicitor.
if you don't have one you might find one on our sister site https://justbeagle.com/