Why are HMRC closing my pension?

it might help if you told us

a. which bit of HMRC wrote to you - eg Pension Schemes Services? b. what else the letter told you would be happening and/or asked you to do?

Bear in mind also that your first port of call for any questions about an occupational pension ought to be the pension scheme's trustees or administrator. If you don't know who they are then

may be a good starting point.

National Insurance Contributions Office - Pension Scheme Cessation 14.

It asked me to supply whatever details that I had about my membership as they "cannot trace my details".

But the basis question,Why are HMCR and not the pension trustee doing this, remains.

Given that my underlying question is "Why have I been supplied with so little info here" I thought that I would get some basic info on the process first.

Thanks

tim

That helps a lot as it strongly suggests the HMRC interest is that employees will no longer be contracted-out because the pension scheme is being closed to new contributions. Contracting out in its various guides was never my "thing" but - with apologies if I'm stating the obvious - there's less NICs to pay if an employee's contracted-out of the State second pension

OK, on the cessation of the scheme NICO have to do loads of stuff. They get lists of members of the pension scheme for this purpose. They have to marry up those records with their own. It sounds as if they can't - possibly 'cos the scheme has a different NINO for you or soemthing - though it's a bit odd then that NICO managed to contact you at all.

Not a surprise that NICO are contacting you but a little bit of a surprise that the pension scheme hasn't as well - assuming of course that the pension scheme has your current address. May I ask when you last heard from them?

Process? I never delved into the intricacies of pension schemes but I'd say the various arrangements for setting them up and closing them down mean we first need to establish if we are dealing with fish, fowl or something from the black lagoon :)

Do you mean NI No.? This must be correct because that is (presumably) how HMRC found me.

1984. No they don't have my current address (though it was current until about 97). But I saw no reason to keep them informed of changes I have a piece of paper saying that I am entitled to a pension from them and until it comes to time for me to collect, why (historically) is there any reason for them to contact me? I am in the vast majority in not expecting a pension scheme to be wound up whilst the company that I worked for is still in existence and saw no reason to do anything.

I know that things have changed now, but then so do they, so it is reasonable for them to have expected people not to keep them informed and they could have asked HMRC if they had a better address for me.

How do I tell?

tim

Yes, NINO = NI No.

HMRC are not allowed to disclose your address to a 3rd party such as a pension scheme

Well a start would be for you to tell us the name of the scheme ;)

But I suggest the easier thing would be for you to tell NICO what they want to know. It may well be that they ask only because they don't have those years in your record of national insurance contributions. Failures to match contributions to records were not unknown (assuming you did pay NICS during those years). That's something you could check by asking first for a pension forecast - see eg

and seeing if the years on your record match what you expect. You could then separately ask the pension scheme to let you know the current position on your entitlement.

No, but they could forward a letter. Or they could write to me and tell me that the company need to contact me and that I should get in touch with them.

It happens that the scheme administrator has also changed since I was last contacted and they made no attempt to tell me they new name and address.

Does this really help. The basis upon which I am a member could be different from later joiners.

I have.

This has nothing to do with my "normal" NI contributions. It is all about the funds left in my company pension scheme

Thanks for your help.

tim