Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme (PO-27002)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Complaint Summary

Mr Y complains that RMSPS MT is improperly refusing to pay a full deferred pension to him on retirement from the RMSPS. He says that RMSPS MT is only prepared to pay him the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which he accrued in the RMSPS from March 1979 to April 1986 as notified by HMRC National Insurance Contributions Office (NICO) during a GMP reconciliation exercise.

Summary of the Ombudsman’s Determination and reasons

The complaint should be upheld against RMSPS MT because NICO’s records indicate that Mr Y retained GMP liabilities in the RMSPS have not been transferred to another pension arrangement. In the absence of any justified reason why Mr Y would have lost his entitlement to a deferred pension, I conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Y is entitled to a full deferred pension and not just the GMP from the RMSPS.