What's involved?
What's involved?
We have to be fair and impartial and look at a problem without taking sides. We will consider information from all the parties involved in a complaint before making a decision, wherever possible.
If you are not sure if your complaint is something we can deal with, contact us or read the section Can I complain?
What stages are involved in the complaint process?
Once you have submitted your application to us, there are four stages to our complaint process:
- Review - we’ll look at your application in more detail and might ask for more information to help us decide whether or not we can deal with your complaint. We might be able to resolve the problem for you at this stage.
- Investigate - a caseworker will look at all the facts of the case. We may need to go to both parties to ask for additional information to evaluate the case.
- Make an initial decision or resolve the problem - once we have enough information, the person working on your complaint will give their view on the matter unless they have been able to informally resolve the problem for you.
- Determination - if the problem cannot be resolved or you or the other party disagree with the decision, you can ask for the complaint to be considered by the Ombudsman and for a final decision to be made.
Review
Before we can look into a problem we need to decide if it’s something we can deal with. We may have to ask you for additional information to help us decide this. There are some cases where we will not investigate the matter – for example, because another entity is better placed to deal with the complaint.
Show more about ReviewUsually an application to The Pensions Ombudsman needs to be made within three years of when the event(s) you are complaining about happened or, if later, within three years of when you first knew about it (or ought to have known about it). We have some discretion in certain instances for the time limit to be extended.
We will check if you have already complained to the party at fault and given them a chance to put things right. View our factsheet which sets out how to complain to the party/parties at fault.
We will need to assess whether the matter can be taken on for investigation. This is called a jurisdiction decision. The complaints that we can take on for investigation is set out by legislation and jurisdiction decisions can be complex. We may decide that we can look at your entire complaint, or just aspects of it. Or we might decide that none of your complaint can be investigated. We will let you know what we have decided and why.
If you don’t agree with our decision you will have an opportunity to explain why you disagree and ask us to reconsider.
We will assess your application to decide the most suitable next steps. We may be able to resolve the problem at this stage or progress the complaint for further investigation.
One of our reviewers will make a final decision after looking at all the facts again. They might ask for more information if needed.
Investigate
When a complaint is allocated to a caseworker for investigation, they will review it and may contact other parties to ask for more information.
Show more about InvestigateDuring an investigation we will usually share all the information we receive. This means that anything you send to us is likely to be seen by the people you are complaining about and information received from them is likely to be seen by you.
Usually we will ask the people you think are at fault to comment on your complaint.
The Pensions Ombudsman was established by legislation. As an organisation we are impartial and make decisions in accordance with legal principles. For example, we may assess your complaint against pensions legislation, the scheme rules and pensions case law.
If a complaint is complex, or there are a number of people involved, we may need to make several requests for information to establish the facts.
Make an initial decision or resolve the problem
Once we have enough information, we aim to close a complaint as quickly as possible.
We can do this through informal resolution and agreement, by providing our view on a complaint or by an Ombudsman making a binding Determination.
Show more about Make an initial decision or resolve the problemIf all parties can agree on an informal resolution, we can close the complaint.
If the matter can’t be resolved informally a caseworker will make a decision on the complaint and write to all parties to give their view.
If they think nothing has gone wrong, they will explain why. Or, if they think something has gone wrong, they will explain their thinking and say what should be done to put things right.
Everyone involved in the complaint will have a chance to comment on the caseworker’s view.
If all parties accept the caseworker's view and proposal to put things right we will close the case.
If any one of the parties to the complaint does not agree with the caseworker's view, they can ask for the complaint to be referred to the Ombudsman for a final decision.
Sometimes, the Ombudsman will issue their initial view on a complaint – a preliminary decision. This will be sent to everyone involved in the complaint and they will be invited to comment before the Ombudsman makes a Determination.
We will give everyone time to comment on a caseworker’s view or an Ombudsman’s preliminary decision. When we write to you, we will tell you the deadline for responses.
Determination
The Ombudsman’s Determinations are final, binding and enforceable in court (unless there is a successful appeal on a point of law). More information about the Ombudsman’s Determinations, and how to appeal them, is in our Determination factsheet.
Show more about DeterminationIf the Ombudsman decides a complaint should be upheld or partly upheld they will usually tell the person at fault to put things right.
This might include:
- Making good a financial loss or taking other steps to correct the problem. The Ombudsman can usually only consider whether there has been any harm to the individual who has come to us with the problem. There are some exceptions, for example if money has been paid out of a pension scheme in breach of trust at a loss to the whole scheme.
- Paying compensation for any non-financial injustice, such as distress or inconvenience caused. More information about non-financial injustice and the way in which the Ombudsman addresses it is in our Redress for non-financial injustice factsheet.
There is no financial limit to the value of the award the Ombudsman can make.
We aim to resolve complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible and we are working hard to reduce the time taken to complete investigations.
How long will it take?
Some complaints can be dealt with relatively quickly while others may take much longer. It depends on how complex a complaint is and how many people are involved. We may need to make several requests for information to establish the facts. The time needed for an investigation to conclude depends on how quickly the parties involved respond to our requests for information and whether the parties to the complaint accept the initial decision or resolution.
In exceptional circumstances – for example situations of severe financial distress, ill health or bereavement, or if the matter is in the public interest – we may accelerate a case through the process more quickly.
What you can expect
When you submit an application, we’ll usually acknowledge it within 20 working days.
Our Case Assessment team will carry out some preliminary work on your complaint. For example, we might ask you or the people you have complained about for some more information.
If your complaint is accepted for investigation we will allocate an Adjudicator or Resolution Specialist to deal with it as soon as one becomes available with the appropriate knowledge and skills.
Current situation
Waiting times are currently much longer than we would like. This is because more people are using our service. We are working hard to make improvements to our service so that we can reduce waiting times.
We will update you at key stages as your complaint progresses through the investigation process.
Ways in which a complaint can be concluded once it has been established as being within our jurisdiction.
Resolved or withdrawn complaints
We aim to close cases informally where possible. This can involve:
- A case being resolved through agreement between all parties, this process can be supported by a caseworker.
- Through all parties accepting a caseworker’s view or opinion.
- The applicant withdraws their complaint.
An caseworker’s view or Opinion is accepted
In these cases, a caseworker will give everyone involved in the complaint their written view of their decision. If all parties agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion, the case will be closed.
The complaint is discontinued
In these cases, the Ombudsman decides that the investigation into the complaint should not continue. Before discontinuing an investigation, we will tell all parties to the complaint why the investigation is likely to be discontinued and give them an opportunity to provide representations.
The Ombudsman’s Determinations
This happens when some or all of the people involved in the complaint do not accept the caseworker's view or Opinion on the complaint. The Ombudsman’s Determinations are final, binding and enforceable in court (unless there is a successful appeal on a point of law). More information about the Ombudsman’s Determinations, and how to appeal them, is in our Determination factsheet.
If the Ombudsman decides a complaint should be upheld or partly upheld they will usually tell the person at fault to put things right.
This might include:
- Making good a financial loss or taking other steps to correct the problem. The Ombudsman can usually only consider whether there has been any harm to the individual who has come to us with the problem. There are some exceptions, for example if money has been paid out of a pension scheme in breach of trust at a loss to the whole scheme.
- Paying compensation for any non-financial injustice, such as distress or inconvenience caused. More information about non-financial injustice and the way in which the Ombudsman addresses it is in our Redress for non-financial injustice factsheet.
There is no financial limit to the value of the award the Ombudsman can make.
Appointing a representative
When you complete our application, you can nominate someone else to help you bring your complaint to us. This could be a member of your family, a friend or a professional person such as a solicitor. However you are unlikely to get any costs repaid (even if your complaint is upheld) because our service is designed so that people should not normally need professional help.
If you appoint a representative we will write to them directly while we are processing your complaint and throughout the investigation.
Enquiries and Assessment
All enquiries and applications are dealt with by Enquiries and Assessment.
Staff can help with initial enquiries if you are thinking of raising a complaint about your pension. They might be able to help you immediately to resolve your problem. Applications are assessed to decide what action needs to be taken to ensure a smooth and efficient process in each case. We also have staff who decide if an application can be taken on for investigation.
Resolution
If your complaint is assessed to be suitable for our Resolution Team, it will be passed to a Resolution Specialist. They will usually talk to you and the party being complained about to reach a resolution on the complaint that is acceptable to everyone.
If a complaint cannot be resolved this way, the next steps might include the complaint being considered by an Adjudicator and ultimately an Ombudsman.
Adjudication
Once we have reviewed your application and decided that it is something we can take on for adjudication, your complaint will be allocated to one of our Adjudicators. They have powers delegated by the Ombudsman to gather evidence, investigate complaints and give their view as to what the outcome might be. When your case is allocated, an Adjudicator will write to you. They will usually be your main point of contact throughout the investigation process.
Ombudsman
The power to make final and binding decisions rests only with the Pensions Ombudsman and the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman.
Dominic Harris is the Pensions Ombudsman and Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman. Anthony Arter is the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman and Deputy Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman (in addition to being TPO's Interim Chair).
The Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman are appointed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Both Ombudsmen have identical decision-making powers.
You can find out more about the law that governs us in Legal Framework: occupational and personal pensions and Legal Framework: Pension Protection Fund, or the Financial Assistance Scheme.
When someone asks us to look into a problem, they have often been trying to resolve it for some time. A lot of people feel very frustrated or distressed.
We will always be considerate and treat you with respect. And we will keep you informed at each stage in the process.
We have to be impartial and look into a problem without taking sides. Sometimes a decision that is fair in a legal sense may not seem fair to you personally.
We will always be open and honest with you about how and why we have made our decisions.
If you have some feedback on how we could improve our service or think something may have gone wrong contact us.
A group complaint is where several people have the same problem with the same scheme.
Each person with a complaint needs to ask us to investigate even if the complaints appear to be identical.
Usually we expect multiple applicants to be represented by one person so that we have a central point of contact for all correspondence.
Lead case
We will set up one complainant as the lead case and ask this person to complete an application. If the complainant is also the representative for the group then they should expect that information about their case will be shared with the rest of the group and we will ask for written authority to do so.
Other applicants
We may not need formal applications from other people in the group but we will need:
- personal details such as a name and address
- written confirmation of their complaint
- confirmation that a representative has been appointed (if applicable)
- a signature.
What we will do
First we will need to decide if the complaint is something we can investigate. Normally we will assess the lead case first and then decide the appropriate course of action for the remaining complainants.
What you need to do
We can look at complaints about how personal and occupational pension schemes are run. But there are some things we can’t investigate, so you should check the information on this site to see if your complaint is something we can deal with.
If you are considering making a group complaint please contact us in advance for further information and guidance.
Linking group cases during investigation
Sometimes, we receive a number of individual complaints which cover the same problem, but which have been submitted through separate applications (possibly also at different times) rather than via a lead complainant. When this happens, we may join those complaints together during the investigation process and issue a single Determination which covers them all. We will inform you if this applies to your complaint.
Personal information
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 we must comply with various duties for any personal information that we hold about you. For example, we must use your information fairly and keep it secure. For more information, read our Privacy and Personal Information Policy.
Oral hearings
As part of the investigation, any party to a complaint can ask us to hold an oral hearing. It is the Ombudsman's decision whether or not to hold one. The Ombudsman may decide to have an oral hearing even if one isn’t requested. Generally, the Ombudsman might decide, or agree, to hold a hearing if there is a significant conflict of evidence that can’t be decided on the papers, or if we think that a party may have been dishonest. If you think we should hold an oral hearing for your case you should write to the Adjudicator explaining why. Oral hearings are open to the public.
Rights and Responsibilities
All parties have rights and responsibilities during an investigation. This includes a duty to keep all the information related to a complaint confidential.
Have you checked if you can complain?
We can look at complaints about how personal and occupational pension schemes are run. We can also help if you have a complaint about a decision made by the Pension Protection Fund or the Financial Assistance Scheme.
But there are some things we can’t investigate, so you should check the information on this page to see if your complaint is something we can deal with.
Ready to complain?
Once you have checked that your complaint is something we can deal with, you will need to submit an application and send us any documents related to your complaint.
What’s involved in complaints about the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme?
The process and timescales for complaints about the Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme are different.
Once you have been through PPF’s two-stage internal procedure and have received a final decision from the PPF Reconsideration Committee, we can look at your complaint and will follow our usual stages of review, investigate and make a decision.
We have to notify other people who may be ‘significantly adversely affected’ by the outcome of a PPF referral or complaint.
If there is anyone, we will publish details of the complaint and the people who may be significantly adversely affected on this site.
If we have identified you as someone who might be significantly adversely affected by the outcome of a complaint and you want to participate in the investigation you will have the right to:
- inspect all documents and submissions we receive – we will publish a summary of any submissions we receive and you can make an appointment to view the papers
- send written comments about the complaint to us – by law you must do this within 28 days of us publishing notification that you are a significantly adversely affected person
- object to a proposal to deal with referrals or complaints together where we think they are substantially the same – you must object within 14 days of us publishing the proposal.
You can appoint someone to represent you and you will also have the same general rights and responsibilities as the other parties. This includes a duty to keep all the information related to a case confidential.
Any written representations or other documents you submit will form part of the appeal and will be made available to, or shared with, other parties to the complaint.
Oral hearings
Significantly adversely affected people have the right to request, or attend, an oral hearing before the Ombudsman reaches a final decision.
Any request for a hearing must be made within 28 days of us publishing notification that you are a significantly adversely affected person.
If you want to attend an oral hearing you must tell us no later than 14 days before the hearing and let us know if you will be:
- attending in person
- calling witnesses.
If you are calling witnesses you should send us their names and a summary of the evidence they will be giving. Any written representations in connection with the hearing must be made at least 14 days before the hearing date.
During the investigation
We will publish regular updates on this site, so you don’t need to participate in the investigation to be kept informed.
The time taken to complete our investigation might increase if there are a large number of participants. Go to our investigation process to find out more about what to expect.
After a decision has been made
An Ombudsman’s Determination of the referral or complaint will be final and binding on all the parties involved and any significantly adversely affected people, subject to an appeal on a point of law.
Strict time limits apply to the investigation of PPF referrals and complaints. Please contact us immediately if you need further information.
We can look at FAS decisions about a pension scheme or about something that affects an individual member of a scheme.
Before you can ask us to investigate you must ask the FAS to review its decision. If you need help to do this, please contact us – our Resolution Specialist will be able to help.
If you aren’t satisfied with the outcome you can ask us to investigate.
If an appeal of a FAS decision relates to a scheme notification or scheme eligibility decision we have to notify any ‘interested persons’ that an appeal has been made.
Broadly this is anyone who is, or might be, affected by the outcome of a complaint.
If there is anyone, we will publish details of the appeal, as well as who we have identified as interested persons, on this site.
Although you may be an interested person in relation to an appeal of a decision made by the FAS Scheme Manager it does not follow that you would receive an award under the FAS.
The criteria used by the Scheme Manager to determine whether you are eligible for an award, for example your age, are not the same as that used by us to determine whether you are an interested person.
If you are an interested person you’ll be able to inspect all documents and submissions we receive.
We will publish a summary of any submissions we receive on this site and you can make an appointment to view the papers.
Applying to participate in a FAS appeal
If you want to participate in an appeal you must apply to become a party to the complaint. You can appoint a representative to act for you.
You’ll need to send us an application, tell us how you would like to participate and provide the information requested.
We will look at your application and ask for more information if needed before deciding whether or not you are an interested person. If we are satisfied that you are, you will become a party to the complaint.
If we accept your application you will have the same rights and responsibilities as the other parties. This includes the right to make written submissions and request an oral hearing.
We will publish regular updates on this site, so you don’t need to participate in the investigation to be kept informed.
Any written representations or other documents you submit will form part of the appeal and will be made available, or shared with, others.
Strict timeframes apply to FAS appeals. Different timeframes apply before and after you have become a party to an appeal.
If you don’t comply with the following time limits you may not be able to take part in the appeal.
Making written representations
- you must make them within 28 days of us publishing notification of the appeal
- or within 14 days of when you became a party to the appeal if later.
Requesting an oral hearing
- you must request one within 28 days of us publishing notification of the appeal
- or within 14 days of when you became a party to the appeal if later.
Attending a hearing and making oral representations
- you must tell us no later than 21 days before the hearing
- or within 14 days if you are a party to the appeal.
Making written representations at a hearing
- you must send us a summary of your evidence (and any written representations) no later than 21 days before the hearing
- or within 14 days if you are a party to the appeal.
Calling witnesses to give evidence at an oral hearing
- you must let us know their names and give us a summary of their evidence no later than 21 days before the hearing
- or within 14 days if you are a party to the appeal.
Objecting to a proposal to combine appeals
- you must do so within 28 days of us publishing the proposal
- or within 14 days if you are a party to the appeal.
After a decision has been made
An Ombudsman’s Determination can be enforced in the courts (unless there is a successful appeal on a point of law) and is binding on you, the FAS Scheme Manager and (if applicable) the trustees, managers and any interested persons.