Occupational Pension

[WILLIAMR]

I have met a woman who's husband is in the care home with dementia.
About every 2 years once the pensioner gets to 80 the pension trustees phone or visit the pensioner to see if he / she is still alive.
The husband completed an interview 2 years ago but is now not capable of doing this.
The trustees are not being very helpful.
They have phoned and asked to speak to the husband and the wife has told them this is not possible but she put the phone to his ear and he made some weird noises.
She has asked them to contact the care home to confirm he is there and the trustees have said this is unacceptable.
She has also said a senior manager of a bank could confirm he is alive but again they have said this is not acceptable.
Another suggestion the wife has made is the trustees of the scheme could visit him but they are not willing to do this as they now live over 300 miles from where he worked.
The husband is alive and the pension is payable.
Has anybody managed to get around this type of problem?.

William

 

[ITBookworm]

Could the trustees be asked to nominate a suitable person locally who they will accept confirmation from? I was thinking of maybe a local lawyer who could come out to the home and check paperwork, compare an old passport or driving licence photo to the gentleman in the home etc and then send an official letter back to the trustees.

There might be a small cost associated with that option but it might work?

Alternatively tell the trustees that if they can't come up with something acceptable and subsequently stop payment then she will be employing a lawyer to claim the payment on her husband's behalf.

For arguments sake it is technically possible to lose the ability to speak without having dementia so there has to be some logical solution Some people just seem to like making things difficult!

 

[Katrine]

My mum has 2 organisations that require annual written attestation from the pensioner that she is still alive and has not remarried (the pensions are all widow's pensions from my father's overseas employment). The pensioner signs the form in the presence of a suitable verifier (and getting a suitable person to do this has been problematic since bank and medical staff all refuse, and her own solicitor has retired). Fortunately so far they have accepted the verification from a private health worker.

Both pension providers have provision for either an Attorney, Deputy or Guardian to sign on the pensioner's behalf. One provider also allows for someone to apply to be an appointee if there is no POA etc. (which I have been able to do). Fortunately this is the one that yields £10K p.a., so that income is now protected.

The other provider has no provision for an appointee. This year for the first time I have had to write to them to challenge this because my mother can no longer sign her name and I have not yet been appointed as her Guardian. This pension only yields £150 p.a. but it's the principle of the thing that I am pursuing. My father earned that pension right, and my mother experienced a great deal of physical hardship in that colonial posting so I reckon she's earned it too!

There is a National Pensions Advisory Service you could approach. http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk. It might be that your friend's husband's pension provider is subject to a code of evidentiary practice that would prevent them from acting unreasonably. There is also the service of the Pensions Ombudsman, where complaints are investigated. I shall be pursuing my mum's £150 p.a. through them if I have to.

 

[nmintueo]

I haven't dealt with this situation, but here's what I would do:

If she has a power of attorney for financial affairs, write to the pension trustees explaining that, enclosing a certified copy of the registered power of attorney, confirming that her husband is still alive and eligible for the pension, and requiring all correspondence to come to her as the attorney.

If there is no power of attorney in place: write to the pension trustees, confirming that her husband is still alive and entitled to his pension. Include whatever supporting documentation she can get, including a letter from the care home, a letter from the doctor, if possible, and a letter from the bank (as you say the bank knows (somehow)). Include a statement (backed with whatever authority you can) that the husband has dementia and is unable to conduct an interview, but can be visited at the care home; it's their problem if they aren't willing to do this.

If the pension trustees threaten to stop payment, your response (directly or a via a solicitor) is that you will take them to court. If they actually do stop payment, sue them.

If they produce some sort of contract that contains some bizarre terms and conditions that support their intransigent position, maybe get a lawyer to look it over, but it's hard to believe they'll have a leg to stand on.

(I suppose it's too late now to get a man on the phone to impersonate the husband!)