Pensions - transferred Mineworker's Pension

Hi, I'm looking into my dad's various pensions for him and it turns out he was one of the people who was convinced to transfer his MPS to a private pension in the early 90s. Obviously, this was a terrible idea! It is currently being looked at by a solicitor but I wondered if anyone on here has stories from their own experiences about getting compensation or being transferred back into the scheme? I know that there was a review that ended many years ago but his pension was not reviewed then.

I know people say this about everything under the sun... but they really should teach pension advice at schools!

I didn't even know you could check your state pension forecast online until a few days ago. Definitely worth doing btw, you can check it here: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension You need at least 10 years of NI contributions to receive any pension and 35 years for the full pension (it works on a sliding scale between those amounts). It's worth checking periodically as you only get 6 years to buy back any missing years from now on.

 

I resisted handing over my pension to these disgusting vultures, it was a disgrace the way they came after the miners pensions, hope your dad get sorted.

 

I have a coal board pension from when I took voluntary redundancy from the research centre near Burton on Trent in 1990. I remember people trying to get you to transfer it but everyone I knew who left at the same time as me were of the opinion that a scheme guaranteed by the Government was unlikely to be bettered so we all stuck with it. My dad also stuck with it (he retired in 1980 from Highgate pit, Goldthorpe). I knew about the Government site where you can see what your eventual state pension will be, I have more than 35 years but my 2 occupational pensions (NCB and Jaguar) were both opted out of SERPS so my state pension will be reduced (about £20 a week).

Hope you sort it out for your dad.

 

I've just realised that I've become so used to asking for advice in various places that I started this thread with 'hi' like I've not been talking to you all for 7 years

 

I started at Highgate 16th January 1980.

 

I was one who was hoodwinked into moving out of MPS. At that time if I remember correctly the MPS was’nt as flexible regarding age retirement. This changed and I was advised to transfer back into MPS which thankfully I did. Any losses etc were recompensed into my MPS fund. Shame successive Govts won’t even look at stop taking the millions they take out each year and allow the funds to go to where they need to go

 

My dad finished on his birthday, 25th May. He was the oldest man still working underground when he retired (at 60), he was still on the face, moving the chocks up.

Dad about 1977.

 

I was advised to transfer to Legal /General by an advisor.
When this was investigated by the regulators years later they were made to transfer my pnsion back to MPS with 11k compensation that i had lost.
I recently cancelled my Legal /General, transfered into another provider with a decent advisor well known on here for his honesty on and off the field i can give you his no for his advice i am sure there will be a decent option.

 

Thank you. My dad has instructed his solicitor now so they will be doing all the investigating from this point forward, I am more interested in anecdotes at the moment like your own.

 

Useful link to know! As I've come in later it's good to be able to see how much I have already and how much I should end up with. Although I'm fully aware they'll happily change the rules during play at some point. just a couple more years until I get anything, but I should be able to get my full entitlement just before my working days are over (as far as the state is concerned).

I've never quite been able to figure out what figure I could fill in as the state pension part with my company's private pension plan predictor. But now I can!

 

Glad I could help.

For anyone who is predicted to be short of their 35 years, you can buy additional years at a cost of £795.60 per year (going back 6 years). This is generally always worth doing as you will make the money back in just over 3 years as each extra year's worth of contributions is worth £260.52 extra payment each year.

So if you are missing 1 year then it costs £795.60 and you get £250.52 a year added on to your pension.
If you are missing 2 years then it costs £1591.20 but you get £501.04 a year added on to your pension.

Of course, if you are terminally ill and don't expect to live the 3 and a bit years then it's not worth it.

It's especially important for self employed people to check as if you have a gap in earnings, even just a week or so, then you may not make the full 52 weeks of NI contributions to qualify as a full year. Even if you have 51 weeks, it won't count but it would be very, very cheap to buy the missing week and would be upsetting to miss the 6 year deadline in which you can fix it.

 

If you are On Facebook there is a page called anniversary of the miners strike, there will be plenty of information and people to ask there, if I’m right a solicitor has taken the case as a group action so there might be the info you need

 

my dad worked in a tail gate rip at cortonwood with a bloke who was in his late seventies

 

I remember the financial advisors queing up in maltby canteen so they could lure lads into their schemes, they were giving away tellys and all sorts to attract them into their pension schemes, i told them to get stuffed, but some of the lads swallowed their patter hook line and sinker

 

I was phoned a fair few times by firms who were recording the conversation I think & one in particular I'm sure they were trying to make me say the word YES, very dodgy call I thought at the time.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Fully agree with your point about schools though. Teach pensions, teach about mortgages, bills, budgeting, bank accounts, taxes and the other things that we all have to deal with.

How many people have actually used even a quarter from the chemistry they learned in school or the biology? We were taught french. Why? It's hardly the most common holiday destination for English people, hardly the most spoken language in the world and hardly a country that we have many immigrants from. Seemed to be selected based purely in the fact it was easiest to organise a school trip to.

I honestly think that to get the best out of future generations there needs to be a complete overhaul of the education system

 

I can never hear that song without thinking of this ad

 

I honestly think that to get the best out of future generations there needs to be a complete overhaul of the education system[/QUOTE]

Because school is a broad platform from which to spring off in a myriad of different directions, not a Which magazine pull out and keep guide.

 

Learning a language is important. Learning maths is important because it should act as a base for a lot of things you ll encounter as an adult. History very much relevant as we're seeing in discussions of the board, I do think life skills lessons should be part of the curriculum though and it certainly was in some schools I know, budgeting, things like learning about NI and taxes.