Retirement in reliance of incorrect benefit quotations 1
Reference: L00802 - The member, a doctor, received incorrect quotes of his early retirement pension as at ages 51, 53, 55 and 57 (the early retirement factors had not been applied). He found himself almost £7,000 pa out of pocket. He had retired on the strength of the quotes. He returned to work to supplement his income but was unable to rejoin the pension scheme. Soon afterwards he was diagnosed with angina. He claimed that if he had not been misinformed he would not have left his job and would have been entitled to an ill heath pension and a lump sum under the pension scheme (which he would have been in).
The Ombudsman ordered the scheme manager to find out if the member would have been an active scheme member at the time of his diagnosis and, if so, compensate him accordingly (ie for the loss of eligibility for an enhanced incapacity pension). He also held that “severe inconvenience” had been caused by the maladministration and ordered the scheme manager to pay £500 in compensation.
