Pension payout beats trustee hurdles
NOT LOST but languishing out of reach, perhaps forever – that was what the former owner of a small family business feared about the fate of his old company pension.
Policyholder Steve Thomas and his mum Anne, its trustee, came to Crusader after his attempts to cash in his pot hit the buffers.
Steve took out what’s known as an executive pension plan for himself as director and sole employee when he had an engineering company.
Such schemes offer tax advantages, savers have control over when and how benefits are taken and, with agreement, payments can be stopped at any time.
Steve’s plan was originally with Axa Equity & Law and is now in Aviva’s fold.
When Steve closed his business 20 years ago, he stopped making payments but decided to stick with the investment.
“We received annual statements and we had a record of the policy number, which we thought was enough,” Anne told Crusader.
But it wasn’t, as the pair discovered when, last March, Steve moved to take the benefit. “We’ve been asked to supply the rules of the fund,” explained Anne.
“But this goes back a long way and we don’t have them.
“We would have thought whoever holds the money would have a copy.
“There was also mention of another trustee, which is news to us.They want details of the company’s bank account, but that was closed with the business and we no longer have the statements.
“Now we’ve been told our case can’t go any further.”
After we explained the impasse to Aviva, however, the way was cleared. It appears proving trustee identity was an issue.
A company spokesperson said: “It is normal practice for the employer and the trustees to make arrangements regarding the pension scheme when the company is wound down.
“This does not appear to have happened in this case.”
Aviva did regret the delays he experienced and Steve is delighted to have received a £750 goodwill gesture as well as his £9,000 pension pot.
● Steve’s name has been changed