Teachers Pension Scheme · CAS-97837-M9N2

CAS-97837-M9N2

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs S

Scheme Teachers' Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondent Teachers' Pensions (TP)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties The sequence of events is not in dispute, so I have only set out the salient points. I acknowledge there were other exchanges of information between all the parties.

On 1 February 1994, Mrs S’ husband (Mr S) joined the Scheme.

On 1 September 2008, Mr S’ retirement benefits went into payment.

On 8 February 2022, Mr S died.

On 1 March 2022, Mrs S emailed TP, the Scheme’s administrator, to confirm Mr S’ death and claim a widow’s pension. TP replied to Mrs S the next day and provided an application form (the Death Benefit Form) for her to complete and return regarding her claim.

On 6 March 2022, Mrs S completed the Death Benefit Form and returned it to TP with Mr S’ death certificate and their marriage certificate. TP received these documents on 9 March 2022.

On 11 April 2022, Mrs S emailed TP to ask for an update on her benefits claim.

1 CAS-97837-M9N2 On 25 April 2022, Mrs S telephoned TP confirming that she had submitted all required documents and asking for an update on her benefits claim.

On 3 May 2022, TP wrote to Mrs S and said the death benefits were in the process of being calculated and that she would subsequently be informed of the outcome.

On 27 June 2022, Mrs S wrote to TP complaining about the delay in confirming her benefit entitlements. TP replied the same day and said that her spouse’s pension was in the process of being calculated.

On 1 September 2022, Mrs S wrote to TP complaining that it had been almost seven months since she made her benefits claim. She said that due to the delay there were widow’s pension arrears of over £4,000 due to her.

On 6 September 2022, TP wrote to Mrs S acknowledging her complaint and confirmed that a response should be sent within 15 days, but there may be a delay in some instances.

On 26 September 2022, TP wrote to Mrs S and said that investigations into her complaint were continuing. A “comprehensive” response would be provided within a further 15 working days.

On 6 October 2022, Mrs S wrote to TP asking for her complaint to be lodged under the Scheme’s Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP) and said:-

• There had been almost an 8-month delay in calculating her spouse’s pension, causing her financial hardship, resulting in distress and inconvenience. She had initially been informed that the process would only take up to 10 working days.

• She had calculated that her spouse’s pension arrears were over £4,000. Interest should be added to that sum. TP had not considered the distress and inconvenience she was suffering from when writing in response to her claim.

On 17 October 2022, TP wrote to Mrs S regarding another matter and confirmed that:-

• Mr S’ retirement pension had been recalculated, due to a previous error, and the following revised benefits would be paid into her account within 10 working days:

Pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) £387.08 Interest on the PCLS £32.61 Pension instalment arrears £131.33 Interest on pension instalment arrears £7.39

• There had been an overpayment of £18.67 relating to Mr S’ retirement pension instalments as the benefits were paid up to 9 February 2022 but pension payments should only be made covering the period up to and including a member’s date of death. The overpayment would be deducted from her spouse’s pension.

2 CAS-97837-M9N2 • A short-term spouse’s pension was due for three months from 9 February 2022 to 8 May 2022 at the same rate as Mr S’ final retirement pension of £8,660.87 per year increasing to £8,917.11 a year from 11 April 2022.

• To avoid any further delays, a one-off sum of £2,710 would be paid into her bank account within 10 working days. This payment represented approximately 60% of the spouse’s pension instalment arrears covering the period from 9 February 2022 to 28 September 2022, less a deduction of the £18.67 overpayment. After the short-term pension ended, a long-term pension of £4,478.54 gross per year became payable.

• She would need to write to the Department for Education (DfE), the Scheme’s managing authority, should she wish to take up her complaint under the IDRP. She could do so online or by letter using contact details provided.

On 17 December 2022, Mrs S wrote to TP and said that the letter of 17 October 2022 had not been in response to her complaint under the IDRP.

On 16 January 2023, TP wrote to Mrs S and said that she should write to DfE directly regarding the IDRP, as previously advised in the letter dated 17 October 2022. TP was unable to do so on her behalf.

On 19 January 2023, Mrs S resubmitted her complaint of 6 October 2022 to DfE.

On 6 February 2023, DfE wrote to Mrs S and said there was a lengthy delay between 1 March 2022, when she made her benefits claim and October 2022 when her widow’s pension commenced. DfE said that a £100 award in recognition of this poor service was appropriate but TP had acted in accordance with the Scheme Regulations so her complaint was not upheld.

TP’s position

Under normal procedures a death benefits claim should be processed within seven working days. However, in cases where additional processing is required there may be delays. When this occurs, the beneficiary making a claim is normally informed. However, “administrative oversights” caused a delay in informing Mrs S that there would be a delay in paying her death benefits.

There was a delay in processing Mrs S’ death benefits claim between March 2022 and October 2022 to ensure that her spouse’s pension was paid correctly. A sum of underpaid retirement benefits owed to Mr S had also been identified and a recalculation was required so that those funds could be paid to the estate.

Interest has been added for the late payment of Mrs S’ spouse’s pension. An increased award of £500 to Mrs S would also be appropriate in recognition of the distress and inconvenience she suffered due to the delay in processing her death benefits claim.

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Mrs S’ position

Adjudicator’s Opinion

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• In the Adjudicator’s view, there was no evidence of financial loss to Mrs S as TP had paid her interest for the late payment. However, the maladministration would have caused Mrs S serious distress and inconvenience. An award of £1,000 is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance for non-financial injustice of this type.

Mrs S accepted the Adjudicator’s Opinion, but TP did not and the complaint was passed to me to determine. Neither Mrs S nor TP provided further comments, I agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion.

Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 19 September 2024

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