Teachers Pension Scheme · CAS-96095-S3W4

CAS-96095-S3W4

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Ms W

Scheme Teachers' Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondent Teachers' Pensions (the Administrator)

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

Mrs W was a member of the Scheme and, for the purposes of this complaint, the relevant regulations that governed her membership were the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014 (the “Regulations”)1.

On 21 June 2022, Ms W states that she requested a repayment of pension contributions from the Administrator.

On 24 June 2022, Ms W left pensionable employment and became a deferred member of the Scheme.

Under the Regulations, members of the Scheme were entitled to a repayment of pension contributions2 under specific conditions. However, upon reaching a minimum of 2 years qualifying service, members no longer qualified for repayment of pension

1 The Administrator’s records show that the repayment of contribution form was first submitted on 1 August

2022 – see paragraph 8 of this Determination. 2 Regulation 189 CAS-96095-S3W4 contributions and instead became entitled to receive pension benefits under the Scheme3.

On 1 August 2022, the Administrator received Ms W’s completed refund request form asking that her pension contributions be returned to her. However, in order to ascertain whether a member meets the criteria for a refund of contributions, the amount of that member’s qualifying service needs to be ascertained. Some of the information required to make that calculation is held by the employers in the Scheme – with those employers required to provide information to the Administrator in accordance with Regulation 219.

Accordingly, at some point after this, the Administrator made enquiries to Ms W’s previous employers (the Employers) to clarify her accrued pensionable service and thus her qualifying service. Ms W had various periods of employment that constituted pensionable service under the Scheme with several Employers.

On 16 August 2022, the Administrator wrote to Ms W and informed her that it was awaiting information from the Employers. It went on to say that “you may wish to contact your employer regarding this matter. Teachers’ Pensions cannot proceed with your application until the form is submitted by your employer”.

On 31 August 2022, the Administrator wrote to Ms W and informed her that it had still not received the necessary information from the Employers. Again, it suggested that Ms W contact the employer, as the application could not be progressed without that information.

On 2 September 2022, two events took place:

• The Administrator received information from one of the Employers but was still awaiting information from the remaining Employers.

• The Administrator informed Ms W that it was still awaiting information from her other Employers. It set out which Employers had not provided the information and how it should be obtained. It reiterated that the application could not be progressed without the information.

On 15 September 2022, the Administrator contacted one of the Employers, Derbyshire County Council (Employer A), to query a period of Ms W’s pensionable service (the query). It also wrote to Ms W to tell her that it had written to Employer A.

On 20 September 2022, Employer A contacted the Administrator and provided Ms W’s pensionable service details. However, it did not address the queries raised.

On 20 October 2022, two events took place:

• The Administrator contacted Employer A and pursued a response to its query.

3 Regulation 82

2 CAS-96095-S3W4 • It contacted Ms W to inform her that it had not received a response from Employer A regarding its query.

On 21 October 2022, Employer A contacted the Administrator in response to the query. As requested, it provided a breakdown of Ms W’s pensionable service for the requested period.

On 24 October 2022, the Administrator contacted Ms W and informed her that under the Scheme Regulations, she qualified for pension benefits and therefore was not entitled to receive a refund of contributions. The correspondence was sent both by post and to her MyPension online account (MPO).

On 2 November 2022, the Administrator contacted Ms W by MPO and reaffirmed she qualified for pension benefits under the Scheme.

On 8 November 2022, Ms W states that Employer A resent the pensionable service details it provided on the 20 September 2022. However, the Administrator has no record of receiving any information after 21 October 2022.

On 23 November 2022, Employer A contacted Ms W. It informed her that the Administrator had contacted it and requested information.

At some point in November 2022, Ms W complained to the Administrator arguing that her service record was incorrect, specifically her service history for February 2018.

On 2 December 2022, the Administrator emailed Employer A to clarify Ms W’s pensionable service following her complaint and requested the correct information about her position.

On 6 December 2022, Employer A emailed the Administrator. It identified that there were mistakes in the prior information it provided regarding Ms W’s service details.

On 13 December 2022, the Administrator contacted Ms W and updated her as to her pensionable service. However, even then, she still qualified for pension benefits under the Scheme as her pensionable service amounted to 2 years and 28 days.

At some point Ms W requested a transfer of her pension benefits under the Scheme.

On 24 January 2023, the Administrator contacted Employer A to query the last working day of her employment as it had not received a withdrawal of service notification. Following this Employer A amended and corrected Ms W’s service for February 2018 confirming her withdrawal from employment.

On 27 March 2023, Ms W transferred her pension benefits out of the Scheme.

Ms W subsequently raised a formal complaint under the Administrator’s internal dispute resolution procedure (IDRP). However, the matter remained unresolved after both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the IDRP. Ms W subsequently pursued her complaint with The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

3 CAS-96095-S3W4 Following the complaint being referred to TPO, Ms W and the Administrator made the following submissions.

Summary of Ms W’s position

Summary of the Administrator’s position

4 Regulation 219

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Upon receiving Ms W’s refund request on 1 August 2022, it recognised her pensionable service was incomplete and contained discrepancies. Therefore, it contacted the Employers to confirm the correct position. There were no excessive delays in contacting the Employers, updating her pension record or informing her of the correct position.

It received the necessary information on 21 October 2022 and informed her of her correct entitlement on 24 October 2022. It was at that point that it became clear that as she had more than two years pensionable service, she qualified for pension benefits and was unable to receive a refund of contributions.

After receiving her complaint in November 2022, it reaffirmed the position with the Employers. It received a response on 6 December 2022 and was informed that the prior information it received contained incorrect information. It informed Ms W on 13 December 2022, that despite this issue she still qualified for pension benefits.

It provided responses to Ms W within the correct timelines and informed her in advance of any extended timescales. For example, in its letter of 2 December 2022 it said it would respond, ‘within the next 15 working days’, but responded on 13 December 2022, within 8 working days.

Under the Regulations she qualified for pension benefits. It had no discretion over the Scheme Regulations to enable a refund of contributions. Regardless, as of 27 March 2023, Ms W transferred her pension benefits out of the Scheme and therefore has no benefits or right to any benefits under the Scheme.

There was no maladministration and Ms W was not entitled to compensation.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

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Ms W did not accept the Adjudicator’s Opinion, and the complaint was passed to me to consider. Ms W provided her further comments which do not change the outcome. I agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion and note the additional points raised by Ms W for the sake of completeness. Ms W said, in summary:

• The Adjudicator did not properly consider the full weight of the evidence she provided. The evidence she provided clearly demonstrated the failure of the Administrator to adhere to its published service standard of 10 working days. Further, the Adjudicator’s findings that the Administrator’s responses were within ‘appropriate timeframes’ was inconsistent with evidence and ‘did not reflect the reality of my [her] experience’.

• The Adjudicator significantly omitted the medical evidence provided in the assessment of her complaint. She developed health conditions as a direct result of the stress caused by the Administrators handling of her request for the refund of contributions. This included a Restless Leg Syndrome diagnosis and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to manage the psychological impact. Hence the serious and life-affecting health consequences were not properly acknowledged, addressed by the Administrator or the Adjudicator. Nor was responsibility accepted for the harm caused to her.

• The Adjudicator did not adequately address the Administrator’s failings or explain how its conduct amounted to acceptable standards of administration.

• The Administrator provided her with incorrect and misleading information repeatedly i.e., a phone call in which the Administrator’s representative informed her it had ‘received information prior to what it had stated’. This resulted in confusion, prolonged the resolution process, and directly contributed to the distress and ‘harm’ she experienced. 6 CAS-96095-S3W4 • In conclusion, the Administrator’s delays, misinformation, and failure to take responsibility demonstrate clear maladministration and a failure in duty of care.

Ombudsman’s decision

I do not uphold Ms W’s complaint.

Dominic Harris

Pensions Ombudsman

Pensions Ombudsman 13 March 2026

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Appendix

Teachers' Pensions Scheme Regulations 2014.

Entitlement to repayment of balance of contributions

Regulation 189.

(1) A person (P) is entitled on the entitlement day to a repayment of the balance of contributions, calculated in accordance with regulation 191, if— (a) P has left all pensionable service and does not re-enter pensionable service before the entitlement day; (b) P has applied under regulation 190 for the repayment; and (c) paragraph (2) does not apply.

(2) This paragraph applies if— (a) P is qualified for retirement benefits; (b) a transfer payment has been made in respect of P's pensionable service; or (c) P is in a period of post-benefit service immediately before the last day of pensionable service M1.

Qualifying for retirement benefits

Regulation 82.

(1) A person (P) is qualified for retirement benefits under this scheme if— (a) P has at least 2 years' qualifying service; or (b) a transfer payment otherwise than from another occupational pension scheme has been accepted in relation to P.

(2) In these Regulations, a period of qualifying service is the total of the following— (a) any period of pensionable service under this scheme (other than a period of post-benefit service); (b) for a transition member, any period of pensionable service under the existing scheme before the member's transition date; (c) if a transfer payment has been accepted from another occupational pension scheme in relation to P, a period equal to P's period of pensionable service under that scheme.

(3) Any pensionable service in respect of which a person's rights under this scheme or the existing scheme are extinguished M1 is not qualifying service.

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Employment records

Regulation 219.

(1) This regulation applies to any employer of a person (P) in pensionable service under this scheme. (2) P's employer must record for the financial year— (a) the annual rate of P's salary; (b) the annual amount of P's pensionable earnings [F1including any money value of residential benefits in kind forming part of P’s pensionable earnings under regulation 38 (Money value of residential benefits in kind to form part of pensionable earnings)]; (c) if P was in part-time employment for any part of the financial year, the amount which P's pensionable earnings for that employment would have been if P was in full-time employment throughout the year; (d) the contributions deducted under regulation 193; (e) the period of pensionable service; (f) the dates of any absence on sick leave, [F2carer’s leave,] maternity leave, paternity leave, F3... parental leave [F4, shared parental leave] [F5, parental bereavement leave] [F6, neonatal care leave] or adoption leave and the amount of any salary or statutory pay paid to P during the financial year; and (g) any information requested by the scheme manager.

(3) P's employer must, within the time set by the scheme manager—

(a) make such reports and returns to the scheme manager as the scheme manager may require for the purpose of the scheme manager's functions under these Regulations; and (b) give the scheme manager any information or documents required by the scheme manager for the purpose of—

(i) the scheme manager's functions under these Regulations; or

(ii) records required to be kept by the scheme manager under regulations made under section 16 of the Act.

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