The ‘Contracting out’ or ‘Opting out’ was an extremely popular process. The financial advisers who recommended this pension advice to clients received a commission for a successful sign-up. Contracting out meant that some of the NI contributions would be directed to an alternative pension plan, known as a “protected rights pension.”
This meant that the individuals made contributions to a private pension scheme and reduced or eliminated entirely their entitlement to SERPS.
Many employers signed their employees up to this system as it resulted in paying less NI (National Insurance) contributions.
Opting out or contracting out of SERPS was initially only available to people who made contributions to final salary pension schemes. In 1998 it was then expanded to money purchase schemes.
Unfortunately, if you contracted out after March 1997, you would have no SERPS entitlement in relation to earnings after that point. If you contracted out before that, your entitlement will be reduced in line with the deduction, and you could possibly qualify to apply for contracted out of SERPS compensation.
How Do I Know If I Contracted Out Of Pension SERPS?
Your pension provider should be able to advise you if contracted out of SERPS. Alternatively, you could check your payslip or just ask your employer.
If you have lost the contact details of your pension you could try The Pension Tracing Service.
Research suggests that those who work or have worked for public sectors (the Fire Service, the Civil Service, local councils, the NHS, the Police, Teaching services, the armed forces etc) are more likely to have been contracted out. Albeit this is not always the case, and you should get in touch with our panel if you have any doubts about your refund.
I Opted Out of SERPS - Can I Claim Compensation?
As more victims become aware of this mis-selling, our panel of mis-sold SERP solicitors have seen a rise in enquiries for mis-sold SERPS compensation in between 2018 and 2022, all of whom opted out of SERPs at a similar time.
While we need to determine certain other criteria after you get in touch, if you opted out of SERPS before March 1997, it is likely you have a claim for compensation. Our panel can guide you through the SERPS Pension refund process, and inform you if you are eligible for a claim.
How Do I Know If I'm Eligible For Mis-Sold SERPs Compensation?
The criteria for claiming is very strict and it is detailed below.
- Advised to contract out of SERPS by IFA
- Date of advice to contract out of SERPS – must be received between 1 July 1988 and 5 April 1997
- At the time they contracted out above 45 years of age for men and 40 years of age for women
- Earning over £10k a year every year
If you meet the initial criteria, our panel of SERPS solicitors will require this additional information:
- Earnings each tax year whilst in the SERPS
- Period of time in the SERPS and date contracted out
- Earnings each year after contracting out
- Did you contract out of SERPS and move to a) private defined benefits scheme or b) pension in favour of investments that hinged on stock market performances
- Current position of those pensions
If you believe you meet all current criteria set out above please let our panel know.
Many of our panel’s mis-sold SERPS clients were given the advice to contract out of SERPS between 1 July 1988 and 5 April 1997.
What Is The Average Compensation Amount For Opting Out Of SERPS?
Determining how much you could be owed from a mis-sold SERPS Pension claim will be related to a number of factors. Mainly, when you opted out, and how much your financial losses amount to because of the negligent advice. Our panel of solicitors will be able to inform you exactly how much you should look to recover once they receive all of your documents and details.
The process of this SERPS pension refund calculation is described below.
The Process For Claiming Mis-sold Pension SERPS Compensation
Many people who were given bad pension advice and advised to contract out are turning to websites and forums similar to Martin Lewis SERPS compensation advice. Many want more information regarding a SERPS pension refund as they feel they have been left out of pocket by poor financial advice.
Although victims can act as a litigant in person, the process for claiming SERPS compensation can seem complicated. Allow the panel of SERPS solicitors at ClaimExperts.co.uk to deal with the stress and complexities and benefit from years of experience in achieving a ‘win’ for our panel’s clients.
The process for reclaiming compensation is as follows.
- Our panel will initially look into and calculate your 'surplus earnings.'
- They do this by working out the difference between the lower and upper earnings limit for each of the tax years you were a SERPS member and opted-in. This ‘figure’ will rise until you reach the age of state retirement.
- Your total earnings for each tax year between 1978 and 1988 will be divided by 4 and total earnings for each tax year between 1988 and 2002 will be divided by 5. Our panel then add these two figures together.
- The result calculated will then be divided by the number of tax years that passed between 1978/79 and the year in which you reached or will reach the age of state retirement.
- The final figure calculated will show us how much you may be able to re-coup in compensation.
Why Use Our Panel of Mis-Sold SERPS Experts?
As more victims become aware of this mis-selling, our panel of experts have seen a rise in enquiries for SERPS compensation in 2018 and 2022. Now, they want to help.
The ClaimExperts.co.uk panel deals with all forms of pension and investment mis-selling and compensation, including SERPS mis-selling.
Our panel know that working out whether you have been affected by SERP mis-selling or incorrect pensions advice can be complex. They are here to make the entire process for obtaining SERPS compensation that bit simpler.
If you opted out of SERPS, you could be entitled to compensation. Get in touch today for a no-obligation review.
Talk To Our Experts About Your SERPS Pension Compensation Claim Now
The SERPs Claims process with our panel of solicitors is straightforward. Our panel offer a free no-obligation pension review for your potential pension SERPs claim by completing our quick enquiry form on this page.
