In the recent pension fund adjudicators annual report there is an alarmingly high incidence of companies deducting money from employees salaries for investment into pension funds or other retirement products and the money being deducted, not being paid over to the funds.

This is absolutely shocking behavior on the part of the companies, whose employees trust that they are doing the right thing and that the pension fund industry, legislators and government have sufficient controls in place to ensure that their hard earned money is not being stolen from them by their employers.

These may sound like harsh words but what else is it, if not theft.

The funds themselves are obliged by law to recover any amounts not paid over to them but take responsibility and control of your financial future by ensuring that what is said is done.

The first thing you should be aware of is that you are entitled to a benefit statement every month from your fund which details not only how much has been invested, but how your fund is doing. So first off, ensure that you check your benefit statements every month to verify that your deductions have been paid over.

If you are not sure who administrates your fund, find out! Get the name of the company, the name and email of the representative who handles your company, their physical address, email and their telephone number.

The next thing you want to do is keep a the details of the ombuds/adjudicators who will be in a position to help you with any complaint you may have.

There other very concerning issues related to the payment of death benefits by Fund administrators and the research into finding the beneficiaries, which they are obliged under law to do with a 1 year period. From many of the comments and issues on this website, it appears that there is very little effort being made in some instances to find the beneficiaries, or to even answer inquiries made to them.

For those of you who have followed the procedures that we laid out in our article, how to lodge an official complaint against your pension fund you will be in an advanced position to get your complaint dealt with and a lot closer to getting your claim settled.

There is a single telephone number you can call to be directed to the correct ombud for your particular claim.

Call 0860 OMBUDS (0860 662837)

We have heard of some people who have simply abandoned their claims after years of being given the run around by their insurnace companies/fund administrators or companies when trying to get what is rightly theirs. We hope that by providing you with the information of who to contact and how to make your claims, that this will enable you to get a satisfactory result.

You and your family are entitled to be dealt with in a dignified and timely manner. Don’t accept anything less.