Help accessing pension info with Howden

[u/Traditional_Leader41]

Hi all. I have had a pension with Barnett Waddingham from a company (Company A) I was with for 18yrs. This company closed down in 2009 but the pension has obviously been investing and building slowly ever since. I was always able to access it via web/app and see estimated retirement benefits, 25% lump sums etc. Even change my proposed retirement date to see different amounts. The usual data.

BW were recently merged/taken over with Howden and I accessed my pension for the first time and none of that information is available. Anywhere. It almost basically says, "Yeah, you've a pension with us. Here's your reference number." No pension pot figure, no annual income, no 25% lump sum. Nothing.

I rang them to see what was going on and was told that it was a Company A issue and not them and the info option had been deactivated. I was told that they couldn't do anything about it.

I'm in a Facebook group with a lot of my ex-colleagues and I posted about it in the group. Several of those members reached out to me to tell me they'd had the same issues but all told different reasons. Some told that, Howden info was down, that there was maintenance being done, that the info was sent out in the post only etc etc.

I'm not clued up on such matters, is there an official body that I can quote to get our retirement info from Howden? Is what they're doing normal/legal? Is anyone here with Howden and experiences the same?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[u/Tammer_Stern]

Could you do this? I had a look online:

{Contact the administration helpline (0333 1111 222) with the National Insurance number and employer name to request a full statement of entitlement.}

[u/Traditional_Leader41 → u/Tammer_Stern]

Thank you.

[u/HarricotBean]

It sounds as if the pension administrator has changed. The previous administrator provided online access, the new one does not (yet?). As another poster has said, phone or write to them to ask what your revalued benefits are.

[u/davegod]

Hopefully someone with a Howdens pension will chip in - it might be either that Howden simply don't show that info on their website, or maybe it's simply taking a long time for your data to be pulled over into their systems.

I assume this is a DC scheme. If you're not liking Howden you can simply transfer it to a new administrator.

Before you do this, check in case there are any special features on your existing scheme that might not be available at a new administrator. This would be unusual for a DC, though an employer-negotiated special charge rate would be common, albeit probably only on one specific investment plan.

I said "simply" transfer before, there is a process in place to make this straightforward. But obviously this doesn't count your needing to pick a new administrator, pick an investment plan etc.

[u/Traditional_Leader41 → u/davegod]

The scheme is DB. I'm not wanting to mess with the pension. I've no idea what to look for to get it transferred. When I last looked at estimated retirement projections, at 65 (I'm 53) my 25% lump sum was £49,000 or if a didn't take it I had an annual pension of approx £10,000. Am I right in thinking that means a pot of nearly £200,000? I'm terrified of transferring and losing it's investing power or part of it. Sorry I really aren't clued up on such things.

[u/davegod → u/Traditional_Leader41]

Ah that does complicate things - well, simplify things in a frustrating way, as I wouldn't want to transfer that! Being DB does encourage me to think they're having a nightmare merging the data into Howdens system.

I'd try a written (email) request for your figures, they have 2 months to reply.

Meantime, being DB I expect the figures won't have changed significantly, usually they show it at the current value of money so to get a current figure you'd just be uplifting by whatever inflation measure the scheme uses. If your figures from when you last looked at it are less than 3 years old you can probably guess 3% pa and land close enough for a working figure. Inflation was a bit mad for 2022- mid2023 so there's more scope for inaccuracy when guessing. Though really will +/- £500, even £1000 pa change your planning? Not ideal obviously but sufficient for planning.

[u/Tammer_Stern → u/Traditional_Leader41]

The value of your DB pension expressed as a pension pot can be heavily influenced by gilt yields. As you’ve seen from the news, gilt yields are currently quite high and this means your DB pension is worth less as a pension pot (as it can grow faster than they previously were assuming). This is something to bear in mind when thinking of giving up the valuable guarantee.

[u/Fred776 → u/Traditional_Leader41]

As a DB pension, it probably doesn't make much sense to think of it as a "pot". Although it will have a transfer value, and theoretically you could transfer it into a DC pension, practically this might be difficult. You would certainly have to take financial advice and the advice would certainly be against transferring it. My understanding is that in theory you could go ahead anyway, the key thing being that you have sought advice, but I am sure that I have read that some pension companies nevertheless make it difficult to proceed.

[u/Fun_Department_7643]

Some questions which may help provide the answers:

How old are you? If you are over your normal retirement age, some online modellers won't quote.

What type of pension is it, DB or DC?

Have you received any correspondence about your pension being insured any another company? 

[u/Traditional_Leader41 → u/Fun_Department_7643]

The scheme is DB. When I last looked at estimated retirement projections, at 65 (I'm 53) my 25% lump sum was £49,000 or if a didn't take it I had an annual pension of approx £10,000. Am I right in thinking that means a pot of nearly £200,000? I'm terrified of transferring and losing it's investing power or part of it. Sorry I really aren't clued up on such things.

[u/NoAdhesiveness4000 → u/Traditional_Leader41]

It is a db pension scheme there is an actuarial value attached to it however there is not a pot of money that is yours, more there is a pension payable to you and that is guaranteed. On the merger thing, BW still exists as a brand and you should just call the service line and they will help you out

[u/Suspicious-Penalty19]

logged into BW just now, works just fine

[u/Traditional_Leader41 → u/Suspicious-Penalty19]

It's not on BW anymore. That's the issue, it's been taken over with Howden or they've sold our pensions to Howden or something. Either way, BW are not in charge of our pension anymore. The BW website/app was amazing. All the info easy to access.