How to complain about a problem with your pension

If you’re unhappy with your pension provider, you can complain. Issues might include unexplained delays, breaking promises or giving you incorrect or misleading information. Even if it’s a small problem, ask your provider to fix it. 

Here’s what to do: 

Tell your pension provider what happened and what they can do to fix things. You can usually contact your provider using live chat, phone, email or post. 

If your pension provider has gone out of business and it can’t pay your pension, you can make a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)Opens in a new window instead.

If you’re unhappy with your pension provider’s initial response, ask to make a formal complaint.  

Your provider then has up to eight weeks to investigate and explain how they propose to resolve your complaint. This is called a final response.  

You can also ask your provider for a copy of the complaints process they’ll follow, often called an internal dispute resolution procedure (IDRP). 

If you don’t think your provider’s final response is fair, or if eight weeks have passed, you can complain to The Pensions OmbudsmanOpens in a new window

You usually need to complain within three years of the problem first happening or when you first knew about it. But sometimes this time limit might be extended. 

The Pensions Ombudsman is a free service and means your complaint will be reviewed to decide if your pension provider has already acted fairly, or if they need to do more to resolve things. 

If you accept the decision by The Pensions Ombudsman, your pension provider must do what they say. If The Pensions Ombudsman sides with your provider, this is usually where the process ends.

You could choose to go to court, but this can be expensive and you might not be successful.

Contact HMRC online, by phone or postOpens in a new window if you have a problem with your National Insurance (NI) record.Opens in a new window Your NI record is linked to how much State Pension you get. 

For all other State Pension problems, contact the: 

• Pension Service if you live in England, Wales or ScotlandOpens in a new window 
• Northern Ireland Pension Centre if you live in Northern IrelandOpens in a new window
• International Pension Centre if you live abroadOpens in a new window

If you’re unhappy with the outcome, you can ask for your complaint to go to a senior managerOpens in a new window  and appeal to the Independent Case Examiner.

If you’re unhappy with pension advice from a regulated financial adviser, you can complain. This includes if you think you were mis-sold, told incorrect information or lost money due to bad pension transfer advice. 

If you’re complaining about bad advice to transfer your defined benefit pension from one scheme to another, you can use the Pensions transfer advice checkerOpens in a new window built by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This asks you a series of questions to help you understand if you might have received poor advice. 

Here’s how to complain about pension advice:

First, tell your financial adviser what has happened, why you’re unhappy and what you’d like them to do to fix things.

If your financial adviser has gone out of business, you can make a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)Opens in a new window instead. 

If you’re unhappy with your adviser’s initial reply, ask to make a formal complaint.  

This means your adviser must investigate and explain how they will resolve your complaint. They have up to eight weeks to give you their final offer, called a final response.

If you don’t think your adviser’s final response is fair, or eight weeks have passed, you can complain to the free Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)Opens in a new window

You usually need to complain within six months of receiving your final response and six years of the problem first happening, unless you weren’t aware of the issue when it started.   

The FOS is a free service and means your complaint will be reviewed to decide if your financial adviser has already acted fairly, or if they need to do more to resolve things. 

If you accept the decision by the FOS, your adviser must do what they say. If the FOS sides with your adviser, this is usually where the process ends.

You could choose to go to court, but this can be expensive and you might not be successful.