British American Tobacco Uk Pension Fund · CAS-78822-L4Q5

CAS-78822-L4Q5

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs E

Scheme British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund (the Scheme)

Respondents Capita Experience Pension Solutions (Capita)

British American Tobacco UK Pension Fund Trustee Limited (the Trustee)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

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Following the complaint being referred to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO), Capita and the Trustee made further submissions that have been summarised below.

5 CAS-78822-L4Q5 Adjudicator’s Opinion

Complaint 2:

• The February CETV quotation was issued on 26 February 2020. However, Mrs E did not contact Origen until the 16 April 2020, approximately 35 working days after the February CETV quotation was issued. If Mrs E had contacted Origen earlier, there may have been more time for the necessary steps to be carried out. It cannot be said that Capita or the Trustee are responsible for how quickly Mrs E chose to initiate contact with Origen.

• As advised by Origen, Mrs E initially raised the topic of ill health retirement on 27 April 2020 so that Origen could have all the necessary figures and information needed to provide accurate advice. Capita replied on 1 May 2020 setting out the steps required for an ill health retirement application. Mrs E requested the relevant forms on 5 May 2020, and these forms were subsequently provided to her on 7 May 2020. It was the Adjudicator’s opinion that the forms were provided within a reasonable timeframe.

• There were some delays while Collingwood Health obtained the medical information necessary for the ill health application to be considered. However, the delay is irrelevant because it would not have been possible to complete the ill health application within the February CETV deadline even if there had been no delay given the time left before the deadline date.

• In the Adjudicator’s view, it was not the responsibility of Capita or the Trustee to inform Mrs E that she did not need to complete an ill health application before the February CETV quotation could be accepted. Mrs E did not query this with Capita or the Trustee and for this information to be provided to Mrs R without a specific

6 CAS-78822-L4Q5 query being made could be construed as providing advice, which neither party is authorised to do.

• Mrs E could have asked Origen directly whether the ill health application was necessary considering the impending deadline on the February CETV quotation deadline and also that she had no intention of taking this option. The Adjudicator stated that she had seen no evidence that Mrs E queried this with Origen.

• The February CETV quotation, and accompanying paperwork was sufficiently detailed. It clearly outlined the deadline and process for acceptance, it was Mrs E’s assumption that she had to wait for the ill health application to be completed before accepting the February CETV quotation which resulted in her missing the deadline.

Complaint 3:

• The Trustee has the discretion to decide whether or not to allow an extension to the deadline for the February CETV quotation. The original deadline of 29 May 2020 was extended to 12 June 2020.

• The Trustee made it clear that its subsequent decision not to extend the CETV guarantee period further was based partly on the consideration that the ill health retirement application was not received until 2 months after the February CETV quotation was sent to Mrs E. In the Adjudicator’s opinion this was a relevant consideration and the Trustee’s exercise of its discretion in not further extending the CETV guarantee period was reasonable.

Mrs E did not accept the Adjudicator’s Opinion and the complaint was passed to me to consider. Mrs E and Capita provided further comments which do not change the outcome. I have considered the additional points raised by both Mrs E and Capita however, I agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion.

Mrs E’s additional comments

She was unsure of how to accept the February CETV quotation and queried this numerous times with Capita and Origen;

At no point before the deadline did any party indicate that she could accept the February CETV quotation without the process of following the ill-health application;

She was not provided with an Acceptance Form to sign which is why she did not do so;

She did not receive the email of 19 May 2020 and had she received it she would have gone on to query what she could do to accept the February CETV quotation.

Capita’s additional comments

7 CAS-78822-L4Q5 The February CETV quotation was issued by Origen, on behalf of the Trustee, rather than by Capita. As the Trustee arranged the CETV exercise with Origen, Capita had no involvement in issuing paperwork;

The Acceptance Forms would have been given to members by Origen as part of the advice paperwork, Capita and the Trustee would not have been involved in this part of the process;

Capita had not told Mrs E that the ill health information was required in order to take the February CETV offer and there is no reference to it being a requirement on the paperwork.

Ombudsman’s decision Mrs E complained that the CETV transferred in February 2021 was significantly less than the February CETV quotation in 2020.

The information provided to Mrs E, both in August 2019 and February 2020, was clear that enhanced transfer values were only being offered for a limited period. It should therefore have been clear to Mrs E that if she did not accept the February CETV quotation within the set timeframe a subsequent later CETV would be lower.

Further, the information pack stated that an Acceptance Form needed to be completed. If the pack did not contain an Acceptance Form or Mrs E was unclear how to accept the February CETV quotation, as she now suggests, I would have expected her to have made this known to Origen. There is no evidence that she did so. As Mrs E did not complete the necessary actions within the set time frames, I find she is not entitled to the higher transfer amount. Mrs E said that Capita’s handling of her enquiries regarding ill health retirement meant that she was unable to accept the February CETV quotation by the deadline.

As advised by Origen, Mrs E initially raised the ill health retirement request on 27 April 2020. Capita replied on 1 May 2020, setting out the steps required for an ill health retirement application. Mrs E requested the relevant forms on 5 May 2020, and the forms were subsequently provided to her on 7 May 2020. Mrs E signed the forms and Capita instructed Collingwood Health on 20 May 2020.

While it is clear that there were some delays while Collingwood Health obtained the medical information necessary for the ill health application to be considered this is not something for which Capita can be held responsible as the delays were outside of its control. Following receipt of the necessary medical evidence the ill health application was passed to the Trustee for consideration. I have seen no evidence that Capita caused any unnecessary delay or mishandled Mrs E’s application.

Mrs E said that none of the parties indicated that she could accept the February CETV quotation without the process of following the ill-health application. In order to accept the offer of an enhanced CETV members were required to take financial advice. This was provided by Origen, who requested that Mrs E ascertain the 8 CAS-78822-L4Q5 requirements for an ill health pension application and also the value of her AVCs, so that it could provide the necessary financial advice. It would not therefore have been possible for Mrs E to have accepted the February CETV quotation without first initiating the ill-health application as Origen would not provide its advice otherwise.

Capita and the Trustee are not authorised to give financial advice, or provide any input to the financial advice given by Origen to Mrs E. In its email of 19 May 2020, Capta informed Mrs E that her ill health application was unlikely to be completed before the February CETV quotation deadline. Had Mrs E started the process earlier then it is possible that Origen would have had the information it required to provide Mrs E with the required financial advice before the enhanced CETVs deadline. It is unfortunate that, for whatever reason, Mrs E waited until 16 April 2020, before obtaining financial advice from Origen.

While I have every sympathy with Mrs E’s undoubted frustration, that her intention was to accept the February CETV quotation, I find that the outcome was not the result of maladministration by Capita or the Trustee. The steps Mrs E needed to take to accept the February CETV quotation were not completed, the two deadlines were missed, and the enhancement was lost.

I do not uphold Mrs E’s complaints and no further action is required by Capita or the Trustee.

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

23 September 2024

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