Working with The Pensions Ombudsman – Early Resolution Service
We realise that we frequently cite our ongoing commitment to continual improvement (known as ‘Kaizen’), but that’s only because we really live and breathe it. Fortitude is made up of a team who don’t just switch their brains off and call it a day at 5 pm. Whether it’s starring in the local pantomime, a penchant for photography, or studying towards chartership, we’re a busy bunch with plenty of interesting, fulfilling things on our plates.
Amongst other activities and hobbies, Alex Allcock-Rouse spends his spare time volunteering for The Pensions Ombudsman as an Adviser. We asked him to give us a taste of what it’s like working on the other side of the coin, and he was more than happy to oblige.
My career has been wholly involved in pensions, although I do have knowledge and experience of other financial products of course! From the early 2000s I have had involvement in complaints resolution, starting off from the perspective of pension providers.
One of my earlier complaint strands related to determining With-Profits policy values; the then response from the company involved was to describe the process in words. It seemed to me that where numbers are involved, they should play a major role in the response, so I pressed for changes to the complaints process. In doing so, I found that I quite enjoyed complaint handling, as well as finding that I had the ability to view complaint cases with impartiality.
Keeping a toe in
When redundancy loomed large, I was keen to “keep my hand in” with complaints and so volunteered as an Adviser for The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) in April 2010. Having successfully completed the interview process, I have continued to mediate in and resolve complaints as part of that role – as an added bonus, it also gave me an excellent grounding in working from home, something which has since proved invaluable.
In March 2018, the dispute resolution work moved from TPAS to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO), so my role with the Early Resolution Team (ERT) moved with it. The ERT is made up of staff and volunteers, all of whom are pension professionals with many years’ experience. Wherever possible, TPO - ERS tries to resolve complaints informally at an early stage, although there are options to refer complaints on for Adjudication or for an Ombudsman referral in the event that mediation or prior resolution is not possible.
Case types can include death claims, ill-health retirement disputes, delays, administration errors, payment errors, Pension Protection Fund/Financial Assistance Scheme issues, poor decision-making; covering any type of pension arrangement. Case types which do not fall within TPO’s remit include complaints about State Pensions, tracing a lost pension, sales or marketing (mis-selling) of pensions, or where a decision has already been made by a tribunal, court or another Ombudsman.
Determination will get you far
Typically, I find that TPO involvement tends to focus minds on the real issues, although in some cases a dogged determination is still required in order to pursue the right outcome. Usual media include communicating by letter, telephone, email etc. Ultimately, I understand that cases will be reviewed electronically, however I find that being able to spread papers out helps me to capture the smaller details more easily.
Success, as and when it happens, brings a great deal of personal satisfaction as well of course as helping ensure fair outcomes for plaintiffs. Sometimes this can be via persuasion of a pension provider to revisit previous decisions, or indeed by communicating a decision or technical points to a plaintiff.
Either way, I enjoy contributing to the notion of “Big Society”, having another outlet for my knowledge and experience and, of course, demonstrating the values for which Fortitude Financial Planning is justly renowned.
Alex is our Client Support Technician, with over 28 years in the profession. He is passionate about quality financial planning, excellent customer service, fairness, and clarity.