HOW TO APPEAL
If you are in any doubt about your benefit entitlements or have a concern about your LGPS membership or benefits, please contact the Fund. We will seek to clarify or put right any misunderstandings or inaccuracies as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you are still dissatisfied you can start the complaints process.
You have the right to have your complaint independently reviewed if you are dissatisfied with any decisions made in relation to the Scheme. The review process begins with the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure and, if no satisfactory answer is found, continues to The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and, finally, The Pensions Ombudsman, whose decision is final and binding.
What you should do
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Stage 1
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Write, within 6 months of the original decision, to whoever made the decision. If this is your employer, your Pension Liaison Officer, usually located in the Finance Department, will advise you who to write to. If the complaint is against the Fund, write to:
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The Nominated Person,
Merseyside Pension Fund, PO Box 120, Liverpool, L69 2NW
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Stage 2
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If you disagree with the Stage 1 decision, you have a further 6 months to appeal to the Stage 2 referee. All correspondence should be addressed to:
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The Pensions Referee,
Merseyside Pension Fund, PO Box 120, Liverpool, L69 2NW
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PLEASE NOTE:
At both Stage 1 and 2, you should receive a decision within 2 months of your appeal.
The Pensions Advisory Service
The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) is available at any time to assist Scheme members and beneficiaries in connection with queries or difficulties they cannot resolve with their scheme administrators.
TPAS can be contacted at: 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB, Tel 0845 601 2923.
The Pensions Ombudsman
When a complaint or dispute cannot be resolved even after TPAS intervention, an application for adjudication can be made, within three years of the event, to The Pensions Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can investigate and determine any complaint or dispute involving maladministration or matters of fact or law.
The Ombudsman's decision is final and binding and the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters where legal proceedings have already started.
The Pensions Regulator
From April 2005, The Pensions Regulator replaced the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) as the regulator of work-based schemes. The Pensions Regulator has powers to protect members of work-based pension schemes and to help put matters right, where needed. In extreme cases, the regulator is able to fine trustees or employers and remove trustees from a scheme.
