Pension Query

[dundeedude]

Good afternoon.

A previous employer who was not the best to work for has been continuing to pay into a SIPP I set up some time ago. I have only now noticed this.

Given they were not the best to work for, would you:

A: Leave it be, as they can't do much about it in future when they do eventually notice.
B: Close the SIPP, withdraw the money using the <24 month rule
C: Fess up

I'm toying between A and B, due to them delaying commencement of the pension by a full year, which annoyed me to the extreme. I wish I'd contributed 50% now rather than 5%

[ASB]

Anything other than C will at some point cause a whole heap of grief. Not least of which is the fact that it is theft.

[Nathan SJD Accountancy]

Anything other than C will at some point cause a whole heap of grief. Not least of which is the fact that it is theft.

Definitely WHS!

[dundeedude]

Definitely WHS!

They called me today out of the blue with....... a job offer. For a second I thought it was a joke.

Regardless, they said they owe me twelve monthly payments, so next month will be the final month. I mentioned tax implications, but they seemed to brush it off. I'm sure, from reading a few articles, it's not ok for them to keep paying in this manner and a bulk payment should have been made prior to my leaving the business.

C'est la vie.

[centurian]

Interesting how they would claim it back though. Once money goes into a SIPP, it's very, very hard to take it out again.

[ASB]

Interesting how they would claim it back though. Once money goes into a SIPP, it's very, very hard to take it out again.

A lot of truth in that. There was a recent case where an incorrect value was given by a pension provider (about 100k too much) in a divorce case. Obviouslt this was part of the settlement process. Basically when they provider realised they tried to claim it back. The judge said "go swivel".

But that doesn't detract from the principle of "unjust enrichment". The final results will depend on the individual facts.