A retiree who claimed information provided by Standard Life led him inadvertently to exceed his lifetime allowance has lost an appeal to the Pension Ombudsman.
The man, referred to as Mr E, had a defined contribution pension with Standard Life, alongside two separate self-invested personal pensions.
He claimed Standard Life had told him the value of his pension pot included his guaranteed minimum pension (GMP). This led him to believe he had not reached his lifetime allowance, when in fact he had.
When he went into drawdown with one of his Sipps, the provider discovered he had exceeded his lifetime allowance and he was hit with an unexpected tax bill.
Mr E claimed Standard Life had told him the sum they provided him with included the GMP, however the firm denied this.
His adjudicator at the Pension Ombudsman found that, from the information provided by both Mr E and Standard Life, it was “not reasonable to assume that the final plan value included the GMP”.
The adjudicator also found the additional contributions made to his Sipps “were as a result of Mr E’s own misunderstanding of the statements”, adding that he did not contact his financial adviser, who could have clarified the statements for him.
Mr E unsuccessfully appealed against the adjudicators original ruling. Deputy pension ombudsman Karen Johnston said she was “not persuaded that the ‘final plan value’ provided in the retirement benefit illustrations were misleading”.
She went on to say: “I find that on the balance of probabilities he acted in reliance on his own interpretation of what final plan value meant and how it could be used when he invested additional monies into the Sipps. Ultimately this led him to exceed the lifetime allowance and pay the tax liability for doing so.
“On the facts, I see no basis to hold Standard Life responsible for Mr E’s misunderstanding. Therefore, I do not uphold the complaint,” she added.
james.fernyhough@ft.com
