Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Rothesay Life Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr R, a deferred pension member with Rothesay Life Plc, complained that his early retirement quotation of approximately £1,494 was significantly lower than his projected benefit of £2,005 at Normal Retirement Date. He disputed Rothesay's application of Early Retirement Factors, questioned the transparency of calculations, and raised concerns about service quality including a six-week complaint response time. The ombudsman found that Rothesay's methodology was correct under the policy terms, the quotation was consistent with historic calculations and comparable to other providers, and the information provided was sufficiently clear. The ombudsman concluded that while Mr R experienced some frustration with communication, this did not constitute more than minor inconvenience and Rothesay's apology was adequate.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Rothesay's application of Early Retirement Factors to the actual retirement value (rather than projected value at Normal Retirement Date) was correct because ERFs must use current life-expectancy assumptions and account for the fact that early retirement means no future increases on non-GMP components. The quotation appeared consistent with historic quotations and the ERFs were not outliers compared to other providers. While Mr R was frustrated with communication, the information provided was sufficient for him to understand the effect of early retirement, and Rothesay's apology was adequate. The six-week complaint response time, though longer than ideal, was within the eight-week regulatory maximum and justified by the need to consult experts on complex pension matters.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website