Requesting an internal review
In summary You should use our review process if you disagree with certain formal decisions about:
If you are still not satisfied, you can appeal to the Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman. |
Only decisions about certain issues can be reviewed.These are as follows:
- whether your pension scheme manager has supplied notification details correctly
- whether your pension scheme qualifies for the FAS
- whether you are a qualifying member of that pension scheme
- the amount you are entitled to in:
- annual payments
- ill health payments
- terminal illness payments
- whether we are satisfied that you meet the terminal illness or ill health tests.
Where the FAS makes a formal decision about whether a scheme or a member can receive assistance or the amount of assistance someone receives, this is known as a determination. We will send you this type of formal decision in a document we call a ‘determination notice’. If you receive a determination notice giving a decision you disagree with or don’t understand, you can ask us to explain.
Some decisions are known as ‘reviewable determinations’. If you disagree with the explanation you are given and the decision is a reviewable determination, you can ask us to look at the decision again. This is called a review.
Initial payments (and interim ill health payments) are made at our discretion. They are not ‘reviewable determinations’, so you do not have the right of review and appeal against them. If you are not sure which type of payment you are receiving, please refer to the ‘determination notice’ as it gives details of our formal decision.
If you ask for a review of a reviewable determination, we must give you a review decision. There are time limits for asking us to review decisions and for making an appeal. We tell you about these time limits below.
Who can ask for a review?
If a pension scheme has not completed winding-up, then the following people can ask for a review of a decision on whether notification was carried out correctly and whether the scheme qualifies:
- the trustees or managers of that scheme, or their representative
- you, if you could receive payments from the FAS and are affected by that decision
- a representative for you, who has been appointed by us.
If the scheme has been wound-up, only you, or your representative, can ask for a review of those decisions.
You or your representative can ask for a review of decisions about whether you are entitled to a payment from the FAS. If you prefer, you can write to ask us to appoint someone as your representative for the purposes of the review. We may also choose to appoint a representative in some circumstances.
If you want us to review a decision
To ask us to review a decision, you should contact us as soon as possible after receiving our determination notice. If our decision is about the notification procedure or whether your scheme qualifies, you must ask for the review within two months of the date shown at the top of the determination notice.
If you ask us to review a decision that is a reviewable determination about your entitlement or the award you qualify for, you must ask for the review within one month of the date shown at the top of the determination notice.
If you ask us for a review outside the relevant time limit, you must explain why you did not apply within it.
In exceptional circumstances, we may review a decision about the notification procedure or whether the scheme qualifies outside the normal time limits. We will only do this if we think it is reasonable, and no later than 12 months from the date of the determination notice.
If you want to apply for a review, you must write to us. You must include the following information in your letter:
- the name and address of the person applying
- the date on the determination notice that sets out the decision you want us to review
- why you feel the decision is wrong
- if you are acting as someone’s representative, your name and address and whether we should use that address when replying to the application for a review
- why you, or the person you are representing, could not ask for a review earlier if you are applying for a review outside the normal time limit.
The person applying (you or your representative) must sign and date the letter.
Normally the trustees or managers ask us to review decisions about the notification procedure or whether a scheme qualifies. If the trustees or managers are not happy with a decision, they will ask us to review it. If you are a scheme member and you feel that a decision about the notification procedure is wrong, you may want to contact the trustees or managers of the scheme to discuss your concerns and to ask whether they will ask us to review our decision. Please contact us if you would like more information on this.
For an occupational pension scheme, if we receive two or more requests to review a decision about whether the scheme qualifies or the notification procedure, we may give a single review decision on them if the requests are made for the same reasons and supported by mainly the same evidence.
What happens next?
When you ask us to review a decision, you should send us any evidence you have to show why you think our decision is wrong. We will look at it again and check whether it is correct. If the decision is wrong, we will change it. We will send you a letter setting out our review decision and the reasons for it.
If you disagree with the outcome of the review, you can appeal against it. Our letter will tell you how. You can appeal in writing within two months from the date of our review decision. If you are not sure about making an appeal, you can contact us for more information.