Armed Forces Pension
 

Dear all,

anybody know whether those guys up at AFPAA allow us to change our pension terms again (ie between 05 and 75 schemes?) I have elected once but circumstance have changed...... Any ideas?

wotsit

Wotsit

Had a mate who enquired via PMA if he could change his option - was told tough sh*t. He pleaded that his personal circumstances had changed but it made no difference.
That said you may have more joy -
Best of luck.

I seem to remember the literature at the time said that once you had chosen one way or the other, then it was final. But it did also say something about exceptional circumstances which would enable a change from one t'other.

Try:
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Ab...orcesPensions/

I wrote them a letter asking for specific information, thus enabling me to make an informed judgement over which option to take, which they weren't able to provide.

Wrote again, stating that as they were unable to provide said info, I was unable to make an informed decision at present, and elected to defer my decision until said info was available.

Gets phone call from annoyed whitehall chap saying can't do that. Says I, reminds me of the pension misselling saga, best you keep all my letters as they may form the basis of a legal challenge in the future.....goes very quiet on other end of phone.

I agreed to stay on 75 in the meantime. Preferred to keep my options open.:suspect:

I actually thought that all the stuff they threw at us before decision point was very good. Indeed, I consulted closely with my very personal financial advisor who works in the compliance element of the financial services industry.
The bottom line, as she saw it, was that the 'patter' was pretty well watertight.

London Mil
Perhaps, but in 10 years time that may not be the case.

In ten years time I will probably have divorced her.:cool:

The pension option was sold as a once only deal and they did emphasise that at the time. For some the choice was a no brainer for others it was a bit of a guess on the future - presumbaly where you have now been caught?

yep and I guessed WRONG!

But who does money make happy anyway...??? (sniff)

Wasn't the 'exceptional circumstances' opportunity to change back only during the transitional year and to allow the results of the next round of redundancies to be announced - or something?

It may be acceptable to have one chance to make an irreversible decision but as i remember it we didn't have all the information, the pension calculator wasn't always correct (notably for PA spine) - similar i think to the decsion to accept PA terms a few years back.