Teachers' Pensions Reviews 

I have asked for information re the calculation of my pension for over 18 months . Despite numerous attempts to retrieve this information I am still no further forward .
Complaints are ignored , phone calls become disconnected . The representative that I last spoke to agreed that my complaint wasn’t being dealt with and suggested I went to my MP .

Uncommuncative and unhelpful. Persistently missed deadlines, did appear to understand their own systems or procedures. Caused anxiety and confusion. They really need to improve.

Warning. The claim process is designed to make sure you do not get your lump sum on time. I applied months in advance, and all seemed OK. Then 3 weeks before retirement (and I retire at the end of September, which is unusual so they cannot claim they were busy) a form dropped into my pension portal online. Conveniently no email was sent to tell me, but this form is essential and must be completed. Now bear in mind they take 10 working days to do anything, and the form has to be posted, no electronic submission allowed. That means with the best will in the word, your form might just get processed on your actual retirement day. So many questions. Why is such an important form not accompanied by a text and maybe a letter (after all you have to submit a written copy)? At what point would they bother to follow up if you have not returned the form? Is their plan to wait until you don't get your lump sum, or perhaps they are just hoping you have changed your mind about retiring and don't want the money? Even the letter with the form is designed to confuse. It just says the form is important and they look forward to your reply. No indication where to send the form, and the instructions about how to download a copy are inaccurate.

All in all a huge waste of time. And don't make any financial plans based on receiving your lump sum on time. I claims my NHS pension last year. They posted the same form 2 months in advance, and emailed to let me know it was essential.

The Teachers Pensions scheme is without doubt the worst customer expreience I have ever had. I would give zero stars if that were possible. It has taken me two year to finally receive a small sum in lieu of my pension - possibly one of the most simple procedures a pension provider could have!
My initial contact was good. I could get through on the phone and staff were invariably helpful. However, that become increasingly difficult with wait time of up to an hour becoming normal. Trying to get anywhere using the website messaging system was hopeless. Long delays, unanswered questions, the organisations own deadlines usually missed (including for dealing with complaints). I was sent wrong forms and waited months , was told it would take only days once the right form,s were sent, when it actually took several more months. I made and attempted dozens of phone calls and website messages with little progress. It was a very dispiriting experience.
This is clearly a dysfunctional organisation unfit for the job it purports to do. I pity anybody reliant on its services and am very glad to be free of them at last!

If giving 0 was a possibility, I would have. This is the most inefficient government service I've ever encountered! Does anyone (a human being) actually work at TP? This service is the cause of so much anxiety at the end of a teacher's career; it is worse than being in the workplace!

I wish it were possible to leave minus stars because this organisation would receive them.
I, along with all those who were contacted regarding transitional protection, was told that all we had to do was to get our forms back. We did. We are still waiting. How long can it take?
I’m not going to say anything new in my review but even official complaints don’t get honoured. I’m going to go to BBC Radio Four’s You And Yours consumer programme and get it highlighted - I know my fellow retirees and prospective retirees have already done the same. It’s a travesty.

Transitional options sent back in February. 7 months later payments not made. How can it take so long after all the calculations are made? No date the calculations are now out of date and will need redoing. In the meantime I've missed out on a year's ISA allowance, and higher interest rates.
Complaints made, but apparently no dates can be given and you shouldn't rely on this money. It makes a huge difference when you're surviving on a pension

Very difficult to get through to someone. When Ieventually spoke to someone they were extremely rude and unhelpful. Tried a second time. Moderately less rude, equally unhelpful. On my third attempt, I spoke to someone who was polite and tried to assist me with my queries-unfortunately no progress was made. The one star is in honour of my third attempt.

Still waiting for my RSS. Apparently I am a complex case but I'm not. Thousands of us in same boat and each deadline gets extended.

I had a dreadful experience last year when I took premature retirement. Every time I phoned (which was probably 20+ times) I was on hold for over an hour, and was told something completely different each time. I made formal complaints twice and they failed to comply with their own deadline for investigating, they raised cases for me apparently marked as “urgent”, and I heard nothing back. Nobody apologised, nobody was “sorry”, mostly they were dismissive, sometimes they were nice, but often they were rude. I’d just had surgery for cancer at the time and should’ve been recuperating, but instead I was constantly on the phone to TPS and felt like I was trapped in the twilight zone. It was eventually resolved, and I intended to pursue them for loss of interest, but in the end I didn’t have the stamina

Thank you for getting all your ducks in a row and having everything work to schedule. Lump sum appeared at 00.01am on September first and first monthly payment on schedule on day before my birth date.

Having contacted TPS for the last year I am still yet to received the monies owed to me re overpayment into the scheme. This is now theft.

Gave a 1 as there was no 0 rating.
Communication and supportive interaction during an understandably stressful period of one's career is almost non existent. Absolutely dreadful! Almost aggressive response to desperate requests for help, that’s if I did finally manage to get through to a human being. I was even asked not to contact them directly! Who else am I supposed to turn to for informed support? I was left with the feeling that I received my pension despite TP, not thanks to them.

I have spent almost 50 minutes completely wasting my time trying to get any sense out of the TPA. To be fair, the operator I spoke to was doing her best to be helpful, but after the 3rd time of re-setting my password, when the website forced me to reset my PIN and then didn’t accept it, the call terminated - I didn’t shut the call down. Do they have a time limit on the length of ‘phone calls I wonder?

As I haven’t been on the site for a while, when I managed to get into it yesterday, I was reminded that I’d made a complaint on 24th July. It was replied to by the Head of Operations at the TPA on 7th August who said it would be dealt with in 15 working days, although this could be longer depending on the nature of the complaint. Yesterday was day 27!! I told the operator I was speaking to that I was giving them until Friday of this week, so on what would be day 31, if I hadn’t had a response I would be calling them again, and making a complaint about the complaint! Apparently, the operator escalated this.

After an extremely frustrating morning however, I am seriously thinking that I never want to speak to the TPA ever again!

Unfortunately I can't give 0 (or -5) stars so little choice but to give 1 star. Why? Tried to change my password after a security alert. Result: unable to access my account. Waited over an hour on the phone then, after providing a myriad of information, I made an error in giving the details of my last TP payment. I was subsequently told that TP could not help me any further and that I would have to phone anew. Couldn't face over another hour on the phone so I wrote to them (I would have preferred to email or message them but the former isn't possible and the latter is only possible if you can access your account, which, of course, I couldn't!). I provided every bit of information they could possibly need and suggested that surely my request to access my account could be easily resolved without any complicated complaint procedure. Waited nearly four weeks but received no reply - not even an acknowledgement - so wrote again by registered letter. Royal Mail confirmed receipt by TP but no response from TP for another couple of weeks. Then I received a letter from TP to say that my complaint was being dealt with, although it might take a while! Decided to try online chat and, after a while, the usual bot decided it couldn't help me and I was passed on to a real person, Amy. She was extremely helpful and patient for nearly an hour and, despite the site regularly crashing, amongst other problems, we eventually succeeded in changing my password and I was able to access my TP account again. (Unfortunately, the site crashed again before I was able to thank her. Such a pity because I really appreciated her assistance and it's very rare to be able to compliment TP or one of their employees). The next day I tried to log in to TP and - you'll never guess - my password was not accepted. A few days later I have been advised that I have received a message from TP - but I can't access it because I can't log in! I have given up. It would be nice to be able to look at my details online but I suppose that as long as I receive my pension regularly, that's all that really matters. My problem is relatively trivial compared to some of the experiences of others on here - people receiving the wrong, or no, pension, bereaved members trying to advise TP of their partner's demise etc. and all making little or no progress. Surely after, in many cases, a lifetime of dedication to teaching, often at the expense of health or family, teachers deserve better than to have to deal with this incompetent, inept and uncaring organisation? Thankfully, there is a ray of light. Crapita will soon no longer be responsible for TP. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are taking over, probably next year. It would be nice to think that Crapita have lost the gig because of their incompetence and failure to provide a decent service. However, I suspect that, as usual, it's more likely to be the result of someone offering to do the job more cheaply. Government outsourcing is usually a disaster (for those having to use the service - not the shareholders, of course) so perhaps we shouldn't be too optimistic but surely Tata can't do a worse job than Crapita?!

Totally ineffective system. Despite starting the process 5 months in advance I still have not received my pension and have been continually let down. There is no way to escalate concerns even when you speak on the phone to someone. They do not care.

Unfortunately there isnt a 0 star. No reply to repeated messages sent on the online portal. Constantly failing to get through on the telephone. I am a retired member re ring a teachers pension and still awaiting a review statement for my pension. Deadline regularly changed and missed! MP can’t get any response . Does anyone actually still work there?

I very begrudgingly have to give one star since the ‘Zero star’ option is not available. The website is totally useless, so-called member support is atrocious. The website throws you out repeatedly, if it lets you in at all, and will not allow your documents to be downloaded - a total disgrace.
I have previously followed the complaints process and that is itself another joke. They eventually send you a letter which does nothing to address the very detailed points which you raise in your complaint. No wonder people are leaving the teaching profession when you are treated with utter contempt and disrespect. DISGRACEFUL.

Disgusting service. Contradicting advice given each time , taje over 1 hour to answer calls , just had phone bill and two calls cost near £30 due to high call rate. If I could give 0 stars I would. This needs investigating by Unions and Government.

It would be good to actually receive the pension lump sum due on the date it is due. Applied in March, lump sum due 1st September.
Added to this is the problem in finding out information, and talking to someone who can actually tell you information or pass you on to someone who can actually do something. 90 minutes waiting for someone to answer the phone, two weeks waiting for a response to a message or complaint (woolly answer - no action).Others have said the same - retention of our money, no-one to contact directly for information, the power to act, or to receive complaints. This is not good enough and the government should act.