Author Details and Contact Form

Scottish Widows Complaint: PO-14071

Involving fraudulent evasion of pension encashment by SW, and its brazen cover up by TPO

Hyperlinks on this page:

This page gives links to PDF documents of all correspondence and the web pages.

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Introduction

This page contains a complete categorised list of PDF documents, mainly paginated for A4 paper. These include mirrors of the main pages of the website (which are kept in tandem with the web pages for better printouts), and the entire and unedited§ text of of all relevant correspondence. §With the sole exception that my National Insurance Number has been hidden for security reasons.

Nearly all PDF documents are prefixed by a header that contains firstly a summary of the case, and secondly a description of the following content. Their content is graphical in the case of scans (postal items, verification documents), otherwise textual (emails, attachments, online forms, and web page mirrors). With emails and web pages, the PDF target preserves any hyperlinks in the source email or document. I hold all original paper correspondence as evidence.

For emails, the content is generated from Yahoo Mail by copying and pasting into a Word document, then converting to an optimized PDF. I have not modified the textual content in any way (all typos are faithfully preserved), but have found it necessary to improve the formatting (particularly to remove inappropriate blank lines). However, in each case there is a link to the email alone as rendered by Yahoo Mail (much larger, but more authentic); I have provided such links to all emails involved in my case, including wrappers. Also, all my emails are retained on the Yahoo Mail server, and for the purpose of verifying them as evidence, I would issue a temporary password to some appropriate individual to enable direct access to my account.

The first column of each table gives the filename of the document (without .pdf extension), with a hyperlink for download. The number of pages and file size are shown on mouse over. Any date prefix is that on which I sent or received the document. The description is only intended to be sufficient to help identification; the Event Summary page gives fuller descriptions and backgrounds to the documents it references.

General

These mirror the ten main HTML documents of this website.

Key Facts Key points of case in the form of numbered paragraphs.
Overview Case Summaries and Narratives (SW and TPO).
Verification Issues with Scottish Widows' verification requirements.
Events Summary lists of events with links, in two chronological sequences.
Details (SW) Detailed chronology of correspondence with Scottish Widows.
Details (TPO) Detailed chronology of correspondence with The Pensions Ombudsman.
Determination Analysis of the TPO Final Determination.
Epilogue Summary and Analysis of case issues, and a Satisfactory Resolution.
Questions Introduction and exact list of questions sent to Scottish Widows.
Documents Complete list of PDF documents (this page).

Correspondence (Scottish Widows)

This gives individual documents that correspond to those given on the Details (SW) page of the website. Paper documents not directly relevant to this case are excluded. The web page includes these peripheral documents (as images only), and supports popup images for more rapid navigation than opening PDF documents.

In each case, the date given is that which appears on the document; however, the list is in chronological order of the date on which I sent or received them. This order is not always the same as that of the document dates. For example, the rejection of my documents dated 14 April arrived well over two months later on 16 June; and whilst the first postal request for documents was sent over a week earlier than this on 6 April, it was not received until 6 July.

Those documents I consider crucial to the case I have described in bold. The originator of each document is given as follows:

ICMIan Clive McInnes
SWScottish Widows
20160315EncashmentEnquiry 15 Mar 2016ICM Fax to enquire on pension encashment.
20160318EncashmentInfo 18 Mar 2016SW Email Response to fax enquiry.
20160405DocRequirements 5 Apr 2016SW Content of Information Requested email, specifying verification requirements.
Individual Identification and Verification Form 5 Apr 2016SW Email attachment, with further requirements, and specifying verification options for Name and Address.
20160411EmailDocuments 11 Apr 2016ICM Email with 8 attached document scans (see following section), with clear and detailed explanation of my circumstances.
20160521FollowUp 21 May 2016ICM Email follow up, sent after I had received neither reply nor payment.
20160616ConfirmationP56879Q 5 Apr 2016SW Confirmation of interview for P56879Q.
20160616ReplyEmail0414 14 Apr 2016SW Postal reply to my email of 11 April, rejecting my documents.
20160626IDRP-Query 26 Jun 2016ICM Email request for Scottish Widows IDRP.
20160627WotsAnIDRP 27 Jun 2016SW First Email response to above (as a password-protected PDF), denying knowledge of the term IDRP.
20160630RequestPostDocs 30 Jun 2016SW Second email response to above (also as a password-protected PDF), requesting me to send the (now acceptable) documents.
20160706ConfirmationN80803X 5 Apr 2016SW Confirmation of interview for N80803X.
20160706cReqDocsN80803X 6 Apr 2016SW The first of four requests for documents received on 6 July.
20160706dReqDocsP56879Q 6 Apr 2016SW The second of four requests for documents.
20160706eReqDocsP56879Q 24 May 2016SW The third of four requests for documents.
20160706fReqDocsN80803X 1 Jun 2016SW The last of four requests for documents, this time with a different letter and form.
20160710EmailComplaint 10 Jul 2016ICM (Interim) email complaint to Scottish Widows, outlining my main concerns.
20160713ComplaintResponse 13 Jul 2016SW Response to the above email, offering only discussion by telephone.
20160717WebsiteRef 17 Jul 2016ICM My reply, rejecting telephone discussion and containing a link to my website.
20160801ReplyEmail0710 1 Aug 2016SW Email in response to my interim complaint, offering to accept a scan of my certified ID card (alone) as verification.
20160804ClaimClosed0616 16 Jun 2016SW Letter terminating my application.
20160804SendDocs0630 30 Jun 2016SW Paper version of the document I received by email on 1 July, unclosing my application.
20160915FollowUp0822 22 Aug 2016SW Follow-up letter to the email of 1 August.
20160915Final0824 24 Aug 2016SW Final Response.
20160929QuestionsForSW 29 Sep 2016ICM Request for answers to my list of questions.
20160929OutOfOffice 29 Sep 2016SW Out of Office notification from above.
20161010ReqDocs0526 26 May 2016SW Request for documents #6.
20161010ComplaintInfo0715 15 Jul 2016SW Complaint information.
20161123ReplyVoicemails 23 Nov 2016ICM Email sent to Scottish Widows in response to their voicemails, at the suggestion of TPO.

Verification

This section contains the exact 8 PDF documents I sent as attachments to my email of 11 April. They include scans of both the original and certified documents. I included original documents in addition, since the certified photocopies were unclear in many places.

OriginalID Original ID card (front and back), showing all details clearly.
OriginalBankStatement Original bank statement.
OriginalBirthCertificate Original birth certificate.
CertifiedID Certified ID card (as with all photocopies of it, not too clear).
CertifiedBankStatement Certified bank statement.
CertifiedBirthCertificateFront Certified copy of the front of my birth certificate.
CertifiedBirthCertificateBack Certified copy of the back of my birth certificate.
Notario Business card of the notario público.

Correspondence (TPO)

This is my correspondence with The Pensions Ombudsman.

20160828ToTPO Enquiry to TPO, not knowing what they would need to proceed.
20160830FromTPO Reply from CM, stating that they need a Final Response from SW.
20160924ApplTPO Application Form with Covering Letter.
20160929ToTPO Follow up to my application to TPO (that they had just received), stating that I had sent a list of questions to Scottish Widows.
20160930FromTPO Acknowledgement from TPO (from an Investigation Assistant).
20161004FromTPO A further acknowledgement (from Assistant Adjudicator CM).
20161030ToTPO Email to TPO, asking whether I should chase up on the list of questions I sent to Scottish Widows a month ago.
20161031FromTPO Reply from CM, suggesting that I wait another month.
20161110ToTPO Email to TPO, reporting the telephone calls from Scottish Widows.
20161123FromTPO Reply from CM, suggesting that if I did not want to return their calls, I should email them requesting a written response.
20161123ToTPO Notification to TPO that I had sent the above email to SW.
20161202FromTPO1 Email from TPO advising me of email encryption.
20161202FromTPO2-Wrapper
20161202FromTPO2-Content
Email with password-protected PDF requesting me to resend the link in my email of 23 November, as their system denied access to it.
20161203ToTPO-Wrapper
20161203ToTPO
Email to TPO sent by the secure service with a PDF document both as a link and as an attachment.
20161204ToTPO Follow up to the above, using the normal service.
20161212FromTPO Acknowledgement of my emails of 3/4 December.
20170118FromTPO1 Request from another department for Customer Survey participation, stating that my case had been closed.
20170118FromTPO2 Correction, but only to say that they had sent the wrong form.
20170118ToTPO Response to the above, reflecting my concern.
20170120FromTPO Apology from CM for error (survey was sent to the wrong people).
20170215FromTPO Another request for Customer Survey participation.
20170405ToTPO Email I sent after having received nothing further on my case.
20170407FromTPO Reply from CM to say that my email had been forwarded to the Senior Adjudicator BB handling my case.
20170514ToTPO Email I sent after again having heard nothing further.
20170515FromTPO Initial email from BB (now Deputy Casework Manager).
20170517ToTPO My response to the above.
20170522FromTPO Another, more informative, response from BB.
20170524ToTPO My reply, stating that I had reported my case to Action Fraud.
20170526FromTPO Response, stating that he would be in touch when he had been able to review the website.
20170610ToTPO
20170610ToTPO2
Replacement of email originally enclosing a ZIP file of most of my website, which was rejected by their delivery system. The second was intended to send several loose files to complete the website.
20170613FromTPO Indication that denial of access to my website was long term.
20170614ToTPO Acknowledgement of his willingness to use another connection.
20170615FromTPO Note to say that he would review my website early next week.
20170712ToTPO Again nothing heard, so another chase up, this time blunter.
20170714FromTPO Response denying skullduggery, but with no new information.
20170806ToTPO Enquiry to the survey department to find out if my case was closed.
20170807FromTPO Response to above, forwarding my email to the adjudicator.
20170830ToTPO Detailed follow up to my email of 6 August.
20170831FromTPO Reply to the above from the Casework Manager.
20170903ToTPO Email to the Casework Director.
20170904FromTPO Acknowledgement from the Casework Director.
20170909ToTPO Follow up to my email of 3 September, to clarify a few points.
Complaint Response20170915
20170915FromTPO
First and Final response to my complaint from the Casework Director with covering email.
20171003FromTPO Attempt by Mr Berkengoff to force me into a deal with Scottish Widows.
20171004ToTPO My response to the above, copied to the Casework Director and the Pensions Ombudsman.
20171008ToTPO Follow up to clarify the above, for the Pensions Ombudsman only.
20171031FromTPO Another attempt by Mr Berkengoff to push me into dealing with Scottish Widows, or withdraw my case.
20171101ToTPO Rather than reply to the above, I forwarded it to the Pensions Ombudsman, asking whether he was in agreement with this position.
20180110ToTPO Summary of issues with SW and TPO to the TPO Legal Director.
20181105FromTPO Extraordinary email from the Casework Manager, following up the Adjudicator's request of over a year ago for a Mexican passport.
McInnes Opinion
20190115FromTPO
Unexpected Opinion from the Casework Manager, with covering letter.
20180124FromTPO Reminder that I must respond by 30 January, or the Opinion will become the final resolution.
20190127OpinionRejectionPO-14071
20190127ToTPO
My rejection of their Opinion of 15 January 2019 with a covering letter, sent to the Casework Manager and a new Adjudicator.
20190127FromTPO Out-of-office notification from the Casework Manager.
20190128FromTPO An acknowledgement of my rejection of their Opinion.
20190322FromTPO-Notification
20190322FromTPO-Mimecast
AmendedOpinionPO-14071
A notification from the Adjudicator that I have received a message via mimecast, the mimecast access page, and the retrieved Amended Opinion.
20190324ToTPO
OpinionRejectionPO-14071v2
My rejection of the Amended Opinion, with covering email.
20190326FromTPO-SecureMessageNA
20190327ToTPO
Another mimecast page with a message that was not accessible (actually the Final Determination below), and my response to it.
20190328FromTPO
McInnes FD
FD Factsheet
Response to the above from the Adjudicator, attaching the Final Determination, and Information about appeals.
DeterminationRejectionPO-14071 My rejection of the Final Determination for documentation purposes (this was not sent to TPO).

Correspondence (Other)

This is my remaining correspondence.

20160706TPASInfo Helpful response to my online application.
20160717ToTPAS Email to TPAS, mentioning my complaint to SW and my website.
20160718FromTPAS Reply to above (they work with documents, and could not help with evidence of identity issues).
20160724ToTPAS Reply to TPAS, providing link to my newly-created document list. I also stated that I had found SW's "verification" demands to be completely illegitimate.
20160819FromTPAS1 Notification that my application is to be passed to another advisor.
20160819FromTPAS2 Another acknowledgement, giving my case number.
20160908FromTPAS Initial email from my TPAS caseworker.
20160911ToTPAS My reply to the above, setting out my position more fully.
20160918ToTPAS Update to state that I had received Scottish Widows' Final Response, and had prepared a list of questions to put to Scottish Widows.
20160923FromTPAS Email from TPAS, offering to pursue SW's use of post.
20160925ToTPAS Reply to TPAS, stating that I had made an application to TPO.
20160926FromTPAS Reply from TPAS, closing my case as I had approached TPO.
20170429WixtedEnquiry Enquiry sent to Wixted & Co solicitors (no response received).
20170520ToAF Online report sent to Action Fraud (contents of Other Details box).
20170522FromAF
NFRC170501858997
Acknowledgement (email with attached PDF), although it is not clear whether they will be able to investigate.
NFRC170501858997-0622 Response from ActionFraud stating that they do not have the leads needed to pursue my case.
0170625ToAF My response to the above, urging them to reconsider.
20180117ToTPR Email to The Pensions Regulator, urging an investigation into TPO.
20180205FromTPR Reply to the above, referring me to the Work and Pensions Department.
20180228ToCWP Email to the Commons Select Committee - Work and Pensions (unfortunately bounced as spam).
20180422ToFCA Email to the Financial Conduct Authority.
20180424FromFCA Acknowledgement to the above, stating that my email had been forward to the appropriate department.
20180425FromFCA Further email, with suggestions, but offering no action.
20180505ToCWP Second email to the Commons Select Committee - Work and Pensions; sent by a contact with access to them (name hidden). Contains web page mirrors that are now outdated.
20180610ToMSE Post that I attempted to make on Money Saving Expert forum (three tries, each of which was rapidly removed).
20180611FromMSE Email from MSE, confirming that my posts had been removed on account of inflammatory language (e.g. the word "fraudulent").
20180613ToMSE
20180613FromMSE
My email in response to the above, and an automated reply.
20180614FromMSE Response to the above, stating that my email had been forwarded to their Editorial team.
20180620ToMP Tweet to the Metropolitan Police, reporting Misconduct in Public Office by The Pensions Ombudsman.
20180620ToAF Further update to ActionFraud, challenging them to either rebut my fraud claim or investigate it. I also stated that I had made the above Misconduct in Public Office report.
20180703ToMP0
20180703ToMP1
20180703ToMP2
Covering letter, report of Misconduct in Public Office against TPO, and report of Fraudulent Misconduct against SW, sent to the Metropolitan Police by registered post (my tweet was ignored). NB: these documents are paginated for Oficio paper (216x340).
20190209ToMP
ReportBerkengoff
Tweet to the Metropolitan Police with link to a report. This was raised specifically against Barry Berkengoff, not mentioning TPO.
20190210ToMP Follow up, suggesting that they might liaise with the Department of Work and Pensions.
20190606ToHMRC Email to HM Revenue & Customs to resolve the issue of SW's documentation demands.
20190606FromHMRC Automated response to the above.
20190728ToCWP First report to the Clerks of the Committee for Work and Pensions.
20190801FromCWP Unencouraging response to the above.
20190826ToCWP Follow up to my first report above.
20190829FromCWP Reply to the above.
20190902ToTRPL Email sent to Thomson Reuters Practical Law (via online form).
20190902FromTRPL Automated response to sending the above.
20190907ToDWP Report to the Department for Work & Pensions (Online Helpdesk).
20190909FromDWP Reply suggesting I contact the relevant department (no info given).
20190911FromTRPL Vacuous reply from Thomson Reuters.
20190915ToDWP Request to DWP Online Helpdesk for contact details.
20190916FromDWP Reply giving an irrelevant link to International Pension Centre.
20190916ToTRPL Follow up to Thomson Reuters, who had not looked at my website.
20190916ToDWP Email to the International Pension Centre (no reply).
20190923ToDWP
20190923FromDWP
Request to DWP for an email address to report TPO misconduct under the Freedom of Information Act, and an automated response.
20190924FromDWP Reply to the above, denying familiarity with 'TPO'.
20190928ToDWP
20190928FromDWP
My reply that TPO is The Pensions Ombudsman that DWP is supposed to oversee, and another automated response.
20190930FromDWP Response containing three useless links to web pages.
20200712ToDWP-revised Revised version of an email sent in response to Tailored Review of the Pensions Ombudsman (see below).
20200720ToCWP Request to the Committee for Work & Pensions to forward the above email to the author of the review.
20200721FromCWP Response to the above.

Reference

These are some documents referred to on this website, but not part of the correspondence.

PSA 1993-2017 Pension Schemes Act 1993, as amended to 2017 (contains the regulations in force when my case was dealt with by TPO).
Appointment-PO-2015 Document from DWP describing the appointment of Anthony Arter (no other candidates appear to have been considered).
AML-Guidelines-2007 HMRC guidelines on the applicable Anti-money laundering regulations.
Review-PO-2019 Tailored Review of the Pensions Ombudsman (external web page).
AccessReports-DWP Access Reports showing that DWP is well aware of TPO corruption.
AccessReports-MP Access Reports showing that the Metropolitan Police do not investigate complaints against TPO, only individuals.
TPO-Proposals-Dec2018 Proposals to widen the jurisdiction of the Pensions Ombudsman; in particular to allow for early resolution, thus avoiding Determination.
TPO-Proposals-Aug2019 Government response to the above proposals.

There are many other relevant documents, but these should be readily available online. They include the Pension Schemes Act 1993/2017, and documentation relating to the numerous "reforms" introduced by Mr Arter.