Scottish Widows Complaint: PO-14071

This site is now obsolete, as it deals only with the case against Scottish Widows. It was abandoned once it became clear that The Pensions Ombudsman was refusing to investigate, instead illegally forcing a pragmatic solution in evident collusion with Scottish Widows. Please see my Personal Pension Fiasco for up-to-date details of both cases.

This page contains a complete categorised list of documents. Everything relevant to the case is listed here in the form of printable PDFs paginated for A4 paper. They include the entire and unedited§ text of correspondence with Scottish Widows, and with other parties (mainly TPAS and TPO). §With the sole exception that my National Insurance Number has been hidden for security reasons. Their content is graphical in the case of scans (postal items, verification documents), otherwise textual. The textual content is derived either from emails, or from documents mirroring web pages; in each case, the PDF target preserves any hyperlinks in the source email or document.

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.

Links open in one of up to four additional windows (or tabs) in the categories corresponding to the four sections on this page: General; Correspondence (Scottish Widows); Verification; Correspondence (Other). You can leave each window open and click more links in that category to add more documents to it; you can then navigate through the documents added to that window using the browser left/right arrows. Using this facility, you can create a selection of documents in each category for review. NB: This does not work in the current version of Microsoft Edge, as the new document replaces rather than adds to the existing window contents. If you close the window, a fresh one will be created next time.

General

Website Pages (these mirror the eight main HTML documents of this website):

Overview Case Summary and Overview.
Verification Issues with Scottish Widows' verification requirements.
Events Summary lists of events with links, in two chronological sequences.
Chronology Detailed chronology of correspondence with Scottish Widows (only).
Epilogue Summary and Analysis of case issues, and a Satisfactory Resolution.
Questions Introduction and exact list of questions sent to Scottish Widows.
Outcome [To be completed when the case is resolved].
Documents Complete list of PDF documents (this page).

Correspondence (Scottish Widows)

This gives individual documents that correspond to those given on the Detailed Chronology 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 06 April, it was not received until 06 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 05 Apr 2016SW Content of Information Requested email, specifying verification requirements.
Individual Identification and Verification Form 05 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 05 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 05 Apr 2016SW Confirmation of interview for N80803X.
20160706cReqDocsN80803X 06 Apr 2016SW The first of four requests for documents received on 06 July.
20160706dReqDocsP56879Q 06 Apr 2016SW The second of four requests for documents.
20160706eReqDocsP56879Q 24 May 2016SW The third of four requests for documents.
20160706fReqDocsN80803X 01 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 01 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 01 July, unclosing my application.
20160915FollowUp0822 22 Aug 2016SW Follow-up letter to the email of 01 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 (Other)

This is my remaining correspondence (mainly with The Pensions Advisory Service and The Pensions Ombudsman).

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.
20160819FromTPAS1 Notification that my application is to be passed to another advisor.
20160819FromTPAS2 Another acknowledgement, giving my case number.
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.
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.
20160924ApplTPO Application Form with Covering Letter.
20160925ToTPAS Reply to TPAS, stating that I had mad an application to TPO.
20160926FromTPAS Reply from TPAS, closing my case as I had approached TPO.
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 03/04 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.
20170429WixtedEnquiry Enquiry sent to Wixted & Co solicitors (no response received).
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.
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.
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.