Comments, Compliments and Complaints

1. Comments and compliments

We welcome and value your comments on the standard of service we provide.  If you have any comments you wish to make please contact us.

2. If you are unhappy with the service you have received from Pension Services

While we always try to do things accurately and on time we recognise that things can, and do sometimes go wrong.  In that event there are several courses of action you can take:

In the first instance please contact Pension Services directly.  Contact information for the person dealing with your case can usually be found on any correspondence you have received, and every effort will be made to clarify any misunderstanding and put right any error.

If you are still unhappy you can make a formal complaint in writing to:

The Pensions Manager
Staffordshire Pension Fund
Wedgwood Building
Tipping Street
Stafford
ST16 2DH

If you make a formal complaint we will:

• Acknowledge or reply to your complaint within 5 working days of receipt

• Within a further 10 days endeavour to give you a full explanation of our findings, and, if necessary, what action we propose to take to resolve any outstanding issues.

3. If you are unhappy with a decision in respect of your benefits

The Local Government Pension Scheme requires an employing body and also the administering authority (Staffordshire County Council) to make decisions from time to time about such things as entitlement to membership, the type of pension to be paid on retirement and the amount that will be paid. 

If you are unhappy with a decision (or lack of decision), initially you should always contact Pension Services in the first instance, in case your issue can be easily resolved.  A problem may have arisen as a result of a misunderstanding which can be cleared up right away, or from an error that can be easily corrected.  Any informal enquiry will not prevent you from using the formal appeal process.

If you are still dissatisfied the Pension Scheme provides formal rights of appeal.  The document below explains what to do if you want to make a formal complaint in respect of a decision that has been made:

  What to do if you have a complaint (100kb) July 2011

If you wish to use the Internal Disputes Resolution Process, please contact Pension Services, who will provide you with the relevant application forms and contact address information.

NB If the problem lies with a decision made by your employing body we may have to ask you to approach them about this issue, but we can discuss with you the points that you may need to raise.

Last Modified: 28/07/2011 13:14:59
Back to top