From your first day of employment both your employer and the Pensions Authority make decisions under the Scheme rules that affect your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) benefits. If you think a decision is incorrect or you’re unhappy with a decision, then we have an Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure (IDRP) to resolve any problems. At first, please contact whoever made the decision with which you are unhappy.

Decisions by South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA)

These include decisions regarding:

• The benefits you can have and how much they will be.

• When you die, what death benefits can be paid.

• Explaining how you are affected by Scheme changes.

Decisions by your Employer

These include decisions regarding:

• Access to the pension scheme.

• Discretionary payments.

• Ill-Health entitlement.

• Pensionable pay, including final pay.

• Contribution rate.

Decision made by your employer

If the decision has been made by your employer, the letter notifying you of the decision will explain about the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure and set out contact details for your employer's adjudicator. Before you start the formal procedure, you should contact your employer to express your concerns. It may be possible to resolve the issue immediately to your satisfaction.

How do the dispute rules work for SYPA?

It is a two-stage process and will be handled at Stage 1 by our Assistant Director for Pensions Administration and Stage 2 by our director, referred to as adjudicators. If your disagreement is in relation to a decision made by SYPA, complete the Dispute Form below. This will help you to include the information needed to enable your claim to be investigated. You must submit your initial claim within six months of the decision made by SYPA that you are disputing. If the stage 1 adjudicator feels it is reasonable the time limit can be extended.

What happens next?

The stage 1 adjudicator will look at the facts of your case, along with the Scheme rules and any other relevant legislation. In addition, to help with the understanding of your claim, the adjudicator may also need to ask your employer for more details. The stage 1 adjudicator should reply to you within two months of receiving your claim, giving details of the decision, or acknowledging your claim and explaining when you will have a decision.

Taking your claim further

You can go to Stage 2 if:

• You have not heard from the Stage 1 adjudicator within three months of making your claim under the dispute rules.

• You have not had a decision from the Stage 1 adjudicator within one month of the date the adjudicator told you, you would get one.

• You have had a decision from the Stage 1 adjudicator, but you disagree with it.

Stage 2 – Appeals

Using the dispute rules

If you disagree with the Stage 1 adjudicator’s decision, you should appeal within six months of the decision. If you have not received a decision from the Stage 1 adjudicator in time, you should appeal as soon as possible after the time limit has passed. You must make your Stage 2 claim in writing, enclosing a copy of the Stage 1 decision you disagree with. You must give full details of why you disagree with it and produce any further evidence to support your argument.

What happens next?

The Stage 2 adjudicator will re-examine your case, again referring to the Scheme rules and relevant legislation and may ask your employer for more information. The Stage 2 adjudicator should reply to you within two months of receiving your claim under the IDRP rules. This will either:

• Give a decision which will confirm or replace the Stage 1 adjudicator’s decision: or

• Acknowledge your claim and explain when you will have a decision.

More Information

To link to the 'Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure', use the URL for the Booklets page.

If you feel a complaint or invoking the appeals process isn’t the route you wanted to take but instead you would like to leave feedback on how we can improve our services, please complete our feedback form.

Getting Outside Help

There are also two outside bodies who may be able to help, and these are The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and the Pensions Ombudsman. TPAS offers a free service to all members of company pension schemes. They have local advisers who can help explain or get more information about your pension. You can ask TPAS to help at any stage of the dispute procedure - for example if it is taking too long to sort out. In some cases, they will refer your case to the Pensions Ombudsman. You can contact TPAS at: 11, Belgrave Road, London SW1V 1RB Tel: 0485 601 2923

Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Ombudsman can investigate any type of dispute about your pension, but you must first have been through Stages 1 and 2 of the dispute rules. You can, however, complain to the Ombudsman about the way any of the adjudicators have handled your case and do not have to wait until your case has been completed. You can contact the Ombudsman at: 11, Belgrave Road, London SW1V 1RB Tel: 020 7630 2200