cwps query

bottle2011

has anybody out there had any dealings with the cwps with regard to payments of arrears and finding out what your pension is worth? I'm currently getting my pension sorted and my employer is paying up all that he owes in arrears to the cwps. he's paying the arrears at the current rate of contributions (approx €50 per week) but what i want to know is will my pension be worth what he pays in now? or what it would have been worth if we'd been paying the lower rates that were being deducted earlier on in the scheme? if we'd been paying in from the start combined contributions would be around 20k, but as it stands the cwps want 40k and won't tell me what the pension is worth until all payments are up to date! I'm just afraid that my employer will pay in all this money and i'll end up with a much lower amount in my pension at the end of it!! i have a seperate pension of my own that i've been paying into for years and i'm thinking it would be better to pay some of the money into that but the cwps is compulsory and i just get the feeling that they're not telling me the whole story ! Help!!!

Kennie1

bottle2011 wrote: »

has anybody out there had any dealings with the cwps with regard to payments of arrears and finding out what your pension is worth? I'm currently getting my pension sorted and my employer is paying up all that he owes in arrears to the cwps. he's paying the arrears at the current rate of contributions (approx €50 per week) but what i want to know is will my pension be worth what he pays in now? or what it would have been worth if we'd been paying the lower rates that were being deducted earlier on in the scheme? if we'd been paying in from the start combined contributions would be around 20k, but as it stands the cwps want 40k and won't tell me what the pension is worth until all payments are up to date! I'm just afraid that my employer will pay in all this money and i'll end up with a much lower amount in my pension at the end of it!! i have a seperate pension of my own that i've been paying into for years and i'm thinking it would be better to pay some of the money into that but the cwps is compulsory and i just get the feeling that they're not telling me the whole story ! Help!!!

The CWPS scheme is made up of a number of different benefits; Pension contribution, Death in Service and Sick Pay Scheme with a cost for each benefit, therefore the full 40k as you suggest will not be paid into the actual pension but the relavant proportion instead. As for the CWPS not giving you an indication of what you are looking for, having dealt with this crowd a few times I would say it depends who you get through to on the phone. Advice; Put your questions in writing and they have a duty to answer you

What ever is paid into the pension will be the value of the pension fund at that time and date when the money is invested and will move up and down with investment markets.

You said that you are paying into a private pension, as you are going to be part of the CWPS scheme you need stop paying into your pension and open up a AVC pension, just give your private pension provider/advisor a call and they will be happy to do this for you.

Cannot understand why the employer is having to pay 40k instead the recommended % of salary, this seems highly unusual??? Is it a result of a court order???

bottle2011

my employer's been told that this is what has to be paid to bring me up to date with the cwps, they said that any arrears are charged at todays rate even though they're going back several years. he's paying both his own and my contributions, as this is the requirement, and while he has no issue with that, he's said to me that he doesn't think i'll be getting anywhere near the 40k he's going to have to pay in and that i'll be paying for benefits that are of no use to me.

Kennie1

bottle2011 wrote: »

my employer's been told that this is what has to be paid to bring me up to date with the cwps, they said that any arrears are charged at todays rate even though they're going back several years. he's paying both his own and my contributions, as this is the requirement, and while he has no issue with that, he's said to me that he doesn't think i'll be getting anywhere near the 40k he's going to have to pay in and that i'll be paying for benefits that are of no use to me.

Oh! so your employer can predict that you are not going to get sick until you retire and that when you retire the pension will be no use. Oh and nearly forgot you are not going to die before you retire...Sounds to me he's in the wrong job, tell him Mystic Meg is looking to recruit someone with his talants:D Think he may be a little upset that he has to pay the 40K!

bottle2011

Ha Ha!! i don't think he meant that!!
he was saying that the back dated payments would include paying arrears for death benefit and sick pay, not about future cover. As it happens, all this is being sorted because i'm leaving the construction industry and going to work elsewhere, so i won't be continueing to contribute to the cwps, its my employer who wants everything up to date and i was just wondering about where all the money will end up?
Can i ask that its all paid into the pension fund or are they going to deduct payments for insurance cover that i'll never use?
thanks for the info so far, its hard to get a straight answer from these people!

Kennie1

I know that trying to deal with them can be quite fustrating. I would agree that back dating benefits seems crazy:eek: If I were you I would write to them outlining my concerns about backdating the life and sickpay premiums and demand that the full premium be paid into the pension as if you were off work say last year you were not covered by the scheme so therefore you should not have to pay on that basis. Register the letter as well and ask for their reply!!

westendgirlie

If your employer deducts cwps contributions from your wage but dooesn't pay them over. Do you, the employee lose out?

Kennie1

Of course. If this has happened to you please report to the pensions board without delay!!!!!! http://www.pensionsboard.ie/en/?locID=40&docID=-1