Steve Webb celebrates 500th This is Money column: These are some of the pension problems he has unravelled

Steve Webb published his 500th pension column for This is Money on Monday. Watch out for a series of articles and events to celebrate this landmark all this week.

This is Money's popular agony uncle has answered all manner of questions over the past decade, and very often offers a dose of common sense alongside useful pension information.

The chances are all readers will have found one topic or another to be of help or interest at some point, and many write back to tell us or Steve himself when this is the case.

To mark his 500th column, we have looked at the most common reasons people turn to Steve, or just show up to read what he has to say every week, and some of his best answers.

Personal finance gems

Many people do not write in with their own questions, but follow Steve's columns each week to glean something useful that could improve their finances.

Recently, someone in their 30s wrote in to say they were heading for a million-pound pension fund and asked if they should start saving less.

Pension dilemmas, crises, injustices... Steve will reply with the information you need, and often a dose of kind common sense as well

It's unusual for someone that young to have amassed a big pot already, but the question will also have been of interest to older readers who have already saved considerable sums.

Another case this year that surprised a lot of people and caused quite a stir involved someone whose old employer had kept an £8,000 pension pot after they left the company.

It turned out this was allowed under the rules prevailing at the time, and it was a useful reminder for all readers to keep pension schemes updated with their contact details.

One former constituent, whom Steve had given a tour of Westminster while he was still an MP, told us he subsequently became a follower of the columns.

'This helped me take a keen interest in pensions from early in my career, helping me to maximise pension contributions, manage company scheme investments myself (rather than the default investment options) and set up an additional private Sipp.

'Hopefully this has helped set me up for a comfortable retirement, although if Steve is still working I think I should be too!'

Another reader tells us: 'Although most of your work doesn't affect me I find that having more knowledge about pensions gives me more confidence. That can be a bit concerning to my financial adviser who has to be on his toes. Thank you.'

Battles you can't win alone

If you are in a stand-off with a pension firm or the government that you can't resolve yourself, then Steve will often step in to help.

Seemingly intractable problems sorted out over the years include pension funds that had vanished, state pension payments that mysteriously stopped, and bungled statements that wrongly undervalued pensions.

In one case this year, someone wrote in to tell Steve their daughter's employer had stopped paying into her pension yet was still deducting money from her salary.

Steve sought permission to report the matter to the Pensions Regulator, which forced the company involved to start putting money back into the daughter's pension.

The father and daughter wrote to Steve afterwards: 'Please accept our sincere thanks for helping us with this issue and another successful outcome for you.'

In another case that shocked Steve, a 73-year-old had been wrangling with HMRC for years about their inaccurate National Insurance record.

There was no sign of any resolution in sight but after Steve stepped in the reader got an increased state pension and arrears of over £2,000 as a lump sum. He also got £150 and an apology from HMRC.

Pleas for help

People sometimes contact Steve when they are struggling with a serious personal difficulty, or a bereavement or health issue.

One reader whose husband had died in a traffic accident wrote to him because a pension firm would not release his fund until after a long-delayed inquest took place.

She said the company's staff had suggested she might have played a part in his tragic death, even though there was no suspicion or possibility whatsoever of her involvement.

After Steve intervened the pension fund was released to her and the company said it would review its internal processes.

Meanwhile, a former member of the armed services who had been defrauded asked a question that prompted a number of sympathetic This is Money readers to write in asking to be put in contact with him, so they could offer assistance themselves.

All regular readers of Steve's columns will remember seeing some sad stories over the years.

One reader who was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago got in touch again recently.

He originally wrote to Steve to ask him how much his wife's state pension might be increased to if he died.

Thankfully, he told us about how he has received treatment and is now a great deal better, and he added: 'At what turned out to be the lowest part of my health there was help to reduce my anxiety over my wife's future.

'Thank you for the opportunity to share my story and more importantly my immense gratitude to Steve.'

Suffering injustice

One of Steve's most memorable achievements was discovering that more than a hundred thousand elderly women were being underpaid some £800million in state pension.

But he has helped many other people who have suffered injustice over the years.

More recently, he has pressed Capita bosses repeatedly on the long delays suffered by civil servants or their bereaved loved ones in getting pensions and death benefits paid.

He helped an 81-year-old woman who waited nine months for her widow's pension, and whose struggles were reported to him by her worried family.

Steve said in his column: 'It is totally unacceptable for a widow to have to wait so long for a pension that was earned by her late husband and is rightfully hers.

'I'm pleased to say that you have now been contacted with details of your mother's widow's pension but was shocked when you told me that even the letter from Capita to your local MP saying things were sorted out got your father's name wrong.'

Steve has also helped a lot of low paid people whose Universal Credit was calculated incorrectly because their pension contributions were not taken into account.

Government staff have repeatedly fobbed people off, ignored them, or adamantly denied that anything was wrong – then backed down and apologised when Steve raised cases personally with the Department for Work and Pensions.

One reader wrote and told him: 'I had a call from Universal Credit today. They were very apologetic and have said they will backdate all my pension contributions to when I first started claiming. Thank you so much for making me aware of this error and also for all your help!'

Confused or undecided

People with a personal finance question or dilemma that they want an informed, independent take on often come to Steve for his opinion.

A reader asked Steve whether he thought Government plans to let employers keep final salary pension surpluses would endanger savers' funds.

Another asked him whether it was worth putting retirement on hold and taking a £12.40-an-hour part-time job, because they weren't sure they would be any better off in the end.

After Steve unravelled a tricky tax question for one reader, she told him: 'Once again you have explained it so that I can understand. Sorry, but you are my go to tax expert now.

'Thank you so much, I don't think you realise just how much of a difference someone such as yourself can make.'

Do YOU need help?

Scroll down to find out how to get in touch with Steve yourself, or you can check out all his previous columns to see if any involve issues affecting you.

If the long list looks daunting, try hitting 'control F' ('command F' on a Mac) and inputting a key word or two to find out if he has already covered what you want to know.

Or, you can read our round-ups of Steve's top columns about the state pension here and on private pensions here.

Ask Steve Webb a pension question

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle.

He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement.

Steve left the Department of Work and Pensions after the May 2015 election. He is now a partner at actuary and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.

If you would like to ask Steve a question about pensions, please email him at pensionquestions@thisismoney.co.uk.

Steve will do his best to reply to your message in a forthcoming column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.

Please include a daytime contact number with your message - this will be kept confidential and not used for marketing purposes.

If Steve is unable to answer your question, you can also contact MoneyHelper, a Government-backed organisation which gives free assistance on pensions to the public. It can be found here and its number is 0800 011 3797.

Steve receives many questions about state pension forecasts and COPE ¿ the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent. If you are writing to Steve on this topic, he responds to a typical reader question here. It includes links to Steve's several earlier columns about state pension forecasts and contracting out, which might be helpful.  

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