Ex employer wants me to visit every year to confirm I am still alive.

[HansonMike49]

I am being paid a pension by my ex employer and they have said that they have had problems with pensioners who have passed away and they have not been informed of the death.
I have now received a letter stating in view of the distance ( 400 miles ) they will require me to visit once a year so they can confirm I am still alive.
Obviously this will be expensive as there will be train fare and an overnight stay.
I have asked the position re the expenses and the response I have had is it my pension and if I want it I will have to come and see them and they will not be paid.
The other problem I can forsee is I can make the journey now at age 63 but will I be OK to do this journey in 20 years time?.
I have sugested I could sit in front of my laptop as it has a webcam and we could talk over the phone.
Are my ex employers allowed to impose conditions like this.

Mike

[twix123]

If your ex employer is unwilling to pay your expenses, why don't you turn it around and get them to visit you, by appointment, at the cost of their time and expense? Of course, if they don't know you personally anyone that they see could be purporting to be you no matter if you visit them or if they visit you!

[grffindoor2011]

Many pension schemes do have declaration of life forms which have to be completed and countersigned by an official body periodically. I've never heard of someone having to physically travel in this instance.

The pension company are most certainly within their rights to check you are alive. Having a number of years experience in this field from my younger days, you will be surprised at the number of family members who committed fraud on deceased family members pensions.

My advice would be 1.check your original letters from the start of your pension to see if there is anything about a declaration of life or entitlement that has to be completed and 2. Ask them whether an official body such as a GP/Lawyer can write and confirm as to you being alive on your behalf (and you countersigning the letter).

I would also ask what they would have expected you to do had you lived in a village in Cambodia (I mentioned that one as I used to deal with a pensioner who visited the British Embassy to confirm their entitlement every couple of years and they lived in Cambodia).

[JonnyBoy12]

It sounds a bit extreme to me. Could you not just phone them and give them a codeword which they have sent you by post and only you and they know? A phone call even from a call box is a lot cheaper than a 400 mile round trip.

I would speak to a lawyer about this. It sounds very odd to me.

[factor-fiction]

Okay- we've been duped again with this thread