The Dutch ombudsman for pensions, Piet Keizer, has called for the involvement of independent experts in the handling of complaints filed by participants.
In his annual report for 2011-12, Piet Keizer noted that pension providers currently dealt with complaints in a number of different ways, as there are no legal requirements covering the issue. At some schemes, the full board deals with complaints, while at others only a handful of board members look into complaints, typically through a special committee or an appeal body.
The ombudsman found a lack of clarity concerning the administrative conditions for disability pensions, such as the right to a timely application.
Meanwhile, the Pensions Federation and the Association of Insurers (VvV) concluded a covenant for the coverage of disability pensions and exemption of contributions. However, the covenant is not binding for pension funds and does not cover "old cases with a lot of individual suffering", Keizer said. The ombudsman also pointed to "unreasonable complicating conditions", such as a pensions provider that, in case of arrears in contribution payments, was only willing to add pension rights if the participant demanded payment from his employer by registered mail within a narrow time frame.
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