UK- The Association of Teachers and Lecturers has recovered £5.1m for its members who were victims of pensions mis-selling. The ATL says more that 220 teachers have benefited from the money which has been restored to the occupational scheme.

ATL has been campaigning to force companies that mis-sold pensions to settle quicker and in full. ATL general secretary Peter Smith says: “we are proud to have recovered more than £5m for our members who were so blatantly mis-sold pensions.”

According to the association, teachers were inundated with offers and pledges to improve their pensions. In many cases there was no attempt to make teachers aware of the TPS (the teachers’ scheme) which provides an inflation-proof pensions and a tax free lump sum.

Smith says the situation remains serious for thousands of teachers and public sector workers who remain unaware they have even been mis-sold personal pensions. “The independent financial advisors must be required to continue to identify these financial victims and compensate them more quickly,” he says.

On average it takes five years to settle claims and in one instance it took a member seven years to have £48,000 restored to her pension scheme.

It is almost ten years since the scandal broke but the ATL is still fighting cases for forty five victims of the mis-selling and it has already distributed hundreds of self help packs.

ATL is an independent, registered trade union and professional association representing 160,000 teachers, lecturers and support staff in schools and universities in the UK.