Nortel Pensioners Reassured

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders met on Wednesday with representatives from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) to discuss the future of the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan and to discuss concerns pension holders have raised.

Nortel, the Canadian telecoms company, had a major site at Long Road, Paignton from the mid-1980s until it was sold in 2002 and at one time employed approximately 5,000 staff. Nortel Networks UK Limited filed for Administration in January 2009 and this led to the Pension Plan entering assessment in March. The assessment period lasts for a minimum of a year, but the PPF estimate that the Nortel Pension Plan assessment will take 30 months to complete.

There had been concerns that there would not be enough money available in the fund to cover such large schemes as Nortel’s, especially considering the high number of other pension plans going bust in recent months. The fund’s representatives assured Adrian that there were sufficient resources for the Nortel scheme.

The Nortel Pension Plan Caseworker for PPF advised anyone unsure of how membership of PPF will affect their pension to visit www.nortelpensions.com  or to write to Nortel Networks Pension Plan, c/o Watson Wyatt Limited, PO Box 545, Redhill, Surrey RH1YX, Tel: 01707 607563.

Anyone who has moved home since leaving Nortel, or its predecessor companies, has also been advised to update their details with the PPF.

Adrian said: “There are many pension holders who are very anxious about their Nortel pensions following the scheme going into administration and it is reassuring that help and advice is in place for anyone who is worried.

“It is disappointing that early retirees will receive only 90% of their pension and that current Nortel pensioners will not receive the pension increases they hoped for. However, without the existence of the Pension Protection Fund pension payments would have been significantly lower and some people may not have received any payments at all.”

“I would urge anyone who has concerns about their case to contact me or the Pension Plan directly.”