Former staff say pensions have not increased in years

A group of former American Express staff in West Sussex have said their pensions have not increased in 10 years.

In the House of Commons Library it says pensions in payment must be increased annually in line with prices for pension rights accrued since April 1997.

The group of former staff said since 1997 their pensions had only increased 27.51% - in relation to the pre-1997 portion of the defined benefits scheme - compared to a Consumer Price Index rise of 67.6%.

American Express said it "complies with all its pension obligations to current and former colleagues".

Indexation is capped at 5% for pension rights accrued between April 1997 and April 2005, and at 2.5% for rights accrued since then.

The law says for pensions entitlement earned before 1997, any annual increase is entirely discretionary.

Christine Mucklestone worked for American Express in the UK for 25 years.

The Burgess Hill resident said: "We were all a very proud bunch of people and I have always said American Express was a great company to work for.

“I would be hesitant now to recommend the company. I’m very disappointed.”

David Morling from Shoreham, who worked for the company for almost 35 years, said he had been left feeling "alienated and abandoned".

He said: "You wonder how much longer you can go on without turning off lights and sitting in the dark.”

Ms Mucklestone, who thought her pension had lost 40% of its value, said: “It doesn’t buy what it did buy 10 years ago.”

The group of former staff said their pensions had only seen three annual increases in the past 21 years, which were of 3.86%, 6.45% and 10.10%.

American Express said it annually reviews whether a discretionary increase will be awarded in respect of pre-1997 pensions.

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