There are different complaints procedures depending on which type of pension you have.

We have procedures that firms must follow when they deal with complaints. First contact the adviser or pension provider who sold you the pension. If they cannot resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The firm will tell you how to do this – see Making a complaint.

Your employer's occupational scheme must, by law, offer a formal complaints procedure, so first contact your pensions administrator at work. If it is not resolved, you can take it to the Pensions Advisory Service who will mediate between you and the scheme to try to resolve the matter.

The Pensions Regulator is the regulator for all work-based pensions. A work-based pension scheme is any scheme that an employer makes available to employees. This includes all occupational pension schemes and any stakeholder and personal pension scheme where employees have direct payment arrangements.

For more information about the Pensions Regulator visit their website - see Related links.

First take up any complaints about the handling of State Pensions with your local social security office. Look in the phone book or contact your Citizens Advice Bureau for their address.

If a stakeholder or personal pension provider has difficulties and becomes insolvent, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) may be able to help you. For more information visit the FSCS website – see Related links.

If your employer is winding up its occupational pension scheme, it may have a new scheme it wants members to move to. If it doesn't, the trustees have to distribute the assets according to the rules. For more information get the Pensions Advisory Service's guide Winding up a pension scheme – a guide for scheme members – see Related links.