I am terminally ill and wish to get married but Scottish Widows says I can’t have my pension money

I took a Scottish widow’s pension in 1983 and let it mature. Last September the company contacted me and I was told the policy was worth around £17,300.

I informed the call center that I suffer from terminal cancer and asked if I could cash in the policy at once. I was told there would be no problem as there are special rules for cases like mine.

This was good news because with the money I would be able to arrange various financial matters and marry my partner whom I have been married to for 15 years.

Scottish Widows sent a form to sign and return which I did but some of the photocopies I sent weren’t clear enough so it said I had to resend it. But before I could do that, I had a heart attack, which resulted in hospitalization.

When I returned home in October, I reconnected with Scottish Widows. It said it was now too late to get the pension because I had not completed the forms within the required time. This was the first time I was notified of a time limit.

Shortly afterwards I was told that although the policy is worth £17,300 there is no surrender value – so I can’t cash it in, even though I have medical notes stating that my life expectancy is measured in months.

In early November I was told I had six months to live. I called Scottish Widows again and was upset and cried as I spoke for an hour or more, but to no avail. My partner also spoke to them and broke down saying the handling of this case was brutal.

It was disturbing that the money promised to me was then taken away, and I feel that the company treated me with disdain. It also meant getting married on a very small budget. We reduced the guest list to 10 people and I paid for it with my overdraft.

I was told someone would contact me so I could make a complaint about the appalling way the company has treated me, but so far I have heard nothing. PP, Devon

Helen Crane from This is Money replies: I was very sorry to hear about your illness.

You wrote to me in desperation after being sent from pillar to post by Scottish Widows and given contradictory and incorrect information for months.

That’s bad business behavior in normal circumstances, but given your situation, I think it’s downright despicable.

You have made it clear that you want to use this money to get your financial affairs in order and to fulfill one of your last wishes, which is to marry your long-term partner. You have also provided Scottish Widows with medical notes detailing your illness and prognosis.

The staff you spoke to should have realized the importance of this matter being resolved quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

Instead, you spent months sending and resubmitting forms and waiting on hold at a call center, only to seemingly learn that you would never get the retirement you saved so hard for.

You first contacted me for help in mid-November and I contacted Scottish Widows, which is now owned by Lloyds Banking Group, to try to sort this mess out.

As soon as I did, Scottish Widows sent you new forms to fill out and we got the ball rolling again. It was a start – but you had been here before. I still wasn’t sure if you’d finally get the pension you deserved.

The company told me that there was indeed a five-day time limit for someone to fill out and return forms when they suddenly apply for their pension.

While you say you were not told this on the phone, Scottish Widows said it was printed on the forms themselves. But even if you had known this, you would not have been able to file a report in time because you were seriously ill in hospital.

However, when you got home and called Scottish Widows, the company admitted that it should have sent you another set to finish straight away. It said this has not happened due to a ‘delay’.

It also told me that you initially applied for the wrong type of pension transfer, although I don’t think you would have done this had you been given clearer information over the phone.

You also mentioned that the new forms you eventually received after my intervention contained some that were never sent in the first batch. All in all an administrative nightmare and exactly what you don’t need when recovering from a heart attack.

As for hearing there was no surrender value, this was technically correct. The serious illness claim you filed is not considered the same as a pension commutation for administrative purposes, although the outcome is much the same.

However, this was clearly not communicated to you correctly and led to a lot of anxiety on your part as you thought you were not getting anything.

You even considered canceling your wedding, but instead tied the knot at the end of November on a shoestring budget. I’m sorry this happened and I hope your day was a special one after all.

I was delighted to hear that Scottish Widows finally paid you your full £17,300 in mid-December.

Once you had that, I approached the company again to ask about compensation. It was clear to me that this had caused you great distress.

First it made you an offer of £200. I thought this offer was an insult – and so should you.

I went back to ask if Scottish Widows would raise it – but I’m very sorry to report it only added £50.

It will also pay you £24.26 in interest due to the late payment.

Although we both thought you deserved more, you decided to accept the offer because you didn’t want to waste any more precious time on this case – which I totally understand.

I am glad that you now have the money and that you can put this sad saga behind you. I wish you the best.