Madam, - Dominic Coyle is to be congratulated on his plain speaking (Personal Finance Q&A, October 13th). It almost seems that some banks are trying to turn away business, which is a very novel tactic for them.
My office is also inundated with queries from people who have received misinformation from their banks about the SSIA pension incentive. The latest, received yesterday, was from a retired teacher, who had been advised that he needed to approach his "pension provider" in order to take advantage of the incentive.
Whatever the other sterling qualities of the Department of Education may be, it is not primarily a "pension provider". Its pension scheme could accept a contribution from someone who is still at work, but not from a person who is already retired, so the obvious route for this pensioner to take is a PRSA, and he should have been so advised.
Excellent data on the SSIA incentive can be found on the Revenue website, www.revenue.ie, and there are also many financial advisers and insurance companies who will give out accurate information to those who request it.
Incidentally, anyone whose SSIA matured on or before July 31st should note that the investment must be made by October 31st if it is to qualify for the incentive payment, so immediate action is advisable. - Yours, etc,
PAUL KENNY,
Pensions Ombudsman,
Upper Mount Street,
Dublin 2 .