Customer Charter 2026 – 2030
Customer Charter 2026 – 2030
Date published: March 2026
Introduction
The Pensions Authority is committed to treating all our customers equally and to delivering the highest quality of customer service in an open and transparent manner. This Charter describes:
- what to expect when you contact us in relation to a request for information or making a comment or a complaint;
- how we will deal with your enquiry;
- where you can get more information.
The Authority is committed to:
- providing you with full, clear and correct replies to your questions about occupational pensions, trust Retirement Annuity Contracts (RACs) and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs);
- ensuring our information, which is available on our website or directly from our office, is in plain language and easy to understand;
- providing more detailed technical information through our information, guidance and FAQ materials to those who require it;
- where more appropriate, directing your correspondence to another body if the matter raised comes within their remit and informing you accordingly;
- keeping our website pensionsauthority.ie up to date.
Contacting the Authority
The Authority provides details of the role of the Authority’s staff on our website and specific contact information in all correspondence. If you contact us, we promise to treat you in a polite, courteous and fair manner.
The Authority is committed to:
- being available to promptly answer your calls during normal office hours;
- identifying ourselves to you;
- getting back to you within an agreed timeframe if we cannot respond to your enquiry immediately.
Timelines for responding to your enquiry, comment or complaint
The Authority is committed to:
- acknowledging your correspondence within two working days of receipt;
- identifying by name the staff member who will be your initial point of contact;
- giving you a full response to all routine correspondence within six working days;
- providing an interim reply to non-routine correspondence within 14 working days, where a full response is not possible, which will explain the position, advise on progress and advise when you can expect to receive a further response to the issues raised;
- a full reply to a complex enquiry or complaint may take up to three months;
- providing priority attention if your enquiry is urgent.
Access to the Authority’s office and services
The Authority is committed to:
- ensuring that our office is open to callers during normal office hours;
- having our office and services accessible to all; and
- respecting your privacy when you call to our offices.
The Authority provides support for all customers (including recruitment candidates) who require such supports, e.g. wheelchair access, sign interpreter, Braille etc.
For open public events it may be necessary for the Authority to provide sign language interpretation. The Authority will provide interpreters from Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS.ie), the national Sign Language Interpreting Service for Ireland for such events.
Comments and complaints
The Authority is committed to:
- guaranteeing that your comment/complaint will not affect how we treat you;
- handling complaints from people with disabilities encountering difficulties in accessing the Authority’s services by having a dedicated access officer and inquiry officer available.
You can obtain a comment and complaint form from our website www.pensionsauthority.ie or by phoning or calling to our office.
Complaints received from customers regarding their treatment by Authority employees
The type of complaint covered here is that of customer care and service in how the customer and their enquiry was dealt with by Authority employees. Disagreement over the outcome of a general pension enquiry will not of itself fall within the scope of this type of complaint.
While it is possible for a customer to make a complaint directly to the Authority over the phone in the first instance, customers are advised that for the Authority to formally consider the complaint, the complaint must be furnished in writing. Customers are directed to obtain a complaint form from the Authority’s website on www.pensionsauthority.ie and make their complaint in writing.
Where a customer (for their own reasons) is not prepared to put their complaint in writing the complaint will still be recorded. Where a customer fails to subsequently confirm the complaint in writing the Authority will decide as to how the matter will be addressed.
Closing an enquiry or complaint
The Authority is within its rights to close a case where it has made a determination or where it has demonstrated that it has no jurisdiction under the Pensions Act.
The Authority reserves the right to close a case where it believes it has in its opinion provided all the information it can reasonably be expected to provide to the enquirer.
The Authority also reserves the right to decline enquiries which it considers are of a frivolous or repetitive nature. The Authority will inform the enquirer in such circumstances that it is of the view that the enquiry is frivolous or repetitive.
Office of the Ombudsman
If you are not happy with the outcome of your complaint to the Authority, you can complain directly to the Office of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman examines complaints about the administrative actions of public bodies, including the Authority.
Contact details are as follows:
Office of the Ombudsman,
6 Earlsfort Terrace,
Dublin 2, D02 W773
Telephone: 01 639 56 00
Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie
Website: www.ombudsman.ie
Ombudsman for Children’s Office
The Pensions Authority is also subject to the Ombudsman for Children Act. If you are a child or young person under 18 or an adult who knows a child who you feel has been unfairly treated, or you are not satisfied with our decision on your complaint, it is open to you to contact the Ombudsman for Children’s Office.
Contact details are as follows:
Ombudsman for Children’s Office
Millennium House
52-56 Great Strand Street
Dublin, D01 F5P8
Telephone: 01 865 6800
Email: oco@oco.ie
Website: www.oco.ie
Customer tips
How you can help us to assist you:
- Please ensure that you have as much information available to you as possible before contacting the Authority.
Answering the following questions may help you to assist us:
- What type of a pension scheme do you belong to?
- Do you know the date that you joined, the date that you left (if applicable), and the name of the scheme?
- Were you in another scheme previously?
- Did you initially contact the personnel officer in your company or the trustees (if a company pension), the PRSA provider (if a PRSA) or Social Welfare Office (if a State pension) to try to resolve your enquiry?
- Did you check our website (pensionsauthority.ie) and examine any information which may be relevant to your enquiry?
- To avoid delay in your enquiry being processed, please cooperate fully with us and respond promptly to our requests for any further information.
Customer feedback
We welcome your views on how we can continue to improve our services into the future.
Our contact details
The Pensions Authority
Verschoyle House
28/30 Lower Mount Street
Dublin, D02 KX27
Tel: 01 613 1900
Email: info@pensionsauthority.ie
Web: www.pensionsauthority.ie
Other useful contacts
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Organisation |
Telephone |
Website |
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Department of Social Protection |
01 704 3000 |
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Revenue, Pensions |
01 738 3636 |
|
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The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman |
01 567 7000 |
|
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The Office of the Ombudsman |
01 639 5600 |
|
|
Ombudsman for Children’s Office |
01 865 6800 |
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Central Bank of Ireland |
01 224 6000 |
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Competition and Consumer Protection Commission |
01 402 5555 |