• Home
  • Photos & Movies
  • Cable Beach
  • Cruise Ships
  • Freeport
    • Freeport In Memoriam
  • Iran
  • Paradise Island
    • P.I. Show 1983
    • P.I. Show 1984
  • Playboy Bahamas
    • Keith Richards' Photos
    • How it all started
  • Playboy U.K.
    • Playboy & Clermont Reunion 2015
    • Playboy & Clermont Reunion 2014
    • Playboy & Clermont Reunion 2013
    • Playboy UK Links
  • South Africa
  • Friends & Links
  • Pensions
    • Playboy UK Pension
    • Bahamas Pension
  • In Memoriam
  • Donate

Playboy U.K. Pension

An update of the Playboy Pension - Sep 2014

I have just been passed some information about the Playboy Pension of which I had not been aware of.
For those who were already receiving their Playboy Pension and to those who had qualified to receive their pension at a later date, Ranks wrote to everyone in February 2008 and again in March 2008 to advise them that they would be transferring the Playboy Pension over to Rothesay Life.

  If you did not receive those letters, that meant 3 things.  You do not qualify for the pension, you have not given the company your new address or a mistake had occurred.

In 2009 – 2010, those already receiving their Playboy Pension, Rothesay wrote to them to say they would be transferring their pension to Prudential Retirement Income Ltd which is part of the Prudential Group. 

The information I have recently received, is that at the same time in 2009 - 2010, Rothesay wrote to everyone who was entitled to the Playboy Pension but who were not at the retirement age; with a recommendation that they could keep their pension with the company or they could opt out and put their Playboy Pension into another company.  In other words, the bulk of the Playboy Pension was not transferred to Prudential Life as was originally thought.

Those who worked on the Playboy ship in the early 70s paid UK taxes and their NI.  Those who worked in the Bahamas and Atlantic City did not pay UK taxes or their NI.  There were one or two people who worked in the Bahamas and Atlantic City and did receive the Playboy Pension; that is because they had already qualified for the pension whilst working in London.

Make sure Rothesay has your present address and if you are not too sure how long you worked at the Playboy or the Clermont, you should check your P45 or your National Insurance contributions.

  The Personnel Office of the London Playboy Club, 45 Park Lane, London W1 is now closed and will not open until 2065. 
John Wing

Hi Neil,         June 12th 2012 I am still getting requests to clarify qualifying criteria for the pension.So, here is how Bill G recently confirmed it to me:

You had to be 26 years old or older when completing 5 years of employment. The Pension documents were not finalised until 1974, but (Bill) believes that a contribution, at that time, was made into the fund to cover employees who had been employed prior to that date. It was to reward existing employees who did not qualify for the share option scheme in the USA in1972. The five year period was established to create an incentive to stay with the company. After having qualified, the employee could take his/her pension pot to a new company or new pension provider, if they left the Playboy, it belonged to the individual. Your pension was fully portable.
The funds once contributed into the fund belonged to the fund and not company. Their should have been a list of all employees, eligible for a pension, including those who left the company prior to the sale to Trident, based on their employment record, as stated in the Playboy employment manual. A contribution was made on total payroll each year. The employees that did not complete the 5 years, their portion of the contribution was allocated to all remaining employees in the fund. It strengthen the value of the fund. When the Fund was transferred to Trident, it should have listed each employee, his/her share of the fund, including those employees, who had not completed their 5 years and those who were still employed at the time when Playboy closed.
I hope this helps everyone to assess their position better. If in any doubt please still feel free to email me again. I don't mind. It's nice hearing from people.
If you think you qualify, then you need to prove it. A policy number is ideal. If not, like me, you will have to get your employment length of service validated by HMRC/NICE. (See my previous emails regarding how to do that). You will need to reference your NI number and DOB in your official correspondence.
AS an update, I recently heard back from Prudential and they are still insisting on me providing a policy number, which, if I had one, it wouldn't be so difficult to prove. I have referred my reply from the Pru to the Pension Ombudsman to see if they can help. I have also updated my previous enquiries to the Office of Pension Services to give them further info.
I'll let everyone know the moment I think I'm getting somewhere.
It's a faff, I know. But, it's worth it. If only to get an honest and fair outcome for all.
Neil, please post this on your site. Best to all,   Bob Ashwood                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Folks,                     June 6th 2012 Just an update.Daily Mail financial news reporter, Dan Hyde has publish his first story on the missing pensions. And today I was delighted to hear from Bill Gerhauser, who provided some additional information and insights into the set up of the pension and which individuals who were responsible for the safe passage of the fund. It was not sold as part of the company. It remained separate. Thanks to Bill.
I am talking directly to Prudential pension fund managers in Stirling Scotland to get the ball rolling further. So far, they seem very keen to hunt it down. Remember, if you get in touch with them directly, you will need bona fide evidence of employment and service (HMRC/NICE will give you that), you must also give your NI number, DOB and any other useful info that will help the search.
Stay posted. I feel sure we will have a breakthrough soon. Best to everyone. Bob Ashwood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Folks,                     June 6th 2012 Just an update. Daily Mail financial news reporter, Dan Hyde has publish his first story on the missing pensions. And today I was delighted to hear from Bill Gerhauser, who provided some additional information and insights into the set up of the pension and which individuals who were responsible for the safe passage of the fund. It was not sold as part of the company. It remained separate. Thanks to Bill.
I am talking directly to Prudential pension fund managers in Stirling Scotland to get the ball rolling further. So far, they seem very keen to hunt it down. Remember, if you get in touch with them directly, you will need bona fide evidence of employment and service (HMRC/NICE will give you that), you must also give your NI number, DOB and any other useful info that will help the search.
Stay posted. I feel sure we will have a breakthrough soon. Best to everyone. Bob Ashwood
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Guys I have attached a document regarding the Playboy Pension. It is the last letter I will write about the pension as I am not qualified to give information about the pension. The persons qualified are Nick Moore, BG and the trustees.Good luck  John Wing

PLAYBOY PENSION
Over the past few years, I have been sending information to Barbara and Neil about the Playboy Pension. I want to make it quite clear that I am not qualified to give any advice, legal or non legal to any ex Playboy staff about their pension rights. At Playboy I was only a gaming inspector and was not involved in the forming or the drawing up of the staff pension. However, I will give the following information but you must accept it as coming from a worker and not management.

During the time Playboy was operating, including under Trident and then I think it was Walkers after Trident, if you had qualified for the pension, you would have received a booklet and a letter informing that you had qualified for the staff pension. If you didn’t receive this information, then you did not qualify for the pension.

There was a date set when the Playboy Pension started and if an employee had already worked at Playboy for five years and was still employed on that date, he or she would qualify and receive five years pension backdated. If an employee had been working one day less on that date, the following day, that person would qualify. What happens to an employee who had worked at Playboy for five years, but had left Playboy before that date? They did not qualify. If an employee started after that date and worked for the company and left their job one day less of five years, he or she was not entitled to the pension. There were many arguments and complaints about the set date, but a date had to be set and some people did lose out, but not many at the time. The reason why the company had to be strict or firm about the rules of the pension, the company, paid all staff contributions into the funds including all those which were back dated five years. At no time did staff pay into the pension funds.

During the 60s and early 70s, a number of girls worked part time at the club, because they were dancers or actresses. Playboy gave them time off to further their career. They may have worked at Playboy for five years but this did not entitle them to the Pension. Some girls left to have a family, but the Maternity Leave did not come into affect years later. Some of the girls returned to work at Playboy after having a family, but unfortunately the five year had to start again. The Maternity Leave became law on a certain date and cannot be moved forward.

The biggest complaint seems to come from those who worked for Playboy overseas. I shall first deal with those who worked on the ship in the early 70s. The ship was on the High Seas, but the staff whom were lucky enough to work on the ship, still paid their UK taxes and National Insurance. They were still working for Playboy UK.

Thos e who worked in the Bahamas for Playboy, this becomes very technical. The casino in the Bahamas was owned by the Bahamian government. Playboy provided management expertise to run the casino. The UK Gaming Board would not have allowed UK Playboy to own another casino outside the UK. The Bahamas Casino was owned by the government and there was no objection from the UK Gaming Board as there was nothing they could do about it.

The staff who worked for Playboy in the Bahamas must ask themselves the following questions. To whom did I pay my taxes to, and to whom did I pay my NI to? What happened to my P45? You may have been working with Playboy Management at the time, but who were you really working for.

Some staff also went to work for Playboy in Atlantic City. You were working for Playboy America not Playboy UK. Those were two separate companies and you paid your taxes to the US government. Your best chance now is with the reporter from the Daily Mail. It is best I don’t discuss this matter any further but leave the inquiries to the reporter.

If Playboy owned a casino in Atlantic City and in London at the same time, how come they couldn’t own the casino in the Bahamas. When Playboy started operating in London and Atlantic City the UK Gaming Board moved very swiftly to revoke the gaming licence.

I am updating my memoirs which will be completed later this year. I have allocated one chapter to the downfall of the Playboy Empire. Everyone thinks that Playboy London lost its licence because of what happened with Ladbrokes Casino. Not so!
John Wing.
--------------------------------

  May 2012
Dear All (especially those still chasing their Playboy pension),  From Bob Ashwood I've finally received a response from HMRC dept. NIC&EO.They have confirmed in writing my employment years; or to be precise the tax years covered by my Playboy employment.Now I can go to Rothesay and present proof of my employment. Previously, they have claimed no evidence of me ever being on the books at Playboy.So, all of you who only have an old photograph of you at a Christmas Party in 1978 and a pair of well-worn ears as proof of employment, you need to do the same as me. Ask me for a pro forma letter if you didn't get the last one sent out.Out of interest, how many of us is there? I know of a few. But it would help to know exactly how big the Pension Hunter group is. Let me know who you are.A head count might have some leverage.To those of you who have been fortunate enough to find yourselves on Rothesay's Playboy Pension Fund list can you please confirm to me anything that might be useful to the rest of us as we pursue this towards a result. E.g. A name at Rothesay, a department, correct fund title, any fund serial or reference numbers (not your personal one, of course), any small print that may shed some light on the paper trail. This would be a great help as those of us without such reference as we are chasing our tails using third-hand details. Some of which is accurate but we may be overlooking something really useful.Thanks to everyone for your support. We will get an answer, I promise. Hopefully, it will be 'ah yes, we found it. Here's your dosh!' Then we'll have a big party.Drop me a line with any queries or info. Best to all,  Bob x
--------------------------------------

hi neil,I received a message from Bob Ashwood re pension.It is now being run by prudential,Stirling FK9 4UETEL 0845 640 OOOO E-MAIL www.pru.co.ukI hope this may help everyone trying to claim what isrightfully theirs. I think i received my pension withoutproblems because i resigned from playboy uk beforethey were closed down to go to Atlantic CityI hope this information may assist everyone involved.regards Stan L. re
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've had several requests for the draft letter. Here it is again. Pass it on. Good luck. Bob x
P.S. By the way, I also had advice from Stan L. (Thanks Stan!) who says the fund is now with Prudential. Bernie Mulhern (rest his soul) told me the same in his last email to me. I followed up with the Pru and they said they didn't have any record of such a fund so I let it drop. That's how messy this all is. I'm on it again though. Any more tips or pointers will be welcome. B.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copy, Paste & Edit

DRAFT LETTER

HM Revenue and Customs
National Insurance Contributions & Employer Office
Record Retrieval Service
Room BP8003
Tynemouth House
Benton Park View
Longbenton
NE98 1ZZ

XXth XXXXX 2012

Dear Sirs,

I am in the process of tracing a pension paid to me whilst employed the 1970s in London.

The current administrator of the pension fund has no record of my employment. The fund has changed hands several times and I am not the only ex-employee of the company experiencing this problem.

Therefore, under the terms of the Data Protection Act, I wish to access exact employment start and finish dates from your records for

Name - XXXXXXXXXX

D.O.B - XX/XX/19XX

National Insurance Number - XXXXXXXXX

Employer – Playboy Club Of XXXXXXX (Hotels & Casinos including Clermont Club))

I only have approximate employment dates roughly between XXXX and XXXX.

Therefore, could you please provide employment detail as indicated by my annual returns from my employment records for XXXX to XXXX, inclusive.

You have my authority under the terms of the Data Protection Act to provide this information to me.

This pension dispute is causing me some hardship, therefore could I also respectfully request your swiftest attention and response.

Yours sincerely,


Name

Address
(END)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Barbara and Neil              April 2010  I had a call from an ex staff member trying to trace their Playboy Pension.  Could you please inform everyone on your list that last October, the Playboy Pension was again transferred from Rothesay Pension Management to Prudential.
Your contact is the Annuities Contact Centre on 0845 640 0000 or write to them at:Annuities Contact Centre, Prudential, Stirling FK9 4UE
The Operations Director for Prudential Corporate Solutions Implementation is Mark Davis.
I wonder how much money comes out of the pension pot each time there is a transfer.  No I am not suggesting that: they do have to take out all their expenses and costs and salary and anything else.  We don't seem to have any Trustees anymore only managers.**********************Anyone with pension entitlements from a company they have lost touch with can also contact the Pension Schemes Registry, at PO Box 1NN, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1NN (Tel: 0191 2256316), or the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority at www..opra.gov.uk.  The register holds details of some 200,000 schemes and offers a free tracing service.  It mainly holds scheme details dating from April 1975, but it does cover some before then so it is worth a try.***********************Those who are not entitled to a Playboy pension, then you should get a State Pension forecast and if you are only entitled to say about £80 per week, then contact the Pension Credit Application Line on freephone 0800 99 1234 and see how much top up you can get on top of your State Pension.
                          July 2009
Hi Neil
The first two pages (A) & (B) can be added.  These pages will tell if you are entitled
to the Playboy Pension.  The address of Rothesay should also be included.
 I am going back to college to further my computer studies and I will be unable to
answer any further questions, but I would like to add this:
 Trident took over the running of the company in February 1982, Anybody completing
5 year service should be entitled to a pension, anybody completing 4 years and 11
months and did not  continue working for Trident, then they would lose the
Playboy Pension.  If that person had completed 4 years service with Playboy up
to February 1982 and then continued working for Trident for one year, that person is
entitled to the Playboy Pension under the same old terms.  Trident did not change
any pension terms until 1st April 1983
 The new management Rothesay may not agree with the above, but within
the Employment Act there is the Transfer of Undertaking and it did occur when Trident
took over the business from Playboy.
 With best regards
 John Ian Wing            www.johnwing.co.uk

All enquiries should be made to:
Rothesay Pensions Management Ltd, PO Box 545 Redhill, RH1 1YX.
Helpline No. 0800 916 8001, email: rpm01.helpline@rothesaypensions.co.uk


Web Hosting by Dot5Hosting