Services

Pension Disputes

The complexity and long evolution of UK pensions law can inevitably give rise to disputes.

We use our expertise and insight to deliver practical and effective solutions across a range of issues.

Our Pensions & Employee Benefits team advises on all types of pension disputes, ranging from initial complaints under a pension scheme’s internal dispute resolution procedure (“IDRP”) to matters heard by the Pensions Ombudsman or in the High Court.

We understand that pension provision can be an emotive issue for members. Disputes can arise over the interpretation of documents, drafting errors, contractual obligations or failure to adhere to policy documents and legislation. That’s why we combine technical expertise and commercial thinking to offer practical and thoughtful solutions that match our clients’ needs.

Avoiding costly litigation is a priority. We help corporate sponsors and trustees mitigate this through a combination of pragmatic advice, skilled negotiation and careful communication.

We also have experience in various dispute resolution forums that seek to avoid matters ending up in court.

Recent experience

  • Advising a trustee board of a scheme with assets in excess of £600m on professional negligence matters that resulted in an additional £30m funding strain on the principal employer.
  • Advising the trustees of a small self-administered scheme on drafting errors in scheme documents, which necessitated an application to the High Court to remedy matters.
  • Acting for a group of scheme members in a benefit rectification exercise.
  • Acting for the trustees of a defined benefit pension scheme in enforcing a guarantee against an overseas parent company.
  • Acting for a private individual in a ground-breaking Pension Ombudsman case regarding significant pension overpayments over a number of years. We successfully argued the client’s right to retain the overpayments and recover full costs from the respondent insurance company.

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