Anne-Marie Winton comments in Pensions Expert re Northumbria Police pays out £250k to compensate pension loss
Trustees should keep their distance from members’ employer disputes, lawyers have said, after Northumbria Police was required to pay out more than £250,000 for discrimination and pension loss, but others argue open communication is critical.
Anne-Marie said in situations where individuals were negotiating loss of earnings with an employer, it was often best for schemes not to get involved.
“The risk here is that trustees shouldn’t be dragged into an argument that’s not theirs to have. There’s nothing in law that tells trustees to go any further than [providing] a cash equivalent transfer value.”
Anne-Marie added that in most compensation cases individuals and the employer would do a deal rather than go to court.
“When I was investigating this, it seems a figure is happened upon, but it’s a bit of horse trading,” she said. “Most will settle rather than take it to court.”
Read the original article in Pensions Expert here.
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