The Ombudsman’s New Orthodoxy: Right or Wrong?

Recent determinations by the Pensions Ombudsman in British Steel Pension Scheme and the Deputy Ombudsman in Mrs T v HBOS Final Salary Pension Scheme have clarified the Ombudsman’s stance on transferor trustees’ duties in statutory pension transfers in certain circumstances. Both decisions reject the notion that trustees owe a duty to conduct due diligence or warn members of potential pension scam indicators when a member exercises a statutory right to transfer under the Pension Schemes Act 1993.

This is an emphatic departure from industry practice of the past decade  – shaped by the Pensions Regulator’s “Scorpion” guidance which raised the standard of vigilance.

In an article written for The Pensions Barrister, Three Stone’s Zara Yusuf considers the recent Ombudsman determinations on the scope of the transferor trustees’ responsibility for statutory transfers of certain pension benefits, and asks whether the approach adopted is overly restrictive.

You can read the full article here.