David Gallagher

This Practice Note looks at the issues relevant (including procedural and timing issues) when appealing a determination of the Pensions Ombudsman. As appeals can only be made on a point of law, it compares a point of law from a point of fact and also considers the potential for judicial review.

This Practice Note looks at the leading cases on how and when to apply the doctrine of estoppel in occupational pension scheme relationships. The cases include Amalgamated Investment v Texas Bank, Icarus v Driscoll, ITN v Ward, Redrow v Pedley, Steria v Hutchison, Catchpole v Alitalia Pension Trustees, and Prudential Staff Pensions v The Prudential Assurance Company.

This Practice Note covers what scope there is for making a complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman (PO), including the persons eligible to apply to the Pensions Ombudsman to make a complaint, the type of matter that can be referred to the Pensions Ombudsman, steps that must be taken before a complainant can apply to the Pensions Ombudsman (ie going through a scheme’s internal dispute resolution procedure), the time limits to complain. It also looks at the steps involved in dealing with the complaint (ie the complainant’s application, the respondent’s response, the investigation and the determination), enforcement issues and appeals.

This Practice Note considers the key cases in the rectification of pension scheme documents, including Lansing Linde v Alber, AMP v Barker, Gallaher v Gallaher, Scania v Wager, Smithson v Hamilton re Siemens, Chartbrook v Persimmon Homes, FSHC Group Holdings v Glas Trust Corporation, Univar v Smith, SPS Technologies v Moitt, and Re Mitchells & Butlers Pension Plan.

This archived Practice Note looks at some of the key decisions made by the Pensions Ombudsman and courts up to 2017 in relation to the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, remedial powers and certain procedural matters, as well as the standards required for ill-health retirement decisions. It is not maintained and is for background information only.

This Practice Note looks at the jurisdiction of the Pensions Ombudsman to deal with occupational and personal pension-related complaints and disputes, including who can make or refer complaints/disputes, the types of complaints/disputes that can and cannot be determined, the powers he may exercise in doing so and applicable time limits.

This Practice Note looks at the requirements and recommendations of the Pensions Regulator in relation to public sector pension schemes, which until 2014 had largely been outside the Regulator's scope. It considers the public sector schemes under the Regulator’s remit and the Regulator’s requirements in relation to management structure, knowledge and understanding, conflicts of interest, risk management structure, records and administration, dispute resolution, and reporting.

This Practice Note looks at the extent to which trustees can set aside documents which they have previously entered into on the grounds of mistake. Among other things, this Practice Note looks at the impact of Hastings-Bass v Inland Revenue Commissioners, Kerr v British Leyland, Sieff v Fox, Stannard v Fisons, Smithson v Hamilton, Gibbon v Mitchell and Pitt v Holt.

This is a precedent Admission Agreement for participation in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and has been drafted on a broadly neutral basis. As the LGPS is a series of separate schemes established under the same legislation, the Agreement needs to relate to the specific local authority pension scheme involved in the particular transaction.