MP requests 6-month extension for British Steel ombudsman claims

In a meeting with MPs on Tuesday, Alastair Rush, principal at Rutland-based Echelon Wealthcare, Philippa Hann, managing director of litigation at Clarke Willmott, and Robert Welch, a BSPS pensioner who has been helping former colleagues with information, urged MPs to act quickly following the Pensions Ombudsman’s latest ruling in favour of BSPS trustees.

The complaints – which all include a point about the lack of information provided by the scheme’s trustees – concerned cash equivalent transfer values and early retirement factors.

The ombudsman accepted 229 complaints in total, but gave final considerations in four lead cases, which were not upheld.

Mr Smith, who represents constituents in Blaenau Gwent, has agreed to write to the ombudsman to request a six-month extension on the current February 3 deadline for steelworker complaints.

The extension would allow time for further claims to be submitted and, advocates believe, allow the ombudsman to thoroughly consider the issues raised.

Mr Smith has also urged the Pensions Ombudsman to share information on how the BSPS trustees calculated CETVs, both before and after April 2017, in the belief this could potentially solve many issues for the steelworkers.

BSPS members were asked to decide by December 2017 whether to move their DB pension to a new plan, BSPS II, or stay in the existing fund, which was then moved to the Pension Protection Fund as part of a restructuring of pension liabilities.

The calculation methodology behind pension transfers and early retirement factors was changed on April 1 2017, with the result that members who requested a transfer value or retired early from the BSPS after that date received significantly higher benefits than those who had already transferred out or taken early retirement.

This article originally appeared on ftadviser.com