PO determination on whether trustees had discretionary power to change from RPI to CPI (PO-15416)

Table of contents

• Original news
• Summary
• What were the facts?
• What did the Adjudicator of the Pensions Ombudsman decide?
• What was the Deputy Pension Ombudsman’s decision?
• What are the implications of this determination?

Article summary

Pensions analysis: In this determination, the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman failed to uphold a complaint brought by a pensioner member of a pension scheme that the scheme’s trustees had acted outside the scope of their authority (and in breach of contract) when they decided without her consent to exercise their discretion to change the rate of increase on pensions in payment from the basis of the retail prices index to the consumer prices index. Wyn Derbyshire of gunnercooke LLP looks at the decision.