Pensions analysis: The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has rejected a complaint about incorrect information. Martin Scott of gunnercooke LLP looks at the decision.

Term used to refer to either: • the main income-related benefit for pensioners. A non-contributory, non-taxable, means-tested benefit, made up of two elements: the Guarantee Credit and the Savings Credit (see respective terms). The qualifying age for men and women is linked to women's State Pension age; or • in relation to pension sharing on divorce, it is the amount of benefit rights that the ex-spouse or ex-civil partner of a scheme member becomes entitled to following a pension sharing order. The pension sharing provisions in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (WRPA 1999) introduced the ‘pension debit’ and ‘pension credit’. The ‘pension debit’ is the amount by which the value of the original member's pension rights are reduced and the ‘pension credit’ the corresponding amount by which the ex-spouse's or former civil partner's pension rights are increased. Section 29, WRPA 1999 determines the value of the pension credit to be transferred to the ex-spouse or former civil partner.

An individual who has rights in a pension scheme which are directly or indirectly attributable to pension credits.

Created upon pension sharing. The pension member loses a percentage of their fund’s value, which is transferred (the pension debit) to the other party who receives the percentage (the pension credit) to gain pension entitlement in their own right.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new webpage setting out how pension providers can register their connection with the pensions dashboard ecosystem provided by the Money and Pension Service (MaPS).

Law360: Eight out of ten pension deals in 2024 involved a scheme with less than £100m in assets, due to a major increase in insurer capacity, a consultancy said on 2 May 2025.

Law360: The value of pension insurance transactions in 2024 is likely to drop to £40bn, an insurer has said, bucking expectations of another record-breaking year for the market.

Law360: The total value of pension deals carried out in 2024 hit a near-record £47.6bn—a level that could prove to be a new norm for the market Hymans Robertson announced.

Law360: The deal market for small pension schemes looking to offload their liabilities to insurers is working despite fears that such plans are being crowded out of the market, Aon said on 28 May 2024.

Law360: The record number of pension deals in the UK last year was driven primarily by smaller transactions of less than £100m, a consultancy has said.

This Practice Note describes the use of trust structures when paying lump sum death benefits from the pension arrangements listed below in order to simplify the payment and moderate any potential tax charges. It considers first how the income tax treatment of the payment can be affected by the type of pension scheme or arrangement from which it is made and the pensions tax regime imposed under the Finance Act 2004 (FA 2004). It then looks at how, if the lump sum is paid automatically and directly to a member's estate or to a chosen beneficiary, it could create an Inheritance Tax (IHT) charge, depending on: • the size of the estate • whether the deceased was survived by a spouse or a civil partner, and • the disposition of the deceased’s estate under their will or the intestacy rules Alternative measures are also considered. Types of pension scheme or arrangement The person in respect of whom the death benefit arises might be a member of, or entitled to benefits from, one or

The pension sharing provisions in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (WRPA 1999) introduced the ‘pension debit’ and ‘pension credit’. The ‘pension debit’ is the amount by which the value of the original member's pension rights are reduced and the ‘pension credit’ the corresponding amount by which the ex-spouse's or former civil partner's pension rights are increased. Amount of benefit rights given up by a member and allocated to the member's ex-spouse or ex-civil partner when a pension sharing order is made in respect of that member.