Pensions Disputes

Resolving pension related disputes is an area in which we have particular expertise, having acted on the successful side of the first Scottish court cases concerning the validity of pension scheme amendments related to the equalisation of the scheme normal retirement date.  The decisions in those cases changed the legal landscape in Scotland in this area, developing the law and altering practice in a way that has been beneficial to Trustees, Companies and Scheme Administrators alike. 

We work very closely with our Pensions team, providing clients with seamless advice in relation to pension matters, contentious and non-contentious.  

Barbara Bolton is the Scottish representative on the Litigation Committee of the UK Association of Pension Lawyers. 

We have acted in relation to a range of disputes concerning pension schemes, including:

  • rectification applications to remedy errors in scheme documents; 
  • member complaints and claims; 
  • Pension Ombudsman complaints; 
  • applications for directions on the proper running of schemes; 
  • professional negligence claims against professional advisors, actuaries, administrators and solicitors; and 
  • defending claims of professional negligence on behalf of actuaries and administrators. 

Key People

Experience

Clients

Articles

  • 16.Feb.2017 Scottish court finds four pension schemes validly amended despite paucity of documentation

    Shepherd & Wedderburn’s Commercial Litigation team has secured a favourable ruling for their clients in The Trustees of the Johnston Press Pension Plan and others v. Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Limited and Mercer [2017] CSOH 21, a decision that confirms the common-sense approach applied by the Scottish courts in reviewing pension scheme amendments and provides four examples of circumstances in which the Scottish courts will presume that what ought to have been done was done, in the absence of clear evidence either way.

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  • 21.Jan.2016 Inner House (Scotland’s Appeal Court) upholds common sense approach to pension scheme amendments

    In The Trustees of Scottish Solicitors Staff Pension Fund v Pattison & Sim,  the Inner House of the Court of Session has confirmed the general application of important principles to the interpretation of pension scheme amendments. This is an important decision that confirms the more practical approach adopted by the Scottish courts, as compared to the more technical approach applied in some English decisions.   

     

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  • 30.Apr.2010 Substance over form: Scottish court applies common sense approach to pension scheme amendments

    In Low & Bonar v Mercer [2010] CSOH 47 the Commercial Court of the Court of Session was asked to consider whether or not a signed Board Minute could constitute a “deed” and therefore a valid amendment to a pension scheme.  Finding that “deed” has no particular legal definition in Scotland, unlike in England, the court found that it did constitute a deed.  Therefore, the Normal Retirement Date of the scheme had been validly equalised when intended, there was no need to revisit pension benefits, and the professional negligence claim against the pension administrators was thrown out.

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