The Pensions Ombudsman did not have the right to exercise his discretion to provide a different answer to the one which would be given by a court. This followed from the right given to parties to appeal against his decisions to the High Court on a point of law. The wide discretion given by the statute did not include a power to act otherwise than in accordance with the law.
The Pensions Ombudsman did not have the right to exercise his discretion to provide a different answer to the one which would be given by a court. This followed from the right given to parties to appeal against his decisions to the High Court on a point of law. The wide discretion given by the statute did not include a power to act otherwise than in accordance with the law. The court had to consider the range of the ombudsman’s powers, including whether these exceeded those of the court.
Held: A point was been raised by the Trustees on the width of the Ombudsman’s discretion to give directions under s 151(2) of the 1993 Act. Mr Simmonds QC sought on behalf of the Trustees to uphold the decision of the Ombudsman to decline to direct the Trustees to pay the benefits on the ground that Mr Read did not come with clean hands. He submitted that the sub-section confers the widest possible discretion both as to the nature of the remedy granted and as to whether he should grant any remedy at all. He was not limited to those courses of action which would be open to a court in litigation. I am unable to accept this submission. ‘
Citations:
Times 10-Apr-2000, [2000] EWCA Civ 82, [2000] PLR 319, [2000] OPLR 277
Links:
Statutes:
Pension Schemes Act 1993 151 (2)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd v CCA Stationery Ltd ChD 12-Dec-2003
The claimant had managed a pension scheme for the respondent company. It now challenged a finding of maladministration of the scheme, with respect to the methods of calculation of discounts applicable to those leaving the scheme.
Held: Since . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Financial Services, Administrative
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.90238