Are Retirement Ages In PHI Schemes Age Discriminatory?

Mistakes by employers in relation to an employee's entitlement to PHI can be very costly. In one leading High Court case, Aspden v. Webbs Poultry & Meat Group (Holdings) Limited [1996] I.R.L.R. 521, an employee was awarded around three-quarters of their salary for each year up to their retirement age, in circumstances where the employer could not recover any of these payments from the insurer.

The 2012 Employment Tribunal decision in Whitham v. Capita Insurance Services Limited E2/2505448/112 was also costly for the losing employer. In this case, even though the insurer would no longer pay out to the employee under the PHI policy as the employee had reached the age of 55, the employer directly discriminated against the employee by refusing to make any further payments to him. The employer was unsuccessful in its attempt to justify the discrimination on the grounds of cost. Further, the Tribunal found that the employer indirectly discriminated against the employee