PPF Updates Its Valuation Guidance

The Pension Protection Fund has updated its collection of valuation guidance notes to reflect how the ECJ decisions in Hampshire, Hughes and Bauer judgments affect the calculation of PPF compensation. The applicability of these EU decisions under UK law following Brexit was specifically preserved in regulations made in late 2023 and impact the calculation of PPF benefits as follows:

• Hampshire – the ECJ ruled in September 2018 that each individual member should receive at least 50 per cent of the value of their accrued old age benefits if their employer becomes insolvent. Now regulations are in force which retain the effect of the Hampshire judgment for such schemes and incorporate what the PPF refers to as a "50 per cent value test". The test applies to schemes entering assessment before January 2, 2024.