Equalisation of GMPs

A recent determination of the Pensions Ombudsman has put the spotlight back on the vexed question of equalisation and Guaranteed Minimum Pensions. In Williamson (H00177) there was a specific complaint that failure to equalise Guaranteed Minimum Pensions had adversely affected a member. The Ombudsman has now decided, after scrutiny of European and domestic law, that GMPs are pay for the purposes of equal treatment and that s62 of the 1995 Pensions Act requires them to be equalised. As the 1995 legislation is overriding, the Ombudsman determined that the scheme had failed to comply properly with the equal treatment rule. He made no specific order, simply directing that the scheme's Trustee and Holding Company should equalise GMPs as soon as reasonably practicable in accordance with the section 62 equal treatment rule.