Teachers Pension Scheme · CAS-33273-M8R9

CAS-33273-M8R9

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant: Mr D

Scheme: Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS)

Respondent: Teachers' Pensions

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties Background

“(1) A pension under regulation E25 payable to a surviving spouse or a nominated beneficiary (“an adult pension”) is to be paid -

(a) from the day on which any short-term pension that became so payable under regulation E23 ceases to be payable, or

(b) if no short-term pension became payable, from the day after that of the death.

1 CAS-33273-M8R9 (2) Subject to paragraph (3), an adult pension is payable for life.

(3) Unless the Secretary of State determines otherwise in the particular case, and subject always to regulation E1(3)(c) and (d) (guaranteed minimum pension for surviving spouse), an adult pension is not payable during or after any marriage or period of cohabitation outside marriage.”

“Instructions for payment have been sent to the Pensioner Services Section. To apply please complete the enclosed TFB50 form and return it immediately to the Pensioner Services Section at the above address.”

“Changes we need to know about

Please inform us:

…

+ If you receive a pension by virtue of being a dependant of a deceased member and subsequently enter into a new marriage or partnership …”

“Important:

To ensure the correct pension is paid to you, it’s vital that we have your most up to date information on our records.

1 Teachers’ Pensions has provided a copy of Leaflet 450 May 1995 which it believes would have been sent

to Mr D. 2 CAS-33273-M8R9 Please tell us:

• If you remarry, enter a civil partnership or co-habit and you are in receipt of a spouse’s, civil partner’s or nominated financial dependant’s pension, provided by a person who retired or ceased pensionable service before 1 January 2007 ...”

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2 Mr D disagrees with this statement.

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Mr D’s position

Mr D submits:-

• Teachers’ Pensions had never made it clear to him that his pension would cease if he started to co-habit or remarried. If it had done so, he would have completed a declaration at a much earlier date. He would not now be facing an impossible demand for the repayment of £5,742.50.

• The first notification he received regarding the consequences of his change in circumstances was Teachers’ Pensions’ letter of 8 May 2016, enclosing a declaration. These questionnaires should have been issued annually.

• In his telephone call on 16 May 2016, the person he spoke to confirmed that he had not been sent any previous notification that his pension would cease on remarriage.

• He is not disputing the cessation of his pension. He is disputing that he must now make a large and unexpected repayment, which he cannot afford.

• Teachers’ Pensions states that the relevant regulations have been regularly updated. He does not agree that more recent regulations should apply to his situation; particularly since he was not made aware of them.

• Teachers’ Pensions should not be trying to impose conditions retrospectively.

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• From 2007 to 2016, his income consisted of pensions from previous employments, plus his State pension. He estimates that this totalled around £1,100 per month in 2007 and had risen to around £1,400 per month in 2016. His current wife worked part-time and contributed approximately 10% to 12% of the household costs. They did not have a lot of surplus income after meeting their everyday costs.

3 The 2008/09 and 2009/10 letters provided refer to a newsletter being enclosed.

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Teachers’ Pensions’ position

Teachers’ Pensions submits:-

• The overpayment arose because it has no record of Mr D informing it of his cohabitation or remarriage; either at the time or at any time since.

• The TPS is a statutory scheme and is bound by the regulations which apply at the relevant time. At the time of Mr D’s wife’s death, the 1988 Regulations applied. Regulation E28 provided for the commencement and duration of long-term family pensions. Specifically, E28(3) provided that an adult pension is not payable during or after any marriage or period of cohabitation; unless the Secretary of State determines otherwise.

• Regulation 31(2) provided that no benefit was to be paid unless a written application for payment had been made.

• At the time of Mr D’s wife’s death, there were separate administrative arrangements for the payment of pensions. Copies of documents received or issued were held separately from the main TPS record. It does not, therefore, have copies of all of the documents issued to or received from Mr D.

• Mr D was provided with a letter enclosing an application form and Leaflet 450. Section 4.5 in Leaflet 450 stated: “The pension will continue for life, unless your widow/widower remarries or cohabits as man and wife”.

• Mr D was sent a letter, on 2 December 1996, confirming details of his pension and explaining that, to apply for his long-term pension, he needed to complete and return a TFB50. Mr D’s pension would not have been put into payment if he had not returned a TFB50. The notes to the TFB50 stated: “The pension … continues for life, unless the claimant remarries or lives with another person as husband and wife”. The content of the TFB50 and accompanying notes would not have changed between 1996 and 1998 because there had been no change in the conditions for payment of a long-term pension in that time.

• The letter sent to Mr D confirming his ongoing pension would not have referred specifically to duration, but would have said whom to contact if his circumstances changed. It does not have a copy of this letter.

• Mr D contacted it, on a number of occasions, to update his details, but it has no record of him notifying it that he had commenced cohabitation in 2006 or that he had remarried in 2010. It was, therefore, unaware of the position.

• Since 2004, it has issued P60s and newsletters to all pensioners. The newsletters include details of changes which it needs to know about. Therefore, Mr D received

9 CAS-33273-M8R9 instructions each year to notify it if he cohabited or remarried. The importance of the warning in the newsletters should have been clear to anyone reading them.

• Mr D has said that he did not receive any newsletters. However, he has provided evidence that he received his P60s. It can confirm that the newsletters were enclosed with the P60s and, in some cases, printed on the reverse of the P60 document.

• It also provides information about the conditions for payment of a widower’s pension on its website.

• The information provided to Mr D in the May 2016 telephone conversation was incorrect. There was evidence that he was provided with information about the requirement to notify it if he remarried or cohabited. It is immaterial that the evidence is not on his file.

• Mr D should have been aware, from the information provided when he applied for his pension and over the years since, that his pension would cease if he cohabited or remarried.

• It was reliant upon beneficiaries notifying it of changes in their circumstances, but it became apparent that this was not happening. Therefore, it decided to undertake an exercise to check beneficiaries’ current circumstances. This was an enhancement to the service it provides; not an acceptance that its previous processes were inadequate.

• The responsibility for keeping it informed of changes in circumstances lies with the beneficiary; as it always has done.

• Mr D has never made any attempt to enter into discussions regarding the recovery of the overpayment.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

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4 Paragon Finance v DB Thakerar & Co [1999] 1 All ER 400 5 PO-11441 27 June 2017

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Mr D’s further comments

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Ombudsman’s decision

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I do not uphold Mr D’s complaint.

Anthony Arter Pensions Ombudsman

22 November 2021

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