Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PO-1308)

Subject

Mr Penhallurick complains that DEFRA, his former Civil Service employer, misled him when he left their employment in 2007 about his choice of pension arrangement under PCSPS if he was to re-join the Civil Service in the future. He contends that he will suffer a financial loss as a result of being misled.

The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should not be upheld against DEFRA and the Cabinet Office because, on the balance of probabilities, I consider it highly unlikely that DEFRA would have made a representation in their intranet guidance for the VER/VES scheme (upon which Mr Penhallurick says he relied) that would not be supported by the PCSPS Rules in force at that time.