Anglian Water Group Pension Scheme (PO-13671)

Ombudsman’s Determination

Outcome

The complaint is not upheld because it is my opinion that:-

· The Brewster judgment does not assist Ms R with her complaint against the Trustees and AWS.

· AWS followed the correct principles in taking a decision when considering the Trustees’ request to make an additional payment into the Scheme so that a dependant’s pension could be awarded to Ms R. Its decision to decline the request was therefore made correctly and within the bounds of reasonableness.

Complaint summary

Ms R has complained that:-

· The Trustees and AWS wrongly refused to reconsider her claim for a dependent’s pension in the Scheme following the judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of an application by Denise Brewster for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2017] UKSC 8 (the Brewster judgment).

· AWS also improperly decided not to make a discretionary payment into the Scheme, as requested by the Trustees, and failed to direct them to grant her a dependant’s pension in the Scheme.