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United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Key definition
Defined benefit definition What does Defined benefit mean? In legal practice, defined benefit (DB) refers to occupational pension benefits fixed by a formula—commonly based on pensionable salary (final salary or career average) and length of service—rather than by the amount of contributions paid or investment performance. The term is used and recognised in UK pensions legislation (including the Pensions Acts and related regulations) and in Ireland (Pensions Act 1990), with broadly consistent usage across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Key features include: the sponsoring employer bears the funding and investment risk; trustees obtain regular actuarial valuations; and any deficit must be addressed through...
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UK defined benefit occupational pension scheme mergers: bulk transfer rules, trustee due diligence, contracting-out, consultation and section 75 debt timing
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Practice notes
This practice note applies solely to defined benefit occupational pension schemes
Where employers within the same group run more than one defined benefit occupational pension scheme, bringing them together into a single, larger scheme can deliver a range of potential benefits, such as:
- reductions in administrative cost and time
- the prospect of greater investment opportunities arising from one larger pension fund
- simpler lines of communication between employers, trustees and members
That said, mergers can also give rise to legal and technical challenges.
Nature of merger
In general, a merger entails the bulk transfer of assets, liabilities and members from one or more transferring schemes into a receiving scheme.
If a merger is undertaken alongside a partial buy-out, under which an insurance company buys out the pension rights of a specified group of members, similar considerations may apply to the combined merger/buy-out as they do to a pure merger. For further information, see Practice Note: De-risking: pension buy-outs and buy-ins...
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Web page updated on 21/05/2026
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I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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