Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Thomas v Southwark Council: LGPS cohabiting partner pension—High Court (E&W) finds misapplied financial dependency test; Council’s decision remitted on appeal from Pensions Ombudsman determination

Published on: 04 December 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

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Article summary

Thomas v Southwark Council [2024] EWHC 2739 (Ch) What are the practical implications of this case?

A decision of the Pensions Ombudsman may only be challenged on a point of law. Under CPR 52.29, the High Court’s permission is required before an appeal against a Pensions Ombudsman determination can proceed. In this matter, permission to appeal was granted because:

the material before the Ombudsman suggested the Council had acknowledged the appellant’s financial dependency on the member, so the criteria for a cohabiting partner’s pension may not have been correctly applied
although the Council appeared to dismiss much of the appellant’s evidence of dependency as relating to business costs, it was arguable that business and personal expenditure should be viewed together when assessing financial interdependence

This ruling underscores that trustees and scheme managers must apply scheme rules accurately when deciding whether a member or a dependant qualifies for a benefit. Care is also needed to ensure that anything put in writing about the decision does not undermine the decision-maker’s stance. The issue regarding the...

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