17.12.2024
The first group of PPF members who we’ve assessed as most significantly affected by the European Court of Justice’s ruling have from today started receiving increased benefits. These members have had their benefits adjusted by the long service cap (LSC).
Later this month we will make the first increased payments to the most significantly affected FAS members. PPF and FAS members receive their regular monthly payments at different times in the month, which is why the FAS members will receive their payments later in April.
We’ll make increased payments in May to the rest of the LSC pensioners where the LSC took them below the 50% minimum, provided we have received the information we need from them. If there will be any delay in making increased payments, we’ll contact members individually.
Which group we are looking at next?
We’ve already begun the process of assessing the next group of members who may be affected by the ruling. This is the group who’ve had their benefits adjusted by the compensation cap.
We’ve written to the capped members who we believe are most likely to be entitled to an increase because the cap took them below the 50% minimum. We've asked if they have any information that might help us carry out our assessment. We expect to finish looking at this group, and make increased payments where appropriate, in the summer of 2019.
We’ve also written to those capped members who, after an initial assessment, do not appear to be receiving less than the 50% level, to let them know.
You can find further detail about our approach in the FAQ’s we've written to answer questions PPF members have been asking us.
As there are some differences in the approach for FAS, you can separately read our frequently asked questions for FAS members.
What is happening with the court proceedings?
Our update in February confirmed that new court proceedings have started against us, seeking to challenge, among other things, our intended approach for calculating any increases due to our members as a result of the ruling.
Although we are continuing with our plans to pay increases to affected members, we won’t make any arrears payments until we know the outcome of the case. This is to avoid the risk of us making overpayments to members, which we would then be obliged to recover if the court decides that we must take a different approach to calculating the increase.
The court case will take place from 11 – 13 June 2019. We may not receive the judgment for some time after the hearing. We’ll keep our approach under review in the light of how proceedings develop.
