Home > Pensions > Group Pensions
Scottish Widows denies pension schemes' claim
Scottish Widows has denied that it is facing a claim for up to £1bn in compensation from 100 company pension schemes over allegedly 'negligent' advise to switch investments
The Actuarial Review Company (ARC) claims that the life office faces the £1bn claim in order to restore money the pension schemes lost as a result of Scottish Widows advice to give up guarantees that protected against the risk of pensioners living longer than expected.
The ARC claims that Scottish Widows encouraged the schemes to move into funds with high exposure to equity-based investments during the stock-market boom in 1999 and 2000, resulting in the schemes giving up longevity guarantees and costing members a collective £300m.
The ARC said it had sent the results of an independent investigation to the to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Financial Ombudsman Service and Pension Regulator.
However, Scottish Widows has vehemently denied the claims, stating: “To our knowledge we are not in receipt and have no advance notification of the dossier that has been reportedly submitted to the FSA, FOS, Pensions Regulator and Actuarial profession.
"We are only aware of one complaint ever being lodged from a company pension scheme relating to a similar issue to the one described. We are not aware of any High Court action being taken against Scottish Widows by a company pension schemes on this issue.”
