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Trustees could however be overlooking this danger, Aon Consulting has warned. This is because Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) failure scores - which form the primary insolvency measure of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) - give the overall impression that all is well.

Aon Consulting said the D&B failure score was actually designed to focus on short-term cash flow rather than the overall financial stability, which could lead trustees and sponsor companies into a false sense of security.

In the long-term, Aon said a substantial increase in company failure could prove problematic for the PPF and in turn could lead to greater levies depending on if it has built margins for such factors into its calculations.

Paul McGlone, principal and actuary at Aon Consulting, said it was vital that trustees recognise that insolvency risk is now a bigger threat given the economic turmoil.

"It would be a mistake to think that it is only those schemes in deficit with weaker employer covenants that are at risk.

"Strong companies can become weak very quickly and as such it is essential that trustees waste no time in taking steps, if they have not already done so, to make sure their pension scheme is protected should the worst happen," he said.

McGlone added: "The number of corporate insolvencies is likely to rise over the-short-to-medium-term, increasing the number of schemes dependent on the PPF.

"We have to hope that type of economic downturn has been factored into the PPF’s modelling, so that any increase in cases entering the PPF does not result in premiums being increased further."