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Trustees of at least one company pension scheme is threatening to take legal action against Scottish Widows on grounds of allegedly having received “negligent advice”.

The Actuarial Review Company, a pension consultancy firm and adviser to the company scheme, claims that between 1999 and 2000 Scottish Widows, owned by Lloyds TSB, had been encouraging the pension scheme to give up a guarantee that protected against the risk of pensioners living for longer than expected.

According to the Actuarial Review Company, other company schemes also allege they have been encouraged to give up investments, yielding a guarantee 7 per cent a year in favour of equity-based investments, which would have had to have grown by 10 per cent a year to break even.

In fact, they have produced about 3.5 per cent from 1999 to May 2008, according to Actuarial Review Company.

As a result, Actuarial Review Company estimates at least 100 schemes have lost a collective sum of £300m, with restoration of benefits of the guarantees potentially costing as much as £1bn.

The Actuarial Review Company sent a dossier to the FSA on 23 May following prolonged negotiations with Scottish Widows after one of its directors had noticed discrepancies in the company’s scheme. The dossier is also being sent to the pensions regulator, the pensions ombudsman and the Actuarial Profession, the professional body that regulates actuaries. A spokesman for Scottish Widows said they were taking this extremely seriously, however, was unable to comment fully as they had had no contact with the Actuarial Review Company and had no advance warning of the dossier.

Roger MacNicol, director of the Actuarial Review Company, said: “We estimate there are 20,000 to 30,000 people involved in these schemes and they will be helped enormously by a successful outcome to this matter.

“Legal action from one client is imminent, however, we are in talks with the other company pension schemes and we expect other trustees will launch legal action in the near future.”

The FSA confirmed receipt of the dossier from the Actuarial Review Company and said they could give no further comment.