The PDA has sent the following communication to members impacted by the changes to the Boots Pension Scheme.
Dear colleagues,
This email is intended only for those PDA members who submitted a stage one complaint using the Boots Pension Scheme internal disputes procedure. For all others in receipt of this email, please treat this as being for information only.
We are aware that members are beginning to receive responses to their complaints submitted under stage one of the pension scheme’s internal disputes procedure.
We are now analysing these responses and will be liaising with our external advisers before issuing further advice and guidance. However, our initial view is that there is still no evidence to back up the claim that an unreduced pension from age 60 was discretionary.
The responses we have seen so far seem to concentrate on the right to retire early being discretionary, not the amount of pension payable if early retirement is granted. We are unaware of any request by a member of the scheme to retire at 60 being turned down prior to the announcement of the buy-in by Legal and General.
We therefore expect to advise members in the near future regarding escalating the complaint to stage two of the process. This will then exhaust the internal disputes procedure and allow for complaints to be progressed to the Pensions Ombudsman.
Please look out for further communications on this subject.
Kind regards,
Paul Moloney
PDA Union National Officer
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