21 May 2008
Tony King, the pensions ombudsman, has ruled that the trustees
of the ALHCO Retirement Benefits Scheme were wrong to suspend
pension payments to Mr A B Dallas because he was involved in a
legal dispute with the sponsoring employer.
The ombudsman said that although trustees are permitted to
reduce payments in the event of criminal, negligent or fraudulent
activity on behalf of the pensioner, they are not able to pre-empt
the decision of a court by suspending payment before a judgment has
been made.
