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The Pharmacists’ Defence Association is in the final stages of preparing and submitting a lead case to the Pensions Ombudsman in the dispute with Boots about the age at which members can retire with an unreduced pension.
The PDA’s national officer Paul Moloney told members that the case will be submitted at the end of the month. The ombudsman’s determination on this will then apply to the roughly 800 cases of individuals who contest the actions of the Boots trustees in relation to the normal retirement age.
PDA director of membership and communities Paul Day told mallowstreet: “We continue the process of finalising a lead case in order that we can take the arguments and hopefully win for all those impacted.”
The lead case approach means the ombudsman will be able to make a legally binding decision quicker than the current two to three years it can take, the PDA noted.
The PDA alleges that the Boots pension trustees changed the scheme rules on the day a £4.8bn buy-in with Legal & General was announced to make unreduced pensions from age 60 a discretionary benefit, rather than a right.
