Pensions Law update: s37 confirmations and the Virgin Media decision

What does the Court of Appeal ruling in the Virgin Media case mean for trustees and sponsors of pension schemes and what actions, if any, should they be taking?

Welcome to our briefing on the recent Court of Appeal decision in the case of Virgin Media Ltd v NTL Pension Trustees II Ltd.

This important pensions law case, together with its predecessor decision in the High Court, provides clarification on some elements of the scope of the duty to obtain “section 37” confirmations from the scheme actuary when making changes to benefits in contracted-out schemes, and the implications of failing to do so when the requirement did apply.

The purpose of the briefing is to summarise, at a high level, the conclusions the court reached and to outline what actions trustees and sponsoring employers should be taking now in light of those conclusions. In our view, the appropriate action will depend on a number of factors, including the circumstances of the scheme, where the scheme is in its life cycle, the appetite of the trustees and sponsoring employer for risk, and the nature of any questions being raised by scheme or company auditors. However, all schemes should be actively considering the potential implications of the Virgin Media judgments for their pension schemes.

Read our full summary below.