Some Christmas Cheer For Pensioners!
At last we have some good news on the pensions front…
About 125,000 people, whose company pensions went bust prior to 2005 when the Pension Protection Fund was set up, are to be brought into line the current legislation. This means that 90% of the value of their pensions will be restored up to an increased capping of £26,000.
The Financial Assistance Scheme is the rescue net that was set up to protect people whose pension schemes collapsed between January 1997 and April 2005. Prior to this latest move it had only paid out 80% of a workers core pension , subject to a cap of £12000.
The move has been described as “really good news” by pension campaigner Ros Altmann, although it has taken a long time and a journey through the European Courts to get to this stage.
Peter Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary, who is due to make a statement to the Commons stated on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme that “I hope that we will be in a position to say this at last might deliver real hope to the people who have been so wronged.”
It has been reported in some quarters that there have been some clashes between Mr Hain and Gordon Brown on this issue, although they have been dismissed as “detailed discussions” by a Work and Pensions spokesman.
However the main thing is that a lot of people will be having a much better Christmas this year and a much more secure future. Happy Christmas! And especially if you are one of the 125,000 people referred to at the start of this good news.
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