Local Government Pension Scheme: Internal dispute resolution procedure

Each employer and fund within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is responsible for dealing with complaints that are made about their actions and decisions that they take. 

The regulations governing the LGPS include an internal dispute resolution procedure in which LGPS employers and funds are required to operate where they receive a complaint.

Where a decision is made, the decision-maker must inform the affected members of the Local Government Pension Scheme about their right to make a complaint and give details of where complaints should be directed.

Complaints in the LGPS typically cover a range of topics including:

• decisions about ill health retirement benefits;
• disputes around benefit calculations and estimates;
• decisions around discretionary benefits and waiver of actuarial reductions;
• transfers of benefits to other schemes; and
• recovery of over-payments.

A two-stage process

The internal dispute resolution procedure is a two-stage process for dealing with complaints.

LGPS employers and funds are required to sign-post the process when communicating decisions relating to the benefits of LGPS members. 

Stage 1 – The initial stage of the process is conducted by an adjudicator appointed by the original decision-maker (employer or fund).

Stage 2 – If the member is unhappy with the outcome of this, they can then appeal to a second-stage adjudicator appointed by the relevant LGPS fund. From there they can then complain to the Pensions Ombudsman.

The LGPS regulations set out how the internal dispute resolution procedure is to be operated – how complaints are to be made, the timescales for dealing with them and what information decisions need to contain.

How we can help

We have considerable experience in helping both LGPS employers and funds deal with complaints under the internal dispute resolution procedure. We assist them to navigate the procedure confidently and to produce robust decisions which contain all the necessary information and guard against complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman being upheld.

For more information please contact Doug Mullen.