What happens to members’ pensions if a DB scheme buys out and the insurer later fails? Paul Newman KC offers a practical guide to the capital, liquidity, insolvency and FSCS protections behind bulk annuities. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

Can an employer replace pension scheme trustees because it wants a more "commercial" approach to surplus? This article considers this increasingly important endgame question in the light of recent authority. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

Paul Newman KC considers a recent High Court decision on when time begins to run for pension transfer claims under section 27 FSMA. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

Paul Newman KC looks at three recent Supreme Court cases on the importance of purpose in construing statutes, and considers how they affect the future interpretation of pensions legislation. To read the article, click on the pdf below.

We are back from our summer break with a new episode of the Talking Pensions podcast, in which Paul talks to Mark Kowalik about his long career as a pensions lawyer at CMS. They discuss the evolution of pensions law and regulation since the 1980s and look forward to future developments in the field. To read a transcript of the podcast, click on the pdf below.

In R (Golding and others) v FSCS Ltd [2026] EWHC 2337 (Admin), the High Court has upheld the FSCS’s rejection of pension transfer compensation claims on limitation grounds. A full case note will be published shortly. In the meantime, the full judgment can be read here.

We are very sorry to report the death of John Quarrell, aged 77, one of the most distinguished and influential pensions solicitors of his generation. JQ (as he was widely known) joined Nabarro in the 1970s and went on to lead its pensions practice for 26 years, becoming one of the best-known names in the pensions industry. He was one of the founders of the APL and a former Chairman, as well as playing prominent roles in the wider pensions community through the NAPF and the PM

We are now taking a break until the Autumn, when we will be back with more content. In the meantime, we will of course continue to publish news items if relevant, because pensions news never sleeps and it certainly doesn't sunbathe.

The High Court has today handed down judgment in Northumbrian Water Ltd v Northumbrian Water Pension Trustees Ltd [2026] EWHC 1952 (Ch). The case concerned rules guaranteeing annual pension increases in line with RPI up to 5%, with any excess payable where the trustee considered, after consulting the scheme actuary, that this could be done without increasing the employer’s ordinary annual contributions. The disputed excess increases affected some 2,000 members and had an esti

Zara Yusuf of Three Stone considers the Pension Schemes Act 2026’s investment mandation power and asks what the Stena Line case can tell us about its new “best interests” safeguard. To read the article, click on the pdf below.