Legal action has been launched on behalf of current and former teachers who have been left waiting for months for pension valuations.
Law firm Leigh Day said it has launched a legal claim on behalf of former and current members of the NASUWT teachers’ union, who are “facing long delays in obtaining pension transfer values”.
The firm said these delays are causing “financial losses” and “emotional stress” because the valuations are often needed for divorce proceedings or retirement planning.
Concerns have been raised after reported significant delays in processing Cash Equivalent Transfer Values (CETV) requests.
Delays over teacher pension valuations
Last year schools minister Catherine McKinnell told MPs that “good progress” was being made on recalculating teachers’ pensions.
A CETV is needed to determine the value of a pension pot. Without a CETV, Leigh Day warned, it is “almost impossible to reach a financial settlement in divorce proceedings or effectively plan for retirement”.
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is administered by Capita Pension Solutions on behalf of the Department for Education.
The Leigh Day legal claim raises a concern that delays could mean Capita is in breach of its statutory obligations to members of the scheme.
The firm adds that there may be a “discriminatory element” to the delays, and that Capita and the DfE “could be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights”, concerning:
- Women who are seeking a divorce and are potentially being trapped in abusive relationships.
- The particular impact on older pension scheme members who are more likely to make CETV requests.
- The timing of the CETV request.
The DfE has previously said that a total of 1,344 teachers were waiting for valuation from the TPS.
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, called on the government and Capita to “act urgently to resolve these issues, provide compensation to those affected, and ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future”.
“The unacceptable delays in processing CETV requests are placing intolerable financial and emotional burdens on teachers. Teachers who have dedicated their careers to public service deserve better than to be left in limbo.”
In a CETV case update this month, Capita said that it has processed “most of the cases”, and is waiting on a final set of guidance for those members who have “received their pension benefits and who have either not made their Transitional Protection remedy choice or had flexibilities”.
The update added: “We’ve also been working with the Department for Education to look at other options to provide figures for retired members. This included issuing Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) to members where it has been possible to do so at this time, which means a CETV can be provided based on their RSS choice. This has been possible for approximately half of the affected retired members.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We understand the disruption this has had for some teachers, and we are working closely with Teachers’ Pensions to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
“Good progress has been made on reducing the number of outstanding Cash Equivalent Transfer Values since October and the majority have now been cleared. This issue continues to be a priority for the Department and scheme administrator.”
In October 2024, there were 3,062 outstanding CETVs. At the beginning of this month the number of outstanding CETVs has reduced to 620.
Tes understands that the remaining cases involve retired members for whom the final version of the cross-scheme guidance is outstanding, and members with complicated flexibilities.
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