The Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA), the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL) and the Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) have issued a joint statement on the Virgin Media ruling, encouraging the government to introduce retrospective regulations.

In June 2023, the High Court ruled that a lack of evidence of actuarial confirmation would render relevant amendments to affected contracted-out defined benefit (DB) pension schemes’ rules invalid and void.

This ruling was also upheld by the Court of Appeal in July 2024, with industry experts warning at the time that this could have far-reaching implications for many DB schemes.

Representatives from ACA, APL and SPP have been working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the ruling since then, with "regular communication" to discuss the issues arising from the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

In an update on this work, the group confirmed that it has been providing information to help the DWP understand the adverse impact on industry of this ruling and has been examining what form any intervention could take.

"The working group continues to believe that the Secretary for State should make regulations that would, subject to appropriate safeguards, enable the validation retrospectively of any amendment that is held to be void solely because either a written actuarial confirmation was not received before the amendment was made, or where such a confirmation cannot now be located," it stated.

"Quite what form such regulations could take, if a regulatory approach is agreed, is a matter that the working group is discussing with the department, with the working group refining its thinking as a result."

The group said that it is hoping to share a further update in the new year.

Industry experts have previously called for "urgent" clarity on issues arising from the Virgin Media and NTL case, with recent research from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association revealing that some schemes have begun receiving member inquiries on the ruling.

---