The Pensions Ombudsman's (TPO) case closure rate has continued to improve during the first half of its 2025/26 year, pensions ombudsman, Dominic Harris, has revealed, confirming that case closures are up 14 per cent on the same period last year.

This is not the only improvement, as Harris clarified that whilst the long-term trend of increasing demand has continued and volumes of new applications have grown, running at 6 per cent up on the same period last year, this remains "significantly" lower than the increase seen last year.

"We are monitoring the trend closely as we are only part way through the year, but it is a strong indicator that our work on limiting demand, such as putting in place a single ‘lead case’ instead of multiple complaints about the same scheme and insisting on formal internal dispute processes being exhausted prior to an application being made to us, is bearing fruit," Harris stated. 

"This, combined with our much more efficient performance, means that TPO’s caseload remains relatively stable.

"This is a major step forward and a reversal of the trend that we have seen over the last five years, where we experienced year-on-year increases to our historical backlog."

In his blog post, Harris acknowledged that, given the historical backlog that has built up over many years, and growing demand, "it will still take time to erode the backlog and bring waiting times back to the level that we, and all of our stakeholders, want to see".

"Although we are not out of the woods yet, this puts us on the right path to achieving a sustainable reduction in customer waiting times, our key priority as set out in our new Corporate Strategy 2025-2028," Harris continued. 

"We are on the right track and, with more developments to follow, we are confident that we can achieve a material reduction in our backlog and customer waiting times over the course of the next few years."

In particular, Harris attributed the recent improvements to the continued implementation of TPO’s Operating Model Review (OMR) programme, building on the record-breaking 42 per cent increase in case resolution achieved last year. 

TPO's OMR program includes several workstreams intended to drive further efficiencies and resolve complaints earlier, including improving awareness, expanding pensions expertise, using expedited determinations, and streamlining the current process for jurisdiction decisions. 

In addition to this, a key focus for the current year has been the large cohort of complex cases that built up within TPO's caseload, with a specific focus on learning and development and new innovative ways of working to streamline and speed up decision-making, including adopting shorter opinions and determinations. 

In addition to greater efficiencies, TPO is looking to reduce the demand for its service, for example, by encouraging the settlement of more complaints before they reach TPO. 

"This has been working well so far, and we will continue to work with the industry to raise the profile of good dispute resolution processes, sharing good practice and the tools
needed to enable early closure, while working with the regulator to identify poor practice," Harris stated. 

"This focus benefits everyone; the applicant who has their complaint resolved sooner, the scheme or provider who saves time and resources through a swift resolution and it will help TPO by ensuring that we only receive those complaints that need our skill and expertise to resolve. A win-win for all.

"As ever, there is more to do – but our strategy is proving successful and, with the valued support of DWP, we are confident that we can lower waiting times to sustainable levels while continuing to provide a quality service that is both timely and accurate."

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