The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) expects the number of complaint cases it receives to continue increasing to more than 10,000 a year by 2026, its Corporate Plan 2023-26 has revealed.

In 2022/23, TPO received 7,280 cases, marking a 17 per cent year-on-year increase and 480 cases more than originally forecasted, with further increases expected in the year ahead.

The ombudsman attributed the increase to several factors, including the economic disruption caused by Covid-19, people’s increased awareness of their benefits, the growing number of people auto-enrolled, and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

The report also detailed recent court judgments that may have implications for TPO, noting that that the McCloud case being upheld meant the ombudsman may receive an increase in cases regarding immediate detriment and, in due course, that the remedy was insufficient.

It also highlighted a potential uptick in GMP equalisation cases, and the Court of Appeal judgment that TPO was not a ‘competent court’ for recovering overpayments.

Regarding the Court of Appeal judgment, TPO said it was reviewing its position, looking at practical ways to deal with the issue and is in discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on legislation to clarify the situation.

TPO’s report noted that constraints on resources and ever-increasing demand had resulted in customer waiting times being longer than it would like, and this was further exacerbated by the cyber incident in June 2023.

It stated that while agreed additional funding in 2023/24 will help bring down customer waiting times, it will be hugely challenging to deliver timely service due to the increased demand for TPO’s services, and its ambition was to have reduced waiting times to a sustainable level by 2026.

“Working with key strategic partners, we aim to increase the proportion of valid complaints that reach us through raising awareness of our service and improved signposting,” the report said.

“Through information sharing and outreach we also aim to enable stakeholders to resolve complaints at an earlier stage.

“Where necessary we will also support legislative change. We are liaising with DWP to explore longer-term funding arrangements.”

TPO’s priorities over the next three years were outlined as: reducing customer waiting times whilst maintaining quality of service; embedding new ways of working and identifying further efficiencies; strengthening relationships with stakeholders to improve dispute resolution in the pensions industry; making TPO a great place to work and volunteer and ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion are central to its policies and processes; and continuing the ‘vital work’ of the Pensions Dishonesty Unit.

“As an organisation, we face a number of ongoing challenges including continuously increasing demand leading to unacceptable waiting times,” said pensions ombudsman, Dominic Harris.

“Despite significant improvements in efficiency, and some additional funding this year, customers are still waiting too long. TPO remains committed to identifying efficiencies and ensuring these are embedded across the whole organisation.

“The additional resources agreed for 2023/24 will help to reduce waiting times for our customers, which despite improvements remain too long. However, with demand increasing year on year, to achieve a consistent reduction in waiting times will require a longer-term plan, which in turn requires a longer-term funding settlement.”

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