PFEW Pension Compensation Claim
The Police Federation of England & Wales launched a compensation claim against the Government on behalf of members who were victims of discrimination and suffered any ‘injury to feeling’ as a result of the changes to members’ pensions by the introduction of the 2015 scheme. FAQs on eligibility can be found here. However, please note that it is no longer possible to join the PFEW claim if you have not already done so.
The Government has stated it will put right the pension losses suffered. The purpose of this claim is to ensure those who have not already submitted a claim in respect of the pension discrimination are also considered for any compensation the court considers appropriate for the distress caused by the discriminatory changes.
The claim is being handled on our behalf by the leading UK and international law firm Penningtons Manches Cooper.
Penningtons Manches Cooper, submitted our pension compensation claim on behalf of members in December 2020, with a second claim being submitted in April 2021 for discrimination arising from the transitional provisions of the Police Pension Regulations 2015. The claims were subsequently processed by the Employment Tribunal and the respondents to the claims (the Chief Officers and the Secretary of State for the Home Department) were given two months to file responses. Subsequently, the claims were stayed (put on hold) pending the conclusion of other similar claims, which include not only the claims brought by other police officers who are represented by Leigh Day solicitors, but also claims brought by the Judges (McCloud) and Firefighters (Sargeant) and other associated litigation.
February 2023 Update
The PFEW claim has been “stayed” (put on hold) pending the conclusion of other similar claims. This includes the claims brought by other police officers who are represented by Leigh Day solicitors (known as ‘Aarons & others’), as well as claims brought by Judges (‘McCloud’ cases) and Firefighters (‘Sargeant’ cases) and other associated litigation which addresses the issue of Remedy.
When a claim is “stayed” it means that the claim does not progress in the Employment Tribunal and legal issues are not being determined; it is on hold. This means that the award for injury to feelings, or any other remedy, will not be determined by the Employment Tribunal whilst the “stay” is in place. This therefore means that there are unlikely to be any developments over the next 12 months.
We understand that a settlement has been agreed in Aarons in relation to the award for injury to feelings. However, there are still other aspects to Remedy which are yet to be determined by the Tribunal in Aarons. The Aarons claims are more advanced, and that is why they are now at the stage where remedy/damages/settlement has been considered.
The Employment Tribunal have advised that the Aarons claims are now “stayed” pending the introduction of pension Remedy legislation in October 2023. We therefore would like to reiterate that the claim PFEW are bringing is a separate claim from the Aarons claims, and this claim is only at the beginning of the litigation process.
October 2023 Update
The current position of the PFEW claims remains as per our February update, which is that the claim is ‘stayed’ behind other cases (Aarons & others). We do not expect the stay on this claim to be lifted until the end of the year at the earliest. We do not therefore propose to provide interim updates, if there are no developments with this claim. We will update members once the stay is lifted.
Claim brought by members represented by Leigh Day
For the avoidance of any confusion, please note that this claim is no part of any claim brought by members who are represented by Leigh Day solicitors and is not impacted by the recent judgment in that case, which has no bearing on these proceedings.
Updates and email enquiries
Given the size of the group of claimants we represent (circa 40,000), we are unable to respond to every single email we receive, especially if the answer to the enquiry has already been provided in an update. We therefore again request that members avoid emailing unless absolutely necessary. If you do need to email us at pensionclaim@polfed.org, please ensure you provided your full name, date of birth and your address(es) between 2020-2021. This will enable us to check that you are a claimant in this claim without having to ask for this information.
Please direct any queries relating to this claim to pensionclaim@polfed.org.
