In Reply to: Re: Complainants: Next Action? posted by BrianR on 12 November 2004 at 19:21:10:
: In other words, the whole pensions onbudsman scheme would appear to be a scam heavily weighted towards corporate interests.
I don't think so. Julian Farrand, the previous PO, seemed to go out of his way to look at things from the members', rather than the trustee's or sponsoring employer's point of view. It was in the subsequent appeals in the High Court against his decisions (e.g. Mr Justice Neuberger in the Barclay's case) where 'corporate interests' triumphed.
The current PO, David Laverick, has no doubt tried to avoid Julian Farrand's tussles with the High Court. In our case, as Brian has ably pointed out, that behaviour has been unkind to us. If Dr Farrand were still the PO things might have gone very differently.
I'd recommend reading the 2001 APL Prestige Lecture by Mr Justice Lightman - "The Pensions Ombudsman and the Courts" (see link below) for a better understanding of some of the issues involved.
Dave (with complainant hat on)