Section 163 — Pensions Act 2004: Adjustments to be made where the Board assumes responsibility for a scheme

Adjustments to be made where the Board assumes responsibility for a scheme 163 1 This section applies where the Board assumes responsibility for an eligible scheme in accordance with this Chapter.

2 Any benefits (other than money purchase benefits) which—

a were payable under the scheme rules to any member, or to any person in respect of any member, during the period beginning with the assessment date and ending with the receipt by the trustees or managers of the transfer notice, and b have been paid before the trustees or managers receive the transfer notice, are to be regarded as going towards discharging any liability of the Board to pay compensation to the member or, as the case may be, person in accordance with the pension compensation provisions.

3 Regulations may provide that, in prescribed circumstances, where—

a a member of the scheme died before the commencement of the assessment period, and b during the period mentioned in subsection (2)(a), a person became entitled under the scheme rules to a benefit of a prescribed description in respect of the member, the benefit, or any part of it, is, for the purposes of subsection (2), to be treated as having become payable before the assessment date.

4 The Board must—

a if any amount paid, during the period mentioned in subsection (2)(a), by the trustees or managers of the scheme to a member, or to a person in respect of a member, exceeded the entitlement of that member or person under the pension compensation provisions, take such steps as it considers appropriate (including adjusting future compensation payments made in accordance with those provisions) to recover an amount equal to the aggregate of—

i the amount of the excess, and ii interest on that amount, at the prescribed rate, for the period which begins when the excess was paid by the trustees or managers and ends with the recovery of the excess, and b if any amount so paid was less than that entitlement (or no amount was paid in respect of that entitlement), pay an amount to the member or person concerned equal to the aggregate of—

i the amount of the shortfall, and ii interest on that amount, at the prescribed rate, for the period which begins when the shortfall ought to have been paid by the trustees or managers and ends with the payment of the shortfall by the Board.

5 In subsection (4) references to an amount paid do not include—

a an amount paid in respect of any money purchase benefit, or b any other amount of a prescribed description.

6 Nothing in subsection (4) requires the Board—

a to recover any amount from a person in such circumstances as may be prescribed, or b to recover from any person any amount which it considers to be trivial.

7 In this section “ assessment date ” is to be construed in accordance with Schedule 7.