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13-Mar-08 10:10 [Pensions]
Government compensates more pension scheme closure victims Around 10,000 workers who have lost savings due to an employer closing down a pension scheme could be compensated under a new precedent.
200 former employees of Creative Outsourcing Solutions International (Cosi) are to be compensated – despite the fact that their employer did not go bust at the time the pension scheme was closed.
Cosi wound up its pension scheme eight years ago, before the current laws came into force.
The government had previously limited rules on pension compensation to instances where the employer had gone out of business, but if extended, this new principle could affect thousands of people.
Many of the Cosi workers are still in employment, but a number are looking to retire, the BBC reports.
"Some of them will find that the small pittance they might have got will now turn into a reasonable pension," said pensions minister Mike O'Brien.
"The government wanted to do justice by them so they're now going to be given broadly the same sort of coverage as if they has gone into difficulties after 2004."
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has highlighted the fact that there are 600,000 job vacancies across the country, adding that it is to aid people in their attempts to return to work.
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An increasing number of people are doing away with pension and insurance contributions as the credit crunch looms large, it has been understood.
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The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has listed four areas where UK pensions regulation is "out of step" with other international practices.
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