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• Decision making process of scheme employers or an administering authority
• Obligation to inform the member
• Specimen IDRP first instance decision
• Informal settlement of disputes
• General right of appeal
• Stage 1 - appeal to person that made the original decision
• Specimen acknowledgement letter
• Considering stage 1 appeals
• Notice of stage 1 decision
• Specimen stage 1 decision letter
• Consideration of medical appeals
• Employer discretions
• Stage 2 - Referral to the administering authority where not satisfied with the original determination
• Specimen stage 2 decision letter
• Beyond IDRP - the external appeal
• The Pension Ombudsman
• Further points on appeals
• Contact details
• Members guide
• Printable version

Specimen stage 2 decision letter

The following wording could be used in Stage 2 decision letter issued to a scheme member: 

Dear xxx

Local Government Pension Scheme: Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP)

I refer to your appeal, under stage 2 of the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure, against the decision at stage 1 by [insert name, job title and body], the adjudicator, not to uphold your complaint. 

My role in making a determination on your complaint is to determine whether your Scheme employer has made their decision in accordance with the pension scheme regulations, that all relevant evidence has been taken into account and that the decision reached is not perverse. I have no powers to implement my own decision; however, I can require the Scheme employer to reconsider their decision if I consider that they have misdirected themselves or that their decision is perverse. In addition, I have no power to direct the Scheme employer to act outside the provisions of the regulations.

The determination notice must include the following:

• the question of determination;

• evidence received and considered;

• the decision;

• a reference to any legislation or scheme provision that it relies upon;

• where relevant, a reference to the scheme provisions conferring the discretion that has caused the disagreement; and

• a statement that The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) is available to assist the member with any difficulty with the scheme which remains unresolved, and the address for TPO.

This concludes the second stage of the internal dispute resolution procedure. The Pensions Ombudsman is available to assist Scheme members and beneficiaries of pension schemes in connection with difficulties you may have. 

The Pensions Ombudsman can be contacted at:

Address: 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 4PU

Phone: 0800 917 4487 (10.00am to 2.00pm Monday to Friday)

Email: enquiries@pensions‐ombudsman.org.uk

Website: https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/

Having made my decision, I cannot enter into further correspondence with you; the decision can only be overturned by a judgement of the High Court or the Pensions Ombudsman. The Pension Ombudsman may investigate and determine any complaint of maladministration or dispute or fact or law or referred to him in accordance with the Pensions Schemes Act 1993 

Copies of this determination have been sent to [name of body] as your employer/former employer and the Staffordshire Pension Fund.

Yours sincerely,