Important Update for Laura Ashley Pension Members
It has been a difficult time for former employees of the famous home furnishings firm. Pension scheme members should have received important information about their pension benefits. If you’ve been living abroad, or moved house, you may not have received the latest news.
Read on for important information and the contact details you need to research your pension.
The Laura Ashley Retirement Benefit Scheme has now applied for protection from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
While the benefits may not be as you were expecting, you do still have a pension. In applying to the PPF the scheme trustees have requested financial protection for its scheme members.
What is the Pension Protection Fund?
The PPF is a statutory public corporation. It was set up to protect members of defined benefit pension schemes. The PPF is funded by DB schemes who pay a levy for membership.
The recent demise in Laura Ashley has in turn led to the failure of its pension scheme. As a subscribing member of the PPF, the scheme was able to seek financial support, and takeover, by the PPF, which will now be responsible for paying out members’ pension income.
The PPF may mean adjustments to the structure of DB income you were expected. It could be that your benefits will not link to inflation as expected, or death benefits could be different.
Who to contact
Once a DB scheme is under PPF assessment, members cannot change or transfer their benefits. The PPF will become your new pension provider and pay you a lifetime income, linked to the benefits you held under the Laura Ashley pension.
Visit the PPF website to find out more about how your pension is protected and what it means to be a PPF member.
For pension benefit queries or to update your contact details, contact:
Claire Tuohy, Senior Pension Administrator
Mercer, St James’s Tower
7 Charlotte Street
Manchester
M1 4DZ
Phone: 0131 456 6876
Email: edinburgh-ops@mercer.com
