A woman who was denied payments from her long-term partner’s pension because they were not married has won a landmark appeal. Her victory at the Supreme Court could improve the rights of millions of other cohabitees across the UK.
Denise Brewster, 42, challenged a ruling that she was not automatically entitled to a ‘partner’s pension’ as she would have been, were she married to her partner when he died.
Ms Brewster, a lifeguard from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, and her partner Lenny McMullan had lived together for ten years and owned their own home. They had got engaged just two days before Mr McMullan died.
Five Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled she is entitled to receive payments under the pension scheme.
Ms Brewster’s solicitor, Gareth Mitchell of public law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, said the ruling could affect millions of cohabitees. He said: ‘Denying bereaved cohabitees access to survivor pensions causes huge distress and financial hardship’.
‘Now that around one in six families in the UK are cohabiting families, reform is long overdue.
The decision has significant implications for millions of cohabitees in relation to partner’s pension benefits.
It also lays down the approach to be adopted when considering complaints of discrimination on the grounds of marital status in other areas. This was a decision of the Supreme Court of the UK and it affects the whole of the UK.’
Steve Webb, Director of Policy at Royal London, and ex-pensions minister said: ‘This is a very welcome ruling. It is totally unacceptable for cohabiting couples to be treated as second class citizens.’
‘With more than six million people living together as couples and the numbers rising every year, this is an issue that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We need pension scheme rules which reflect the world we live in today, and not the world of fifty years ago.’
Ms Brewster and Mr McMullan lived together for ten years and got engaged on Christmas Eve 2009, but he died suddenly between Christmas night and the early hours of Boxing Day morning.
He had 15 years’ service with Translink, which delivers Northern Ireland’s public transport services, and had been paying into Northern Ireland’s local government pension scheme.
The scheme automatically allows married partners to obtain a survivor’s pension, but unmarried partners only receive it if they opt in to the scheme.
This involves filling out a form, to be signed by both partners. Ms Brewster had met all the other criteria, but because she and her partner had not completed the form, the scheme (the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee) refused her the pension.
The High Court in Northern Ireland then allowed her legal challenge against the refusal, after which the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal overturned the decision.
Today, the Supreme Court overturned that decision and ruled in Ms Brewster’s favour.
Helen Mountfield QC, representing Ms Brewster, had asked the Supreme Court to declare that the opt-in nomination rule breached the European Convention on Human Rights.
Tags: partner's pension
This entry was posted by John on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Pension news.
