National Association of Pension Funds mediation service introduced

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National Association of Pension Funds mediation service introduced

Tue 7th Feb 2006

A National Association of Pension Funds mediation service has been offered to its members.

The service has been created in conjunction with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and is in reaction to recent changes in the regulatory regime for UK pensions.

It is intended to protect any trustees who are a member of NAPF from problems between employers and scheme members.

Disagreements could arise over such issues as scheme administration and payment schedules designed to deal with deficits, NAPF suggests.

Chief executive of NAPF Christine Farnish said: "The new pension scheme funding regime places greater responsibility on scheme trustees to negotiate robustly with employers to ensure pensions are appropriately funded, and to monitor the financial strengths of the sponsoring employer. They may be stuck between a rock and a hard place."

It is claimed that the National Association of Pension Funds mediation service is not intended to give a right or wrong answer, but to attempt to reach an agreement between the parties involved in any dispute.

NAPF claims that it currently has ten million working members and provides income to about five million retirees.

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