The Pension Schemes Act 2015 (Transitional Provisions and Appropriate Independent Advice) Regulations 2015

Circumstances in which an employer is required to arrange or pay for advice

12.—(1) Where an employer has sent a communication of a description set out in paragraph (2) to a member or survivor, that employer must, for the purposes of satisfying the requirement in section 48(1) of the Act, —

(a) arrange for appropriate independent advice to be provided to the member or survivor of a pension scheme, and pay for the provision of the advice so arranged; or

(b) pay for appropriate independent advice provided to the member or survivor of a pension scheme, where the member or survivor has arranged for the advice to be provided (but see paragraph (3)).

(2) The communication referred to in paragraph (1) is any communication in writing which —

(a) is sent by, or on behalf of, the employer to two or more members or survivors of a pension scheme; and

(b) sets out options available to the member or survivor in terms that encourage, persuade or induce the member or survivor to request that the trustees or managers carry out a relevant transaction.

(3) Where an employer chooses to arrange and pay for appropriate independent advice to be provided in accordance with paragraph (1)(a), that employer is not required to pay for any appropriate independent advice provided to the member or survivor where the member or survivor arranged for the advice to be provided.

(4) An employer who has sent a communication of a description set out in paragraph (2) can agree for one or more other employers to arrange or pay for appropriate independent advice for the members or survivors in question, on behalf of that employer.

(5) An employer must not seek in any way to recover, from a member or survivor, costs incurred in complying with this regulation.

(6) “Employer” means any person who —

(a) is, or was, for the purposes of the scheme rules an employer in relation to the scheme in question, and is currently, or has previously been, bound to comply with the scheme rules;

(b) employs, or has previously employed, any persons who are members of the scheme in question;

(c) has taken over a company, business or part of a business that employs, or has previously employed, any members of the scheme; or

(d) is a parent undertaking or a subsidiary undertaking (as defined in section 1162 of the Companies Act 2006(1)) of any person described in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c), excluding any subsidiary undertaking which is also a trustee of the scheme in question.

(7) Section 10 of the Pensions Act 1995(2) (civil penalties) applies to any employer who fails to comply with the requirements in this regulation.

(1)

2006 c.46.

(2)

1995 c.26. Section 10 has been amended by paragraph 11 of Schedule 2 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30), paragraphs 34 and 38 of Schedule 12 to, and Part 1 of Schedule 13 to, the Pensions Act 2004 (c.35), paragraph 121 of Schedule 13 to the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (c.15), and paragraph 52(1)(b) and (2) of Schedule 9 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c.22).