A WOMAN denied payments from her long-term partner's occupational pension has won a landmark court case which could affect millions of cohabiting couples across the UK.

Irish lifeguard Denise Brewster, 42, lived with her boyfriend Lenny McMullan for 10 years before he died suddenly on Boxing Day in 2009, aged 43, just two days after the couple had got engaged.

At the time of his death, Lenny had worked at Translink, which delivers Northern Ireland's public transport services, for 15 years, and had been paying into Northern Ireland's local government pension scheme.

If the couple had been married, Denise would have automatically been given the pension he had built up.

Under the regulations, married partners automatically obtain a survivor's pension, while unmarried partners only receive a pension if an opt-in form has been completed by the pension scheme member, which in Denise's case, it hadn't.

Denise challenged the regulation in court, arguing that bureaucratic rules like this one discriminated against long-term cohabitees. She won the case today.

Her solicitor, Gareth Mitchell of public law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, 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 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."

While some legal experts say the ruling could impact cohabitees across the country, others say that the court's reasoning was limited to the facts of Ms Brewster's case, involving the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers' Superannuation Committee (Nilgosc), and so the wider impact will be limited.

Today's landmark ruling could however have wider implications for the rights of cohabiting couples working in the public sector – including nurses and teachers – although local government schemes in England, Wales and in Scotland have already been changed to allow cohabiting couples to automatically benefit from the survivor’s pension.

Couples will have to prove that they have been together for two years and have joint finances – such as a joint bank account.

Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London, and ex-pensions minister, welcomed the ruling, saying: "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 50 years ago".

What were the rules, and how could they change?

Today's Supreme Court ruling brings the Northern Ireland public pensions scheme into line with changes already made in England, Wales and Scotland – which allow cohabiting couples to automatically benefit from the survivor’s pension.

Denise's lawyer Mr Mitchell said that following the 2012 High Court ruling in the Brewster case, local government pensions schemes in England, Wales and Scotland removed the nomination form requirement, although this was not retrospective.

"However, an identical nomination form requirement still appears not only in the Northern Ireland local government pension scheme, but also in many other public sector pension schemes across the UK, for example the NHS, teachers and civil service schemes," he said.

Today's ruling could mean that other public sector schemes could change their rules so unmarried couples automatically benefit from survivor's pensions without being opted in.

Most private pension schemes already provide survivor’s benefits for unmarried partners.

Source: Read Full Article