Too little and too late

The deceased had been a member of an exempt approved group life assurance scheme.

Under the scheme a lump sum would be payable on the death of a member in service of four times the employee’s final remuneration subject to the earnings cap (TA 1988 s 590C).

The deceased died in July 2007. The lump sum payable to the beneficiary was restricted to the his salary up to the earnings cap so she received £451 200 instead of £750 000.

The beneficiary said she should have received £750 000 as s 590C was repealed in 2006 and the scheme trustee had the power to amend the rules accordingly.

Furthermore the payment had been made late which had caused her additional loss.

The High Court said that the main duty of a scheme trustee was...