Penningtons Manches Cooper to represent Police Federation members in pensions group action claim

Posted: 15/05/2020

Penningtons Manches Cooper has been appointed by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) to represent its members in pursing claims for compensation for injury to feelings against the Government arising from discrimination following changes to their pensions caused by the introduction of a new scheme in 2015.

Although the Government has made a commitment to remedy the losses suffered by police officers, PFEW’s decision to launch legal action has been taken after unsuccessful discussions over the compensation to be awarded. The primary aim of the action is to ensure that those who have not already submitted a claim over the pension discrimination are also considered for any compensation judged to be appropriate by the courts.

PFEW members will be contacted by the Federation and those who are eligible to pursue a claim will be invited to join the group action through an online questionnaire and verification process via the PFEW website. This is scheduled to commence within the next fortnight. Applications must be completed by 17 July 2020 and any forms received after that date will be ineligible.

Penningtons Manches Cooper has been instructed to progress the claims once the online forms have been submitted and members’ eligibility to pursue a claim has been verified. Due to the volume of affected members, it will communicate through a series of group updates rather than with officers on an individual basis.

Specialists in employee and union law within the employment team at Penningtons Manches Cooper have over 20 years of experience in advising the Police Federation and its members on a range of issues. The team has received recognition from both Chambers UK and The Legal 500 and is considered a leading expert in the field of complex discrimination claims and class actions.

Update: August 2020

Please note that the deadline for completing the online questionnaire has been extended by the Police Federation to 27 August 2020.   

After the deadline, the Federation will be reviewing all data collected and will be carrying out further verification checks on those who have applied.

Once all checks have been carried out, the data will then be passed on to Penningtons Manches Cooper. The firm has not been provided with details of any members who have completed the questionnaire at this stage and therefore currently is not able to send out any communications. Once details of those members who are eligible to be part of the action have been received from the Federation, Penningtons Manches Cooper will send out emails to those individuals, with a link to sign up to its extranet site, where updates and information will be provided. 

Please note that these emails will be sent out in batches, as around 40,000 individuals have applied. Individuals may not therefore receive an email at the same time as their colleagues, so please be patient.

Please visit the PFEW website for further updates. If you have any specific queries, please review the FAQs on its site and if your query is not addressed there, please email PFEW or contact your local Federation.

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