The average salary rate from the data first used by Teachers’ Pensions was £53,642, but this fell to £44,454 after it queried the figures with Leicester County Council, leading the council to provide updated figures. As a result, Mrs R was overpaid by £8,042.
Leicester County Council repeatedly denied that it was the source of the incorrect salary information, suggesting that Teachers’ Pensions’ administration systems might have produced the error. The ombudsman found no information to support this claim, however.
Though Mrs R did not suffer financial loss, because she was never entitled to the amount she had to repay, he found that she had suffered “sustained non-financial injustice in the form of serious distress and inconvenience”.
Benjamin Mercer is a senior reporter at FTAdviser's sister publication Pensions Expert
