The Pensions Regulator has awarded members of the defined benefit DCT Civil Engineering Staff Pension Fund access to Pension Protection Fund compensation following changes to the scheme's rules.

Former trustees of the occupational scheme incorrectly made amendments to the fund's rules which resulted in the calculation of accrued benefits on a DC rather than a DB basis. This caused significant changes to members' benefits and meant that some individuals would not have been entitled to PPF compensation.

After an investigation into the case, TPR declared the rule changes nullified and today issued a regulatory intervention report.

DCT Civil Engineering fell into administration in January 2014, leaving behind its DB scheme. TPR's investigation led to it issuing a warning notice to directly affected parties outlining the recommendation to void the 2010 modification to the scheme.

TPR's inquiry was not directly challenged by those affected or its Determinations Panel and so permitted the PPF to take on the scheme's full assets, liabilities and its 11 members.

TPR executive director for frontline regulation Nicola Parish said: “This case shows that we will use our powers to protect schemes in appropriate cases, regardless of the number of members. The modification of the scheme rules had a serious impact on reducing members’ accrued benefits, and so we considered it appropriate to act to protect them.

“By using our power to declare changes to the scheme rules void, we’ve enabled members to benefit from PPF protection, which will be higher than they would have received if the amended DC scheme rules had been allowed to stand.”

A PPF spokesperson said: “We have always been of the view that in the specific circumstances of this case this was an eligible scheme and members were protected by the PPF. We do however welcome the additional certainty that the regulator was able to provide.”

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