Services for Insolvency Practitioners
Services available to assist Insolvency Practitioners
AFTS appreciates that when an Insolvency
Practitioner encounters a company pension scheme that it can be very daunting,
time consuming and costly. However, with over 30 years experience of working
closely with IPs in dealing with pension schemes, AFTS is proud to offer the
following services that are designed to limit an IP’s involvement and minimise
the overall expense:
1) S120
notice completion service for £55 + VAT per
notice completed.
2) Pension
Brief service for £300 + VAT per pension scheme
reviewed.
3) Winding-up
services. Actions required and likely cost
to wind-up the scheme on behalf of an IP, will be illustrated within the
Pension Brief report
An IP’s initial obligations in respect of a Company
pension scheme(s)
Obligation No.1 – Finding a company
pension scheme
As an Insolvency Practitioner you have an
obligation to the employees of an insolvent company to establish details of any
company pension schemes that the Employer operated throughout its working
history. Alexander Forbes Trustee Services Limited (AFTS) has developed a Pension Declaration Form that can be downloaded to
assist you with finding company pension scheme arrangements together with a Corporate Insolvency Pension Checklist for use on
each insolvency case.
Obligation No. 2 - The IP’s statutory
reporting duty under the Pensions Act 2004
When an Insolvency Practitioner is
successful in finding a company pension scheme, under the Pensions Act 2004
(introduced from 6 April 2005) it is their statutory duty to complete and
submit a S120 Notice to the Board of the Pension Protection
Fund, The Pensions Regulator and the trustees of the pension scheme within 14
days of the Insolvency Event or within 14 days of becoming aware of the Scheme.
Failure by the IP to comply with the S120 legislation may result in the IP
being reported to their Recognised Professional Body.
AFTS can complete a S120 Notice ready for
the IP to sign, within the 14 day deadline, for £55 + VAT per scheme.
Obligation No. 3 – Actions required by
IP following submission of S120 Notice
The final obligation that an IP has to the
pension scheme is to take an in depth review of the scheme to establish what
tasks must be carried out by the IP (acting on behalf of the Employer) prior to
closing or dissolving the insolvency appointment. AFTS offers the Pension Brief (brochure download) service to carry
out an in depth review of the pension scheme(s) on behalf of the IP at a very
reasonable price of £300 + VAT per pension scheme reviewed.
Where the Company operated a ‘trust based’
pension scheme and acted as the sole trustee, then the IP, by virtue of their
insolvency appointment, inherits the trustee responsibilities and, therefore,
the expense of winding-up the pension scheme and settling members’
benefit.. AFTS can act as the IP’s agent to assist with the wind-up of
the pension scheme on their behalf. Alternatively, AFTS will take over
the trustee obligation from the IP, thus eliminating the IP’s involvement from
the pension scheme within 2-3 months of the insolvency appointment, and
transferring the risks inherent in acting as a trustee to the experts. We
call this TrustEase.
The cost of providing this service will be quoted within the Pension Brief
review.