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Generative AI: A global guide to key IP considerations
Artificial intelligence (AI) raises many intellectual property (IP) issues.
United Kingdom | Publication | March 2024
The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has partly upheld a complaint by a member of a DB public sector scheme who alleged that the administrator had provided incorrect information about his lifetime allowance (LTA) which led him to opt out of the scheme.
In early 2016, the administrator wrote to the member informing him that he "may be affected" by a reduction in the LTA coming into effect in April 2016. The letter was sent following an incorrect overstatement of the member’s pension benefits provided by the employer. The member claimed that the letter led him to believe that the value of his benefits was approaching his LTA and as a result, he decided to opt out of paying contributions. A year later, after discovering that the value of his benefits was unlikely to breach the LTA, he opted back in. However, by this time, he had lost the ability to make further contributions into his added years contract under the scheme's rules.
The Ombudsman held that the administrator was not responsible for the provision of incorrect information by the employer. Neither did the administrator provide any incorrect information about the LTA in its 2016 letter. The letter did not say that the member was close to, or in excess of, the LTA, nor did it recommend any specific action. Ultimately, it was the member's responsibility to establish his LTA position and the administrator was not responsible for the financial consequences of the member's decision to opt out.
However, the Ombudsman did find that the administrator had made other errors constituting maladministration, including taking around nine months to respond to the member's complaint and overpaying the member's lump sum. Consequently, the administrator was ordered to pay the member £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience caused.
Generally, employers should avoid giving members financial advice. Where there are major changes in the law which could affect members, information should be provided without going into detail on how benefits could be affected. The member bears the ultimate responsibility for determining how changes affect them personally.
Read the Determination.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) raises many intellectual property (IP) issues.
Publication
On 21 November 2023 and following extensive consultation periods, the amendment to the Climate Delegated Act (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021) (the Climate Delegated Act) was formally adopted by the European Commission and published in the EU Official Journal (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2485 of 27 June 2023) (the Climate Delegated Act Amendment).
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