One of the big problems is that the 1995 Pensions Act (which was designed to protect pensions after the Maxwell case) introduced a particular 'order of priority' which must be followed, when a scheme's employer becomes insolvent and there are not enough assets in the fund.
This order of priority says that the assets of the fund must be spent on pensions already in payment, plus their full inflation-linked increases, before the pension promises of members who have not yet started drawing their pension can be paid.

At the moment, even fully solvent employers can just decide to wind up their pension schemes

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Dr Ros Altmann
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