Pension Loss Damages Expert Witness | Ogden Tables & Actuarial Evidence

Pension loss arises where injury prevents the claimant from working to normal retirement age, reducing pension accrual in defined benefit or defined contribution schemes. A quantum expert quantifies the annual pension the claimant would have received but for the injury, then capitalises that loss using Ogden Tables 35–38 (loss of pension rights) and the prescribed discount rate. State pension loss may also be recoverable where the claimant's National Insurance record is affected.

Defined benefit schemes - particularly final salary arrangements - may require cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) analysis and liaison with a pensions actuary where scheme rules, early retirement factors, or GMP equalisation complicate the calculation. For defined contribution schemes, the loss is typically measured by employer contributions and member contributions that will not be made during the lost working period, plus any investment growth foregone. Expert reports set out scheme membership history, normal retirement age, and assumptions on salary progression.

The choice between instructing a forensic accountant alone or jointly with an actuary depends on scheme complexity. Straightforward cases are routinely handled by PI quantum experts using the Ogden Tables; multi-scheme memberships, public sector pensions, and cases involving periodical payments may warrant actuarial evidence. All pension loss figures are integrated into the overall Schedule of Loss alongside earnings and care heads, with consistent life expectancy and retirement assumptions across the claim.

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