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“Extraordinarily large” legal costs unnecessary 1

United Kingdom
02/08/2006
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Reference: Q00514

This case concerned an employer who had failed to make payments in accordance with the schedule of contributions. The employer only paid up when the trustees brought an Ombudsman complaint against it. A number of counterclaims by the employer against the trustees were dismissed, with the Ombudsman finding that the employer had failed in its duties of good faith under the scheme.



The trustees asked for their legal fees of £11,700 to be awarded, saying that it was proper for them to have sought legal assistance in preparing the complaint, without which the contributions may not have been paid. However, the Ombudsman said that there was no requirement for lawyers to be involved in referring a dispute to him. The "extraordinarily large" legal costs were therefore incurred unnecessarily, and were not recoverable.

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