UK – The three pension schemes of insurance broker heath Lambert are unlikely to come out of the Pension Protection Fund, says their independent trustee.

“It’s very unlikely they will come out of the PPF at all,” said Chas Goddard, director at Capital Cranfield Trustees. He added that the total deficit is around £200m (€294.8m) although there is no precise figure at present.

Heath Lambert went into administration in May this year, meaning its schemes were the first to go into the PPF. It is now in an assessment period which will last at least a year, Goddard told IPE.

This process could lead to possible cuts in pensions or deferred benefits, he added.

Capital Cranfield has appointed consulting firm Higham Group to assist it with the assessment work. Higham will focus on benefit conversion, benefit tranching and system requirements.

Nottingham-based Goddard said Higham was the best firm because its director Russell Agius had helped to set up the PPF when on secondment to the Department of Work and Pensions.

Agius said: "We are extremely pleased to be assisting CCTL with various PPF preparation tasks to ensure the Heath Lambert schemes' transition through the PPF assessment period is performed in an efficient and cost effective manner."