The Pensions Regulator (TPR) in the UK and ITV have reached an agreement under which all members of the Box Clever pension scheme receive their pension benefits in full.

The agreement in principle will see all 2,800 members transferred to the ITV Pension Scheme following the completion of a data-cleanse exercise, which could take up to 12 months to complete.

Members, who have been receiving benefits at Pension Protection Fund (PPF) levels since 2014, will now receive full scheme benefits and back payments.

Assuming the transfer goes ahead as planned, TPR has agreed to cease its regulatory action against ITV and associated entities.

This agreement is supported by both the trustees of the Box Clever scheme and the PPF.

However, ITV has certain termination rights if, after the data cleanse of the scheme benefits, the value of the liabilities that are expected to transfer to the ITV scheme has materially increased since the date of the settlement agreement.

TPR has stressed that If ITV does not proceed with the transfer, it will be free to recommence regulatory proceedings.

Box Clever was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between the TV rental business of Granada (now ITV) and Thorn (now Carmelite). Their respective employees were transferred to the new company and enrolled in the Box Clever pension scheme.

TPR opened an anti-avoidance investigation following the collapse of Box Clever in 2011. Prior to the collapse, ITV extracted significant value from the joint venture.

Following a lengthy legal battle, the regulator issued Financial Support Directions (FSDs) to ITV and associated entities in 2020 requiring them to provide reasonable financial support for the Box Clever scheme.

When agreement could not be reached, TPR issued further proceedings seeking a Contribution Notice for the scheme’s full buyout deficit – most recently estimated at around £76m.

TPR’s interim executive director of regulatory compliance, Mel Charles, said: “Following this long-running case, we are glad that there is an expected settlement under which ITV will accept the Box Clever pension scheme members into the ITV scheme.

“Today’s news illustrates how we will use our powers to protect savers and robustly pursue matters, through the courts if necessary, to reach a satisfactory resolution.”

Read the digital edition of IPE’s latest magazine

Pamela is IPE's UK correspondent. Before joining IPE in May 2023, she spent five years writing about the insurance industry. During her career so far she won awards for Most Promising Newcomer in 2020 and Best Investigative Article in 2022 from the British Insurance Brokers Association, and was also highly commended at the WTW Media Awards for Insurance Features Journalist of The Year.View full Profile

More from Pamela Kokoszka

Topics