Law Debenture v Malley 4

United Kingdom
23/07/1999
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Reference: (1999) OPLR 153

This case concerned a member who applied for an ill-health pension following a back injury. At the time the trustee made its decision, the medical evidence seemed inconclusive. The trustee hired an investigator who placed the member under surveillance.

The Ombudsman directed the trustee to obtain further medical evidence and awarded GBP 2,000 for distress caused to the member on finding that he had been under surveillance.

The Court upheld the trustee's appeal. The Ombudsman could only have overturned the trustee's decision on grounds of perversity. There was no evidence that no reasonable trustee could have come to this decision based on the evidence available to the trustee. Furthermore, surveillance was a legitimate course to pursue in suitable circumstances.

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