On 29 April 2026, the Pension Schemes Act 2026 (the Act) received Royal Assent. From this date, the Virgin Media remedy came into force.

Published: 1 May 2026
Author: Suzanne Burrell & Rhiannon Barnsley-Bloomfield

The fix is in response to uncertainty following the judgement in Virgin Media Ltd v NTL Pension Trustees II Ltd.

What did the case say?

Pension schemes could contract-out of the additional state pension from 6 April 1997 until 6 April 2016. However, as part of contracting-out, schemes were required to provide a minimum level of benefits that were at least broadly equivalent to a “reference scheme”. Legislation provided that amendments to those benefits would be void unless written actuarial confirmation was obtained that the scheme would continue to satisfy this “reference scheme test” following the amendments.

The need for written actuarial confirmation (also referred to as a section 37 confirmation) was confirmed by the High Court, and later the Court of Appeal, which found that if the written actuarial confirmation was not obtained before the amendments were made, the amendments were void.

Why is this an issue?

Given the passage of time and difference in practice across schemes, some trustees and employers have found that various amending deeds do not provide clear evidence that written actuarial confirmation was obtained. This has led to lack of clarity over whether certain amendments were valid, potentially leading to material changes in benefits and funding requirements as well as delaying transactions such as risk transfer projects.

There has continued to be uncertainty in the industry, including debate on whether invalid amendments might become valid at the time that the actuary re-certified the scheme as part of the triennial valuation and whether deeds closing the scheme to future accrual required written actuarial confirmation.

Following industry campaigning, the DWP announced that it would introduce legislation to address the issues arising from the judgement. It has done this through the Act.

What is the remedy?

The fix is in sections 103 - 106 of the Act and will permit scheme actuaries to give retrospective written actuarial confirmation in relation to historic amending deeds which will treat amendments as having been validly made insofar as the contracting-out requirements are concerned. The actuary will need to form an opinion about whether it is reasonable to conclude, that on the assumption the amendment was validly made, that the amendment would not have prevented the scheme from continuing to meet the reference scheme test.

An amendment will be deemed a “potentially remediable alteration” that can make use of this remedy if it:

• required written actuarial confirmation under the legislation
• was treated by the trustees of the scheme as a valid amendment
• is not excluded from the scope of the remedy

The remedy will not be available if the trustees of the scheme have taken any “positive action” on the basis that they consider the amendment to be void by:

• notifying any members of the scheme in writing that the trustees consider the amendment to be void and that the scheme will be administered on the basis that the amendment has no effect
• notifying any members of the scheme in writing of any other step taken in relation to the scheme which has, or will have, the effect of altering payments to or in respect of members of the scheme

Are there any exemptions?

Schemes are excluded from the scope of the remedy if any question relating to the validity of an amendment:

• has, before 29 April 2026, been determined by the court in qualifying legal proceedings
• was in issue on or before 5 June 2025 in qualifying legal proceedings but has been settled by agreement between the parties at any time before 29 April 2026
• was in issue on or before 5 June 2025 in qualifying legal proceedings and remains in issue in those proceedings

“Legal proceedings” means proceedings for the determination of a dispute brought before a UK court. They are “qualifying legal proceedings” if they will determine a dispute as to the rules of the scheme and the parties include the trustees and one or more members or other beneficiaries of the scheme.

Is there any guidance?

The Financial Reporting Council issued guidance on 23 January 2026 to assist pension scheme actuaries asked to provide retrospective confirmation to validate historic changes to pension scheme rules. On 26 March 2026, The Pensions Regulator published guidance for trustees on the use of the remedy.

Key takeaways

Now that the Virgin Media remedy is in force, scheme actuaries can give retrospective written actuarial confirmation to schemes if they consider the requirements are met. For schemes with an identified issue, this will be welcome news. Trustees should review amendments dated between 6 April 1997 and 5 April 2016 and take legal advice on whether the statutory requirements were met or if the amendments need to be corrected using the remedy.

Some schemes may have paused de-risking transactions while waiting for the legislation and may now be ready to proceed now the uncertainty has been cleared.