Aviva has struck a deal with the trustees of the Thomas Cook pension plan, for a £900 bulk annuity buy-in which will cover 12,500 pension scheme members of the UK travel agent which went bust in 2019.
According to a press release the UK insurer said that as a result of the deal the majority of members were now insured to a better level than if the benefits were instead disbursed by the UK’s Pension Protection Fund (PPF) which is the provider of last resort when pension plan sponsors hit financial difficulties.
Jamie Cole, Head of Bulk Purchase Origination at Aviva said that plan’s trustees were looking to transition to a full buy-out so that all benefits are insured.
The scheme Trustees were advised by Barnett Waddingham, which is the scheme’s actuarial investment and risk transfer adviser. Gowling WLG provided legal advice to Thomas Cook. DLA Piper did the same for Aviva.
The trustees also held regular dialogue with the PPF which said in the release that the last few years had “been difficult” for the pension scheme’s members.
