Kelly & Ors v Fraser (Jamaicas)

[2012] UKPC 25
Privy Council Appeal No 0032 of 2011

JUDGMENT

Jacinth Kelly, Millicent Campbell, Claudia Davis, Courtney Miller, Ernel Lewis (Appellants) v Michael Fraser (Respondent)

From the Court of Appeal of Jamaica

before

Lady Hale
Lord Mance
Lord Wilson
Lord Sumption
Lord Carnwath

JUDGMENT DELIVERED BY

LORD SUMPTION

ON

12 July 2012

Heard on 8-9 May 2012

Appellant
R. N. A. Henriques QC
Daniella Gentles
(Instructed by MA Law (Solicitors) LLP)

Respondent
Tiffany Scott
(Instructed by Myers, Fletcher & Gordon)

LORD SUMPTION

Michael Fraser became President and Chief Executive of the Island Life Insurance Company on 1 February 2000. A month later, on 1 March 2000, he became a member of the Salaried Staff Pension Plan, one of two pension schemes for employees of the company. The other was a separate scheme for non-salaried salesmen known as the Salesman Staff Pension Plan. The Salaried Staff Pension Plan ("the Plan") was operated under the terms of a trust deed dated 11 December 1974 and rules incorporated in the deed, as amended from time to time. Clause 11 of the trust deed vested the management and administration of the Plan in the trustees. Their duty was to exercise discretions vested in them by the deed personally, but they delegated the day to day administration of the Plan to the Employee Benefits Division of the company.

Rule 15 provided:

"The benefits and amounts accrued to a Contributor who has been contributing to any Company pension plan or pension fund other than this Plan and who has been transferred and required to contribute to this Plan, shall be transferred to this Plan in a manner and on the terms and conditions determined by the trustees in their sole discretion and thereafter shall be subject to the terms of this Plan, but if in the judgment of the trustees this is impractical, inadvisable or inexpedient the benefits and amounts accrued to the contributor shall remain in the said other Company pension plan or pension fund."

Mr Fraser had previously been employed by another Jamaican life office, Life of Jamaica Ltd, and had contributed to its pension scheme. At some stage between March and August 2000 he discussed with Mr Clive Masters, the Vice-President responsible for the Employee Benefits Division, the possibility of a transfer of the accrued value of his entitlement under the Life of Jamaica scheme to the Island Life Plan. A letter requesting the transfer was sent to the trustees of the Life of Jamaica scheme on 21 August 2000. For some reason which does not appear from the evidence, the signatories of the letter were two trustees of the Salesman Pension Plan. They signed it as trustees of the "Island Life Pension Plan". On 17 October 2000, the pension administrator of Life of Jamaica Ltd sent a cheque for J$14,722,000 to "the trustees of the Pension Plan for the employees of Island Life Insurance Company Limited", representing Mr Fraser's accrued contributions under his previous employer's pension scheme. The money was credited…

JUDGMENT

12 July 2012

Keep reading for free

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established