Pensions: Injury to Feelings Claims – Update England and Wales
As you all know Thompsons are acting for approximately 9,000 FBU members in the Employment Tribunal who claim that the transitional arrangements introduced to implement the 2015 pension reforms in the Fire Service were discriminatory on the basis of age and caused them to be subjected to an injury to their feelings entitling them to compensation.
The transfer of these cases from Walkers Solicitors to Thompsons Solicitors concluded some time ago, and Walkers Solicitors have now come off record at the employment tribunal for any member who did not provide express consent for their case to be transferred.
We are pleased to confirm that to date and further to our last update in November (2025HOC0403MR) over 5000 of the first wave claims which were lodged in 2015 have now settled for injury to feelings, and very few claims are left to resolve as part of that cohort. In respect of the later waves of claims, Thompsons will have been in touch with you to explain where matters stand in regard to the negotiations between the parties.
If for any reason you have previously consented to the transfer of your claim but have not heard from Thompsons Solicitors further to this, please contact them with instructions via [email protected].
If you are not a claimant and therefore have not been contacted by Thompsons or Walkers Solicitors, or you have received correspondence from Thompsons Solicitors previously, and understand the present position in regard to your claim then please do not email Thompsons Solicitors. Thompsons will not respond to queries from non claimants, or claimants whose claims have not already transferred as the deadline to consent to the transfer of your case has elapsed.
Membership requirements for legal assistance
It is important for anyone with a claim to understand that under the rules of the union, in order to be eligible for legal assistance, and representation by Thompsons Solicitors in this litigation, claimants are required to be in FBU membership. This can be ordinary membership or Retired and Out of Trade (ROOT) Membership. Throughout the process, the FBU have been undertaking membership checks of claimants as they provided instructions to Thompsons. As negotiations in relation to all outstanding cases and the processes associated with those negotiations are at an advanced stage, it is important we set final parameters around the requirement to be in membership in order to receive legal assistance in this claim.
Please note that without exception the FBU therefore require all claimants currently represented by Thompsons to be in active FBU membership by 31st October.
If you are a claimant and you are in active FBU membership, you do not need to do anything further. However, if you are not in active membership you need to take steps immediately to re join so that your application can be processed in order for you to be in membership by 31st October.
If you do not take this step quickly you risk not having your application processed in time.
Please note we will not make any exceptions to this requirement as it is tied into steps we need to take as part of the litigation process.
Process of re-joining
If you are currently working for the Fire & Rescue Service, you can join via the below link: https://fbu.imiscloud.com/joinnow
If you are a retired former member, or an Out of Trade former member, then you can join via the below link: https://www.fbu.org.uk/forms/apply-retired-and-out-trade-root-membership
To be eligible for ROOT membership you must have been a fully paid-up member of the FBU at the cessation of your employment in the Fire & Rescue Service. If you left the service more than 2 6 months ago your application will be sent to the relevant Brigade Committee for approval. This process can take up to 28 days.
Thompsons will be instructed by the FBU to come off record for all claimants who are not in membership by 31st October 2026, which will include members who the outcome of their membership application is pending.
Thompsons will contact any claimant who is not in membership by 31st October 2026 to confirm that they will be coming off record, and to provide them with the relevant documents in respect of their case to allow them to continue with their claim as a litigant in person if they wish.
