The NA Motors pension scheme is one of the first to successfully transfer to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).

The transfer, completed by Dalriada Trustees, will see the FAS make payments to top up scheme benefits for eligible members.

The sponsoring organisation of the NA Motors pension scheme, a Ford car dealership, began winding up in 1998 when it lost its franchise.

Dalriada was appointed trustee of the scheme in 2009 in order to manage the transition to FAS.

It has now secured members’ benefits that, prior to the creation of FAS, could otherwise have been substantially reduced or lost altogether.

Connie Johnstone, director of Dalriada, said: “Unfortunately the reality today is many schemes winding up are often seriously underfunded.

“Many do not have a solvent sponsoring employer which makes FAS invaluable to members and their families.
“Dalriada currently has a significant number of schemes at different stages in the FAS process, all with their different issues, which has enabled us to build up detailed expertise in this area.

“We are proud of this ‘first’ especially as we were trustee of one of the first three schemes to transfer to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in December 2006.

“In what has been a busy past year, we have also transferred four more schemes to the PPF with another three due to transfer before the end of March.”

Read more articles about FAS pension transfers