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European Court of Human Rights
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> David COLLINGBORN v UNITED KINGDOM - 13913/05 [2007] ECHR 728 (31 August 2007)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2007/727.html
Cite as: [2007] ECHR 728
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31 August 2007
FOURTH SECTION
Application no.
13913/05
by David COLLINGBORN
against the United Kingdom
lodged
on 11 April 2005
STATEMENT OF FACTS
THE FACTS
The applicant, Mr David Collingborn, is a British national who was born in 1933 and lives in Gosport.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant was widowed in March 1990. Before her death his wife had been in receipt of a full State pension, plus an additional “graduated pension” (“GP”) of GBP 1.04 per week and “State earnings related pension” (“SERPS”) of GBP 1.32 per week.
The applicant expected to inherit half the GP and all the SERPS when he reached retirement age in January 1998 (then worth approximately GBP 3.00 a week), as a widow in his position or a widowed man who had reached retirement age before his wife’s death would have done.
On 4 May 2001 and again on 16 October 2002 and 15 July 2003 the Pension Service responded to the applicant’s enquiries about inherited SERPS that he did not meet the relevant criteria.
The applicant also applied for bereavement benefits and was refused. His appeal was refused by the Social Security Commissioners on 8 May 2004.
On 18 October 2004 he was refused permission to apply for judicial review of this decision and of the failure to pay him his wife’s SERPS entitlement on the grounds that (1) the Commissioners were bound to refuse the appeal about bereavement benefits and (2) the Social Security Commissioners had not considered the SERPS issue and judicial review was not available to challenge a decision which an inferior tribunal had not in fact made.
B. Relevant domestic law
The maximum percentage of SERPS entitlement which can be passed on to the surviving spouse when the contributor dies depends on whether the surviving spouse is male or female and the dates of birth and death of the contributing spouse. The rules as from 6 October 2002 are set out in the table below:
|
Maximum % SERPS entitlement for surviving husband or wife |
Date when deceased wife/ husband would reach state pension age |
Date of birth of contributor : Husband |
Date of birth of contributor : Wife
|
|
100% |
5.10.2002 or earlier |
5.10.37 or earlier |
5.10.42 or earlier |
|
90% |
6.10.2002 – 5.10.04 |
6.10.1937 – 5.10.39 |
6.10.1942 – 5.10.44 |
|
80% |
6.10.2004 – 5.10.06 |
6.10.1939 – 5.10.41 |
6.10.1944 – 5.10.46 |
|
70% |
6.10.2006 – 5.10.08 |
6.10.1941 – 5.10.43 |
6.10.1946 – 5.10.48 |
|
60% |
6.10.2008 – 5.10.10 |
6.10.1943 – 5.10.45 |
6.10.1948 – 5.07.50 |
|
50% |
6.10.2010 or later |
6.10.1945 or later |
6.07.1950 or later |
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains under Article 14 of the Convention that, because he is a man, he was neither entitled to “inherit” his late wife’s SERPS entitlement nor to receive bereavement benefits, whereas a woman in his position would have received this additional income.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
(a) can the applicant claim to be a victim of any violation, within the meaning of Article 34 of the Convention?
(b) is the situation about which the applicant complains a continuing situation, or is there a final domestic decision or other event which should constitute the starting point for the six months time limit under Article 35 of the Convention?