22 December 2006
	PFA does earn it Naleen Jeram, deputy pensions fund adjudicator

Vuyani Ngalwana In the December 8 edition of the FM, an anonymous letter-writer compares the pension funds adjudicator's office's "productivity" with that of the long-term insurance ombudsman (LTIO) and the UK's financial ombudsman (UKFO). The comparison was that of apples and pears. The author says we have "resolved" 726 merit cases over this past year, and that 844 cases were out of jurisdiction and so do not count. From this, the author concludes that each lawyer in the office handled 51,8 complaints in the past year, translating to less than one complaint a week, compared with the LTIO's 9,6 and the UKFO's 4,4. There are considerable differences between our office and the LTIO. The adjudicator makes judgments that have the effect of a high court or magistrate's court order. That means in preparing a judgment the adjudicator is subject to the same strict requirements to which judges and magistrates are subject. Perhaps more importantly, the adjudicator is the only person, according to the Pension Funds Act, who can issue a judgment. The act precludes the adjudicator from delegating this function. Neither the LTIO nor the UKFO is in that burdensome position. The author assumes that out-of-jurisdiction cases require no effort to close. We use the term "out of jurisdiction" ("OJs") purely for ease of categorisation. There are 17 types of OJs. Almost all of them require a reading of the complaint and responses together with some research in order to ascertain whether they are OJs or not and, if so, under which of the 17 classes they fall. Because we devised a policy on all 17 classes of OJs, closing such files has become quicker. Besides, we do more than just determine complaints. We do public awareness-cum-education programmes, research papers which are published in law journals, and give lectures at universities and practical legal training schools. These are all part of our performance contracts. I am not aware of either the LTIO or UKFO doing similar things. The office in the UK that does the sort of work we do is the office of the UK pensions ombudsman, not the financial ombudsman. The UK pensions ombudsman resolved 383 cases in the 2005/2006 year by determination. We resolved 1 673 by determination. His office resolved a total of 1 226 complaints in that period. We resolved 3 101. His office received 2 790 "inquiries" (not all of them written complaints ). We received 4 901 written complaints and more than 35 000 telephonic inquiries. He has a staff complement of 35 and a budget that is almost double ours. We are 27 including the adjudicator and administrative support.