A High Court ruling on gender equalisation of pension payouts could have an estimated £15bn effect on major pension schemes. In the case, closely watched by the industry and government, three female members of Lloyds Banking Group's pension scheme challenged the bank. It surrounded the use of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions in the 1990s. Consultants LCP recently estimated that the wider impact of the case could cost major companies £15bn. However, there will now be widespread discussion on how this decision should be interpreted. This will mean people in retirement are likely to have a further wait for any extra pension payouts, and those payments could be relatively small. For a handful of people, this could mean an extra £1,000 a year, according to LCP.

The High Court ruled in favour of the three women in the Lloyds case - ordering it to change its pension schemes, at a cost of up to £150m. A Lloyds spokeswoman said: "The hearing focused on what is a complex and longstanding industry-wide issue. The group welcomes the decision made by the court and the clarity it provides. The group and the pension scheme trustee will be working through the details in order to implement the court's decision On a wider level, the judgement means men and women should have the same benefits from historic pensions, potentially affecting millions of people. The case has implications for members of so-called defined benefit pension schemes, such as final-salary pensions, who were working between 1990 and 1997 in the private and public sector. The dispute is around the Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) which schemes promised to pay when members were "contracted out" of the top-up state earnings-related pension scheme, which means they paid lower national insurance contributions in return for a higher private pension.

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