Ombudsman liable for all costs of appeal

Moore’s (Wallisdown) Ltd v Pensions Ombudsman and another and associated case (Ch D TLR 1 March)

Where in a successful appeal against a decision of the Pensions Ombudsman the ombudsman had appeared at the appeal and made representations in support of his determination, the costs recoverable from him were not limited to the amount by which they had been increased by his appearance but could, in principle, extend to the whole of the successful party’s costs in making the appeal. The decision in Elliott v Pensions Ombudsman ([1998] OPLR 21) and University of Nottingham v Eyett (No 2) ([1999 1 WLR 594) that the ombudsman could be ordered to pay the costs of a successful appeal only to the extent that those costs were increased by his participation was wrong and would not be followed.