Mr. J. Parsad v United Insurance Brokers Limited — 2022

The Claimant began employment with the Respondent in June 2001 and went on long-term sickness absence in December 2004. His contract and benefits documents defined normal retirement date as his 60th birthday and provided that long-term disability benefit would cease on that date. The tribunal found that the Canada Life income protection claim accepted on 31 August 2005 was under the 2005 policy, which covered him only to age 60, and that the later extension of the scheme to age 65 in 2006 did not retrospectively alter his own cover because he was not "Actively at Work".

On the unlawful deduction of wages complaint, the tribunal found that the last payment of wages properly payable for limitation purposes was the payment made on 25 September 2020. It held that the later October and November 2020 payments were not wages properly payable because the Claimant's entitlement under the policy had already ended on 19 September 2020. The three-month time limit therefore expired on 24 December 2020. The tribunal rejected the Claimant's reliance on reasonable practicability, noting that he had read and understood the Respondent's 15 December 2020 letter, contacted ACAS, and took legal advice while still in time, but did not present his ET1 until 23 March 2021.

On the Equality Act complaints, the tribunal held that both the direct and indirect age discrimination claims were brought several years out of time. It treated the acceptance of the claim on 31 August 2005 as a discrete act with continuing consequences, and found that the Claimant knew or ought to have known the material facts from the contractual documents and, in any event, from the May 2016 correspondence telling him that his cover ran only to age 60. It refused to extend time on a just and equitable basis, citing the length of delay, the absence of any physical or mental impediment to bringing a claim, and the forensic prejudice caused by having to investigate a 2005 decision. The breach of contract claims were withdrawn on 4 January 2022 and were not dismissed by this judgment.