Using PODE.expert: a guide for solicitors

General information, not advice on your own case.

The key points

Pensions are the asset most often undervalued in a financial settlement, and a transfer value taken at face value can produce an outcome that does not survive scrutiny.
The free triage tool flags the cases where a report is worthwhile and, just as usefully, the cases where it is not, so you are not commissioning reports you cannot justify on costs.
The directory is filterable by scheme, region, fee and timescale, and by whether the expert takes single joint expert instructions and gives court compliant evidence.
The instruction is where reports go wrong. Clear on the goal, the scope, the assumptions and the period, and you get an answer you can settle on.
Treat the fee as a disbursement. On a single joint expert basis there is one fee to share, and it is dwarfed by the value it protects.

Start a case here: run the free “Do I need a PODE?” check, or point the client to it.

You know the risk: pensions are the asset most often undervalued in a financial settlement, and a transfer value taken at face value can produce an outcome that does not survive scrutiny. PODE.expert is built to take that off your desk quickly.

Do I need a PODE? Run the free triage tool at the outset, or point the client to it. It flags the cases where a defined benefit or public-sector pension makes a report worthwhile, and, just as usefully, the cases where it does not, so you are not commissioning reports you cannot justify on costs.

Find a PODE. The directory lists verified experts, filterable by scheme, region, fee and timescale, and by whether they take direct or single-joint-expert instructions and give court-compliant evidence. You approach the right specialist for the case, not the nearest name.

Instruct a PODE. The instruction is where reports go wrong. A well-framed letter of instruction, clear on the goal (income or capital equalisation), the scope, the assumptions and the period, gets you an answer you can settle on. The guide on what a good instruction contains sets out each decision, and the letter-of-instruction builder produces one you can act on.

Treat the fee as a disbursement. A report is generally a case cost, dealt with alongside the others; on a single-joint-expert basis there is one fee to share. The value it protects, often tens of thousands of pounds over a client’s retirement, dwarfs it.

July 2026

For solicitors

The key points

Not sure whether you need an expert?