Are there claims that a settlement agreement cannot settle?
Some claims cannot be settled by a settlement agreement. I explain the exceptions, including future personal injury, accrued pension rights and certain collective claims, and the rights you keep no matter what you sign.
Yes. Some claims cannot be validly waived in a settlement agreement, even one that meets all the statutory conditions. The main examples are claims for future personal injury (an injury that has not yet arisen when you sign), accrued pension rights, and certain collective claims (such as failure to inform and consult on collective redundancies or under TUPE), which can only be settled through Acas.
Some rights cannot be signed away at all, such as statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay, and your right to make a data subject access request. You also cannot be prevented from making a protected disclosure (whistleblowing) — any clause purporting to do so is void.
There is an important distinction with personal injury. You can waive claims for injuries you already know about, and — if the wording is absolutely clear — even injuries you are unaware of at the time of signing. What cannot be waived are claims for injuries that have not yet happened. Because a stress-related or industrial condition can come to light after you sign, I will often insist that unknown personal injury claims are expressly carved out of the waiver.
If any of these excluded claims could be relevant to you — an untreated injury, a pension dispute, or a data protection concern, for example — flag it to me early. Knowing which rights survive the agreement can occasionally be as valuable as the payment itself, and it may influence how you approach the negotiation.