Increased number of insolvencies during recession led to an increase in claims on the nation's pension insurance fund, inflating the deficit to double in the year to March 31.

As per the UK Pension Protection Fund's annual report, 12,723 people were receiving compensation from the fund as compared with 3,596 people a year ago.

PPF's deficit jumped from £517 million to £1.2 billion over the one-year period.

As many as 63 pension schemes were accepted into the PPF over the same period, the highest number 2004, when the scheme was started.

Speaking on the importance of pension insurance schemes, Lawrence Churchill, chairman of PPF, said, "None of us would want to go back to an era where people lost their pension as well as their jobs."

The PPF obtains money from a tax on the existing pension funds.