A RECORD £15bn was wiped off the value of the UK’s biggest pension schemes on Monday as global stock markets dived, figures showed yesterday.

The fall was the biggest loss recorded in a single day since the accounting standard FRS17 was first introduced in June 2001, according to Aon Consulting.

The group said a further £9bn was knocked off the value of the UK’s biggest 200 defined benefit schemes yesterday morning, leaving them collectively facing a £42bn deficit.

Pension schemes have lost around £40bn in the past week due to stock market movements, wiping out all of the gains made during 2007, and Aon warned that worst could still be to come.

Marcus Hurd, senior consultant and actuary at Aon Consulting, said: “The significant increase in deficits has arisen primarily from world stock market crashes. However, the worst could not be over and we could see further damage to the value of pension schemes when the US market opens.

“The fact that corporate bond yields have also remained relatively stable has also added to the impact.’’

But he added that while the falls were alarming, they were only of immediate concern to companies that were looking to either settle their liabilities in the short term or who had to report on the value of their scheme’s deficit.