Forfeiture of unclaimed benefits after six years
Attention: are you planning to retire late?
As with many pension schemes in the UK, the Scheme Rules contain a forfeiture provision. If you do not take your Scheme pension at your Normal Retirement Age, any pension instalments not taken within six years of them becoming due may be forfeited. This is extended to eight years in relation to any Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) that you have. GMP is an element of pension that some members built up between April 1978 and April 1997, as a result of being contracted-out of the State Earnings Related Scheme (SERPS).
If you think you might want to take your benefits after your Normal Retirement Age (NRA), which is age 65 for most members, please be aware that in some cases the Trustee must be notified of this in writing before you reach your NRA. Check with your administrator before you reach NRA to establish whether you are permitted to retire late under the Scheme rules, and if so, what information needs to be provided to the Trustee in advance. If the above process is not followed, then the Trustee may not be able to honour a request to take late retirement under the Scheme.
Equalising pensions – an update on Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMP)
Benefits payable on death
We are continuing to work on our GMP equalisation project, which involves addressing historic gender inequality in GMPs. This is a very large and complex project, and we are pleased to have completed the stage of reviewing our member data. The next step is to analyse the data ahead of calculations being produced. We will be in touch with anyone who is affected by this work, although please remember that any adjustment due to your benefits as a result of GMP equalisation is likely to be relatively small.
In the event of your death, a spouse’s pension is usually only payable to your legal spouse or civil partner from the Scheme. However, it may not be payable to a long-term partner who is not a spouse or civil partner. Therefore, you may want to check the benefits that are payable upon your death. You can do this by contacting your Scheme administrator using the contact details on the back page.
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