Benefit statement Q & A
classic, classic plus and premium questions
Is your reckonable service right?
This must be correct in order to pay your correct pension. The main areas where reckonable service can vary are:
- service in another pension scheme
- transfers from personal pensions and from most employers’ schemes will probably give a lower period of classic service credit;
- transfers from some public sector schemes can provide classic service credits the same as (or sometimes higher than) the service in the other scheme.
- part-time service If you currently work part-time, or have done so in the past, your reckonable service will be reduced proportionately to take account of your period of part-time work. The projected service shown will reflect your current working pattern.
- more than one period of employment in the Civil Service
- Not all periods of employment count towards your pension. If you left with less than 2 years’ qualifying service (5 years before 1988) your previous service is unlikely to count. If you left before 1972, it is very likely that your service at that time will not count regardless of length.
- If you have already received a pension lump sum for a previous period of employment in the Civil Service then you may still be able to aggregate your current service with the service on which this pension lump sum was based. If you are able to aggregate then the lump sum you receive when you next retire will be reduced to take account of the lump sum you have already received.
- aggregation of previous service
- if you are in premium and chose to aggregate some earlier classic service, your classic service is reduced to take account of the better benefit structure under premium. (The decision to aggregate must be made within the first 12 months of beginning your current service).
- if you were in service on 1 October 2002 and chose to join premium, your classic reckonable service before that date was reduced by multiplying it by the relevant factor (in most cases 0.92).
- unpaid absences
- Unpaid special leave, unpaid additional maternity leave and unpaid additional adoption leave will not count towards your reckonable service.
- Gratuities - payments made in place of pension benefits.
- Marriage gratuities were paid to certain women civil servants who resigned on marriage before 1972, and women in service in 1972 who married before 1982.
- Short service payments were made to people who left before 1988 with more than 2, but less than 5 years qualifying service. If you were paid a gratuity, the period covered does not count towards your pension.
- Does the reckonable service shown on the Benefit Statement include a period for which you have received a gratuity? If so, it may give you a misleading impression of the benefits you will receive on retirement. Please contact your pensions administrator as soon as possible to that they can correct the details now.
- added years bought
- if you have had one or more non-reckonable absences (e.g. unpaid leave) at any time since your added years contract began, you may not have paid added years contributions for those absences. The added years you contracted to buy may therefore be reduced proportionately
- if you have changed your conditioned hours since your added years contract began (e.g. from full-time to part-time), your percentage contribution rate should have changed at the same time to reflect this. If this has not happened, please contact your pensions administrator as soon as possible.
If your reckonable service may have been affected by any of the above, does the service shown in your statement reflect this? If you have any queries, please contact your pensions administrator.
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) - the statement does not include details of Civil Service AVCs. The scheme providers issue benefit statements for AVCs separately.
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