Annual Benefit Statement 2016

A guide to your Annual Benefit Statement 2016 alpha and nuvos members

Contents About this guide What is your Annual Benefit Statement? Updating your details Your benefits at a glance Your personal details Your death benefit nominees Your scheme membership Your pension and tax Your alpha benefits How your alpha benefits have changed Your nuvos benefits How your nuvos benefits have changed Glossary Further information 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 14 16 18 20 23 Page 2

About this guide Welcome to your 2016 Annual Benefit Statement guide. This guide is for members of alpha with banked benefits in nuvos. Annual Benefit Statements have changed. Your new and improved 2016 Annual Benefit Statement now includes information about benefits built up in alpha. What s more, we ve also improved the design and layout of the statement, based on feedback provided by scheme members, employers and trade unions. It now includes a colour coded, detailed notes section to help you better understand the information contained in your statement. The way you can update your scheme and personal information has also been improved. This year you can either email your updates to us by using the dedicated email address or send your updates by post. This makes it easier for us to keep your pension record up to date. For more information see page 5. You will find the new-look statement easy to follow, but if you want some help finding your way around it, this guide is here to help you. It contains a helpful glossary (at the end of the guide) explaining key pension terms. Look out for the signposts to Quick Start and What to expect guides too, which provide fast facts and information on how long you can expect things to take, who does what and when. This guide supplements the information in your 2016 Annual Benefit Statement and we hope it helps you to get the most out of it. However, if you have any queries that aren t covered here, please remember that further resources including a set of frequently asked questions and answers and information on how your statement is produced are available on the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/abs2016 Pensions can be complicated, so to help you, we ve only included general pension information in this guide. If you require more detailed, specific information, always read the relevant scheme guide on the Civil Service Pensions website. Page 3

What is your Annual Benefit Statement? Your Annual Benefit Statement is an important document; it shows the benefits you ve built up in the Civil Service Pensions arrangements up to 31 March every year. Benefits built up after this date will appear in your next statement. It does not include an update of your CSAVC benefits if you pay these additional contributions. Your AVC provider will provide a separate statement to show these. Your statement also provides you with an opportunity to check the pension information that the scheme holds about you. Important: Your benefit statement is not a quotation. Quotations can only be produced when you retire or leave the scheme. Your statement shows any benefits that may be payable on your death while you are an active member of the scheme, your current death benefit nomination (if you have made one), your personal details (such as your current address) and important information about tax rules that could affect your benefits. Your statement is an illustration of your pension benefits at the date of the statement, based on the information provided by your employer. Important: All of the figures shown on your Annual Benefit Statement are subject to rounding. Page 4

Updating your details The Civil Service Pensions arrangements are managed by the Scheme Manager, Cabinet Office, and administered by MyCSP. It is your employer s responsibility to maintain accurate and complete payroll and service records and routinely supply them to the scheme administrator who uses this information to produce your statement. In common with other pension schemes, some employers hold thousands of records and it is possible that some of this information isn t always completely up to date or doesn t correctly reflect scheme members employment history. If you think some of the information contained in your Annual Benefit Statement might be wrong you should let your employer or MyCSP know, depending on the nature of the query. Your Annual Benefit Statement gives you an opportunity to check your pension information. Last year, members were asked to complete and return a reply form attached to their Annual Benefit Statement in order to query any information. This year, we ve made the process easier for you by providing the option to either email or send your updates by post, as below. @ If your query is about pension scheme information (eg your employment history, reckonable service, the date you joined, transfer in history, extra benefits), email it attaching copies of any supporting documentation to: ABS2016@mycsp.co.uk or send it by post to: MyCSP Ltd, PO Box 2017, Liverpool, L69 2BU. Please remember to include your name, date of birth and pension reference (shown at the top of your statement) so we can easily trace your records. If your query is about your personal details (eg your marital status, date of birth, National Insurance number, or address) please contact your employer in the usual way. If something needs changing, they will update your HR records which, in turn, are used to update your pension record. Important: You will be given the opportunity to check your details again before any benefits are put into payment. Page 5

Your benefits at a glance Pension benefits can only be paid in line with the rules of the scheme. Your statement doesn t override them. You can read the rules of the scheme on the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/scheme-rules Your annual alpha pension This will include any transferred in service, any Added Pension you ve bought and any pension you have built up through an EPA. The figure will show the amount after any Pension Debits have been deducted, if applicable, where these have been implemented. Please note: If a Pension Sharing Order or Scheme Pays Debit is currently being processed, this will not be taken into account until your next statement. alpha is a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme. Your benefits are payable unreduced from your alpha Normal Pension Age or possibly earlier if you have made additional contributions to earn EPA benefits. To find out what happens to your pension if you are getting divorced, read the following guide: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/what-to-expect/ if-you-are-getting-divorced Your annual nuvos pension nuvos is a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme. This also includes any transferred in benefits, and any Added Pension you ve bought. It does not include any separate, preserved benefits you may have in the scheme from an earlier period of employment. Your nuvos benefits are payable unreduced from your nuvos Normal Pension Age, usually age 65. How your pension is worked out nuvos - in nuvos you build up pension of 2.3% of your pensionable earnings each year that you were an active member. Each year the benefits you have earned are adjusted in line with the change in prices. alpha - in alpha you build up pension of 2.32% of your pensionable earnings each year that you are an active member. Each year the benefits you have earned are adjusted in line with the change in prices set by Treasury Orders. The nuvos scheme guide (on the Civil Service Pensions website) contains information on how nuvos survivor benefits are worked out. www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/nuvos Page 6

Your death in service lump sum This is the amount that may be payable to your nominees or personal representatives if you die in service. This is worked out as 2 x your final pay on the date of your death. Your total survivor s pension Your nuvos and alpha survivor s pensions can be paid to your spouse, civil partner, or a declared partner if you have completed the necessary Partner declaration form. You can find it here: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/member-forms Page 7

Your personal details This section provides a summary of your personal details, your name, date of birth and National Insurance number. The information the scheme holds about you has been provided by your employer. If you think anything is wrong with these details, please tell your employer in the usual way so they can amend your HR and pension record. We cannot update your personal details on your pension record as any updates must be supplied by your employer. For guidance on how to update your personal information, see the Updating your details page in this guide. Page 8

Your death benefit nominees This section of your statement shows your current nominations. If this section is blank it means we don t have any death benefit nominees held on your record. If we don t hold any nominees for you, your lump sum will be paid to your personal representative. Any nominations you ve made in the past will also apply to your alpha benefits. If you ve made a nomination while in alpha, it will also apply to both the alpha and nuvos parts of your pension. You can nominate more than one beneficiary and choose how to divide your lump sum between them. To make a new death benefit nomination or to change your current nomination, complete a new Death benefit nomination form and return it to the scheme administrator (MyCSP). You can find the form on the Member forms page of the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/member-forms If you are unmarried, or not in a civil partnership, and wish to nominate your partner to be considered for a survivor s pension, you need to complete a Partner Declaration form. This is only applicable to alpha, nuvos, premium and classic plus (you built up after 1 October 2002) survivors pension. The relevant form can be found here: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/member-forms For more information about death benefits read the Quick Start guide: Peace of Mind, available on the Quick Start page of the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/quick-start/peace-of-mind Page 9

Your scheme membership This section shows the date you joined nuvos and began building up benefits. It also shows the date you moved from nuvos into alpha. At the date you moved to alpha, your nuvos benefits were banked and you stopped building up further pension in nuvos. If you think the details of your scheme membership are wrong, please contact the scheme administrator. Please note: If you are contributing towards Added Pension in nuvos when you moved to alpha, you will continue to build up pension in nuvos as long as these contributions continue to be paid. If you start to make Added Pension contributions after moving to alpha you will buy Added Pension in alpha only. nuvos alpha For more information about Added Pension read the following Quick Start guide, available on the Quick Start page of the Civil Service Pensions website. www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95431/qsg-addedpens-jan16.pdf Page 10

Your pension and tax This section shows the percentage of standard Lifetime Allowance used by your benefits. This statement only shows the percentage of the Lifetime Allowance used up by your Civil Service pension. For more information about the Lifetime Allowance, visit the HM Revenue & Customs website which contains information about the tax rules that apply to pensions in the UK. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs For more information about your Civil Service pension and tax visit: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/pensions-and-tax Please note: If the Lifetime Allowance percentage shown on your statement is 100% or more, then you should contact HM Revenue & Customs for further guidance. Page 11

Your alpha benefits The date you joined alpha This shows the date you joined alpha, you should check that this matches your records. Years you have contributed to alpha This is used when calculating your survivor s pension. It represents the number of scheme years that you have contributed to alpha, irrespective of whether you were working full-time or part-time. Your pensionable earnings Not all of your pay counts towards your Civil Service pension. Pensionable earnings are usually your basic pay and some types of allowances and bonuses. To find out more about which parts of your pay are pensionable, contact your employer in the usual way. Your Normal Pension Age benefits in alpha The amount of alpha Normal Pension Age benefits shown, is made up of the pension you ve built up to the date of the statement, plus any pension you ve transferred in from another pension scheme and any Added Pension that you may have bought in alpha. This pension can be claimed in full from your Normal Pension Age. The Normal Pension Age in alpha is either your State Pension age or age 65, whichever is later. Your pension will be reduced for early payment if you claim it before your Normal Pension Age. The figure shown here does not take into account any of these reductions. Please note: If a Pension Sharing Order or Scheme Pays Debit is currently being processed, this will not be taken into account until your next statement. This does not include any pension you have built up by buying an EPA. Your EPA benefits earned to date If you have benefits showing here, you have chosen to make contributions towards EPA. Each EPA you build up can be claimed in full before your Normal Pension Age. This section also shows the date you can claim your EPA in full. There s a useful factsheet about EPA. Visit the Civil Service Pensions website if you want to find out more: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95181/epafs_v2_310315.pdf Your death benefits This shows your death in service lump sum and your alpha survivor s annual pension. Your death in service lump sum can be paid to anyone. Your survivor s pension can only be paid to your spouse, civil partner or declared partner. You must complete a Partner declaration form if applicable. There may also be a pension payable to any eligible children. Page 12

To find out more about alpha death benefits, read the relevant section in this guide or the main alpha scheme guide available to view or download from the Civil Service Pensions website. www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95092/alpha_schemeguides6_colour.pdf For more information about death benefits read the Quick Start guide: Peace of Mind, available on the Quick Start page of the Civil Service Pensions website: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/quick-start/peace-of-mind All of the figures shown on your Annual Benefit Statement are subject to rounding. Page 13

How your alpha benefits have changed This shows a breakdown of all the alpha pension benefits you ve built up to the date of your statement. Not all of the benefit types shown in the example (on the opposite page) will be shown in your statement, only those that apply to you. Benefit type Each separate benefit that makes up your full alpha pension are listed in this column. These are: Main alpha pension - the standard alpha pension, where you build up pension of 2.32% of your pensionable earnings each year that you are an active member, payable in full from Normal Pension Age. EPA - the benefits you ve built up making EPA contributions. The benefit type will show how many years earlier than Normal Pension Age you chose to be able to claim them in full. Added Pension - a separate pension you ve built up by making either additional regular monthly contributions or one-off lump sum payments. This Added Pension also provides a survivor s pension in the event of your death. Added Pension (self only) - a separate pension you ve built up by making either additional regular monthly contributions or one-off lump sum payments. This does not provide a survivor s pension in the event of your death. Transfers in - benefits you have chosen to transfer in from another pension scheme. To find out what to expect when you transfer benefits into the Civil Service Pensions arrangements, read the following guide: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/ members/what-to-expect/when-you-want-to-transfer-benefits-into-the-civil-servicepension-arrangements Opening balance This is the opening balance of each benefit type at the start of the scheme year. Added this year This shows the benefits you have added during the scheme year. Annual adjustment This shows the annual adjustment that depends on the change in prices. Closing balance This is the total closing balance as at the date of the statement and is the sum total of all elements shown. Total This shows both the total opening balance and closing balance of all your benefit types. Page 14

All of the figures shown on your Annual Benefit Statement are subject to rounding. Where any of the figures are under 1, your statement will show a 0 entry in its place. Page 15

Added pension Your nuvos benefits The date you joined nuvos This shows the date you joined nuvos. Your last day in nuvos This is your last day in nuvos before you moved into the alpha scheme. You should check that these dates match your records. Your nuvos Normal Pension Age For the majority of nuvos members this will be age 65, unless you have a personal pension age. Your annual nuvos pension This is the amount of pension that can be claimed in full, from your Normal Pension Age. Your pension will be reduced for early payment if you claim it before your Normal Pension Age. The figure shown here does not take into account any of these reductions. The nuvos Normal Pension Age benefits shown, are made up of the pension you ve built up, plus any pension you ve transferred in from another pension scheme and any Added Pension that you may have bought. Please note: If a Pension Sharing Order or Scheme Pays Debit is currently being processed, this will not be taken into account until your next statement. Your death benefits Your survivor s annual pension can be paid to your spouse, civil partner, or declared partner (if you have completed the necessary Partner declaration form) in the event of your death. There may also be a pension payable to any eligible children. The nuvos scheme guide (on the Civil Service Pensions website) contains information on how nuvos survivor benefits are worked out. www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/nuvos Page 16

To find out how long you can expect things to take when you claim your Civil Service pension, read the following guide: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/ what-to-expect/when-you-claim-your-civil-service-pension All of the figures shown on your Annual Benefit Statement are subject to rounding. Page 17

Added pension How your nuvos benefits have changed This shows a breakdown of all the nuvos pension benefits you ve built up to the date of your statement. Not all of the benefit types shown in the example (on the opposite page) will be shown in your statement, only those that apply to you. Benefit type Each separate benefit that makes up your full nuvos pension are listed in this column. These are: Main nuvos pension - the standard nuvos pension, where you built up pension of 2.3% of your pensionable earnings each year that you were an active member, payable in full from Normal Pension Age. Added Pension - a separate pension you ve built up by making either additional regular monthly contributions or one-off lump sum payments. This Added Pension also provides a survivor s pension in the event of your death. Added Pension (self only) -a separate pension you ve built up by making either additional regular monthly contributions or one-off lump sum payments. This does not provide a survivor s pension in the event of your death. Transfers in - benefits you have chosen to transfer in from another pension scheme. Opening balance This is the opening balance of each benefit type at the start of the scheme year. Added this year This shows the benefits you have added in the scheme year. Annual adjustment This shows the annual adjustment that depends on the change in prices. Closing balance This is the total closing balance as at the date of the statement and is the sum total of all elements shown. Total This shows both the total opening balance and closing balance of all your benefit types. Page 18

All of the figures shown on your Annual Benefit Statement are subject to rounding. Where any of the figures are under 1, your statement will show a 0 entry in its place. For more information about Added Pension read the following Quick Start guide, available on the Quick Start page of the Civil Service Pensions website. www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95431/qsg-addedpens-jan16.pdf Page 19

Glossary Abatement If you have a Civil Service pension, or have taken an Annual Compensation Payment (ACP) and subsequently take a job with an organisation that is covered by the CSP arrangements, you may not earn more, by way of re-employed salary and pension, than you were earning before you retired. Where your new salary and pension exceed your previous salary, we deduct the excess from your pension. This is known as abatement. Abatement only applies to classic, classic plus, premium, and nuvos. Added Pension Added Pension is an amount of extra annual pension that you can buy; it will be paid with your pension after you retire. Added Years It was possible, up to 29 February 2008, to buy Added Years of service. If you have an existing Added Years contract, you will continue to add to your reckonable service as long as your Added Years contributions under your contract continue to be paid. Additional lump sum When you take your pension benefits, within the limits set by HM Revenue & Customs, you may be able to choose to exchange some of your pension for a lump sum. Taking this will reduce your pension amount. Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) You can make additional contributions to the CSAVC scheme to enhance your benefits. The CSAVC scheme is a separate scheme, provided by Scottish Widows and Standard Life. Annual Allowance The Annual Allowance is the amount the value of your pension savings can go up in any year before you may have to pay a tax charge. The level of allowance is set by HM Revenue & Customs. Annual adjustment An adjustment to your benefits, based on the change in prices set by HM Treasury. If you are an active member of alpha, this can decrease as well as increase your benefits. Banked benefits Any nuvos pension built up when a member moved to alpha. Banked service Any service built up in classic, classic plus or premium when a member moved into alpha. Page 20

Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) A pension that provides a guaranteed pension income based on your earnings each year with annual inflation adjustments. Death benefit nominees A person, people or an organisation that you have nominated to receive the lump sum payment when you die. Declared partner Members of classic plus, premium, nuvos or alpha can nominate a partner to receive a partner pension in the event of their death by completing a Partner declaration form. Conditions apply to the payment of benefits. Please refer to the relevant scheme guide for more information. EPA EPA allows you to contribute more to alpha to get earlier access to part of your alpha pension. Final pay This is used to work out the lump sum payable if you die in service, if you are a member of alpha when you die. Final pensionable earnings Your pensionable earnings are used to calculate your benefits when you retire. The calculation is different for each scheme, so please refer to the relevant scheme guide for more information. Final salary link We will use your final pensionable earnings at, or close to, the date you leave alpha, not the date you move into alpha. The link to your final salary is being retained for your PCSPS benefits. Please refer to the relevant scheme guide for more information. Lifetime Allowance The maximum amount of pension savings you can build up over your life without incurring an additional tax charge. Minimum pension age Minimum pension age is the earliest you can claim your benefits. If you joined the PCSPS before 06 April 2006, your minimum pension age in that scheme is likely to be 50. All other members can take their benefits from age 55. The minimum pension age in alpha is currently age 55. Normal Pension Age (NPA) The earliest age that you can take your full unreduced pension benefits. Partial retirement Partial retirement is for members who want to start accessing their pension and move gradually from work to retirement. You have to agree this with your employer and reduce your earnings by at least 20% by reducing your working hours or grade. Abatement may apply to members of classic, classic plus, premium, and nuvos. Page 21

PCSPS The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. This is the collective name for classic, classic plus, premium and nuvos. Pensionable earnings All the earnings that could count towards your pension which you receive during the scheme year. These are used to calculate the benefits shown on your statement for alpha. Preserved benefits If you leave the scheme with more than two years service, under Normal Pension Age and do not transfer your pension to another scheme, the pension benefits that you have built up will be held (preserved) until you claim them. Qualifying service The time you have been a member of the scheme that qualifies you for certain benefits. Reckonable service This is the amount of service, including transferred in service and any Added Years that you may have bought, that counts towards your benefits. Working part-time will reduce your pension by reducing your reckonable service. Transfer in The value of your pension benefits, from another pension arrangement, that you moved into the Civil Service Pensions arrangements. Page 22

Further information We value your feedback We re always looking for ways to improve the information we provide and to make sure we ve got it right, we want to hear your feedback. To help us, please take a minute to tell us what you think about this guide, by going to the following address and completing the short survey: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/2016absguide Further information about Annual Benefit Statements The Annual Benefit Statement page on the Civil Service Pensions website contains more information about Annual Benefit Statements including how statements are produced and issued, a set of frequently asked questions and answers and a distribution schedule. To find out more, click here: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/abs2016 Check the web for more general pension information Remember, if you re looking for information about your Civil Service pension, you should first check the Civil Service Pensions website. We ve created scheme guides, What to expect guides, Quick Start guides and FAQs that cover key pension events and help you to better understand your pension benefits. Features We also have a brand new section of the website, called Members like me. Inspired by members we met at events all over the country, Members like me is available on the Civil Service Pensions website now to help you find the information you need, when you need it. Visit Members like me now, at: www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/members-like-me Page 23

Scan here for more help with your Annual Benefit Statement! www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/abs2016 2016 Produced by MyCSP. ABS2016_NA250516