Retirements
When a member is due to retire at Normal Pension Age
Please complete a Withdrawal Form as soon as possible. The Pensions Trust will then liaise directly with the member and provide details of the options available.
If you also want to know what these options are, please inform the Final Salary Team when you send the form.
Please note that we cannot pay any benefits without a completed Withdrawal Form.
When a member retires before Normal Pension Age (Early Retirement).
Early retirement can currently be taken at any time from age 50. The earliest age from which a pension may be taken is to be increased by law to age 55 by 2010. If the pension is claimed prior to age 65 it will be reduced to reflect early
payment. The pension will be smaller than it would be at age 65 because:
• the member will have been in the Scheme for a shorter period; and
• early retirement pensions are expected to be paid for longer.
NB: Benefits earned in respect of service prior to 1 April 2002 (including service transferred from another scheme) can be taken unreduced from age 60. This reflects the previous rules enabling flexible retirement between ages 60 and 65. Please note, however, that pre- and post-April 2002 benefits must be brought into payment at the same time, i.e. one cannot be paid without the other.
If the member decides to retire early, please notify the Final Salary Team who will then send the member information about their retirement options.
Complete the Withdrawal Form as soon as possible and send it to The Pensions Trust if the retirement is to go ahead. The Final Salary Team will then liaise
directly with the member.
When a member retires after Normal Pension Age (Late Retirement).
Members can continue contributing to the Scheme after Normal Pension Age (NPA- age 65).
Benefits earned up to NPA will be increased to take account of the later payment and added to the benefits earned after NPA.
Death benefits will continue to be provided on the same basis as they were before NPA and the pension must be paid no later than age 75.
As soon as you know the date the member expects to retire, please notify the Final Salary Team and send a completed Withdrawal Form.
When a member has to retire because of ill-health (Ill-Health Early Retirement).
Inform the Final Salary Team as soon as it seems likely that a member may need to retire early because of ill-health. Guidance on eligibility for early pension benefits is available on request.
The Pensions Trust will send a questionnaire for you to complete and return. We will also ask the member concerned to complete and return a form giving consent for The Pensions Trust to contact their doctor for a medical report.
Provided there is satisfactory medical evidence that your member is, and will continue to be, unable to work again in any capacity (before normal pension age), his or her pension can be paid immediately. If the pension is paid, it will normally be at a higher rate than if the member had voluntarily elected to retire earlier than ‘the normal pension age’.
If you believe a member may need to retire early because of ill health you should contact the Final Salary Team to discuss this.
Once the ill health retirement is approved, the Final Salary Team will need a completed Withdrawal Form. The ill-health pension is generally payable from the day after the ‘date of leaving’ notified on the form.