Pension Reform NHS/Royal Navy

Cyffiwr

Hi - my husband is entitled to claim a small Royal Navy and a small NHS pension in November.
Can anyone tell us if he waits to claim them until next April whether he would benefit from the new pension reforms or are they not covered?
Any information greatly received (but please, in plain english!)
Thank you

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332714/pensions_response_online.pdf

See page 25 re public sector defined benefit schemes.

atush

They will be worth more, over the many years left if he is of normal health and has a spouse, than anything he could get in cash/pension even if the new rules would allow.

but unfunded public sector schemes will not be allowed to transfer. Funded DB pensions might.

hyubh

Cyffiwr wrote: »

Hi - my husband is entitled to claim a small Royal Navy and a small NHS pension in November.
Can anyone tell us if he waits to claim them until next April whether he would benefit from the new pension reforms or are they not covered?

No, transfers out into DC schemes are to be banned from unfunded public sector pension schemes like those two. However, transferring out in order to take as much cash as possible probably wouldn't be sensible in your husband's case anyway.

hyubh

atush wrote: »

but unfunded public sector schemes will not be allowed to transfer. Funded DB pensions might.

Yes - see paras. 4.35-4.36 of the document xylophone linked to (in short: the government has seen sense and will not ban transfers out from the LGPS).

xylophone

From the Pensions Policy Institute (March 2005)



Occupational Pension Provision in the Public Sector



There are six main unfunded public sector pension schemes, the funded Local Government scheme and other quasi-public schemes.


Differences in the structure of public and private sector schemes

Public sector schemes are defined as pension schemes run and paid for by the government for the benefit of government employees. There are currently seven main schemes with total active membership of around 5 million people, of different structures (Table 1):

· Those centrally run and paid for directly by government departments.

· The locally run or ‘branded’ schemes where the regulations are set
centrally but each scheme is separate and run by a local authority.


Table 1: The seven main public sector schemes




Unfunded
NHS, Teachers, Armed Forces,
Civil Service,
Police, Fire-fighters




Funded
Local Government


Cyffiwr

Thanks so much - as you can probably tell we hadn't given them much thought but now we know he can just go ahead and apply for them as originally planned :T

atush

You both can of course open DC pensions paying into them. And then use the new rules