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preserved pension

hi,can any one help me please, i was born on the 02,02 1955,i joined the army on the 18,08,1979 boy service and left the forces on 20,11,1978,i have a form at home afps 75 saying i have served 05 yrs 292 days reckonable service and 02 yrs 168 days not reckonable service,why is this with the 02yrs 168 days,i get a preserved pension at 60yrs 1,613ukp and a terminal grant at 60 yrs 4,839ukp, what does this mean,do i get a lump sum,, and when,, how much would it be ,or do i get a certain ammount each month,secound question,i have a giro account here in germany,can they send the money over from good old england to germany with out loseing any money,hope you under stand in what i am saying,hope to here from some one out there, thanks very much,all the best, the old man -steve,ps can any one tell me the address where i must write to so i can claim my pension , thanks,

Comments

  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,850 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    18,08,1979 boy service and left the forces on 20,11,1978

    Dates don't tally?

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/313089/20140501_deferred_pension_advice.pdf

    "What do I do next?
    Veterans UK will not contact you to commence payment of a deferred
    Pension you must contact them. To find out if you are entitled to a deferred
    pension ring or write to the Veterans UK Enquiry Service on 0800 085 3600 or
    94560 3600 or alternatively:
    E-mail: Veterans-uk@mod.uk "

    Try above for assistance?
  • kangoora
    kangoora Posts: 1,193 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 4 October 2014 at 4:01PM
    s.foster wrote: »
    hi,can any one help me please, i was born on the 02,02 1955,i joined the army on the 18,08,1979 boy service and left the forces on 20,11,1978,i have a form at home afps 75 saying i have served 05 yrs 292 days reckonable service and 02 yrs 168 days not reckonable service,why is this with the 02yrs 168 days,i get a preserved pension at 60yrs 1,613ukp and a terminal grant at 60 yrs 4,839ukp, what does this mean,do i get a lump sum,, and when,, how much would it be ,or do i get a certain ammount each month,secound question,i have a giro account here in germany,can they send the money over from good old england to germany with out loseing any money,hope you under stand in what i am saying,hope to here from some one out there, thanks very much,all the best, the old man -steve,ps can any one tell me the address where i must write to so i can claim my pension , thanks,
    This looks wrong, if you were born in 1955 you can't have entered the army in August '79 in boys service. You would have been 24 at that point and ineligible for junior service and would have had to join the regular army. Did you join in '69 at the age of 15? That would make more sense as you have then 2 years and 168 days until your 18th birthday (without working out the exact days).

    Not reckonable service is the years you spent in junior service until the age of 18, the armed forces only recognise pensionable years from that age, even if you were employed by the army as a 'youngster' in training before that date. Hence why you only have 5 years 292 days when you actually joined up over two years before that. I have 1 year and 225 days of non-reckonable service on top of my 9 years stint (which p****s me off).

    You do have a pension due to you at
    age 60 BUT YOU HAVE TO CLAIM IT OR IT DOESN'T GET PAID!!!!

    You will get a pension, paid monthly, of 1/12th of your annual amount - in your case, £134.16/month AND a lump sum at age 60 when you start your pension of 3 x your annual pension, again, the £4,839 referred to above.

    If the document you have is from when you de-mobbed then the pension will almost certainly be a fair bit higher than what you have as you will get increases over time on that amount. If a recent document then it's probably correct.

    My original document from 1989 said a pension of £1402, when I queried recently that had increased to around £4000/year when I hit 60 years old so you may get a nice surprise!

    I would assume it can be paid over in Germany, plenty of ex-squaddies will have retired there especially if married to a German but the Army Pensions team would need to confirm that.

    The address you want is:

    Pensions Division
    Mail Point 480
    Kentigern House
    65 Brown Street
    Glasgow
    G2 8EX


    Remember to put your service number and National Insurance number as references, and obviously your current address!!


    Hope this helps
  • s.foster
    s.foster Posts: 10 Forumite
    hi kangoora,thanks very much for your mail,yes i am sorry i did write a wrong date, i joined the forces when i was 15, boy service,i will get in contact with the pension office telling them that i am married to a german girl and that i am living in germany once again thanks very much for the info,sorry for being late in repyling but i am on the pc with the one finger methold,dont forget i am nearly 60,all the best - the old man steve
  • Hi
    I was told when I left the WRAF to contact appropriate people 6 months before my 60 th birthday. I contacted them 8 months before as I want to take advantage of new legislation taking it as drawdown. They have now said I cant becasue I have passed my 59th birthday. Is there anything I can do as have been misinformed. I spoke to one of their representatives after receiving my statement and they never mentioned any timeframe. I was 59yrs 4months. It seems very wrong that I dont have a choice how I take my pension. Can anyone help
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 35,367 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 19 April 2015 at 2:20PM
    The new legislation does not apply and you can not take it as "drawdown" as it is a defined benefit pension. Maybe they meant you can not transfer it out to another pension after your 59th.

    edit ..... found it
    If you leave the Armed Forces to take up new employment where an occupational pension scheme is available, you can transfer your
    preserved pension benefits from the Scheme into that scheme, provided you do so before the age of 59 or 64, dependent upon when your preserved pension is due. Alternatively, you can transfer your preserved pension rights into a personal pension scheme or an approved insurance scheme. Or you can simply leave your preserved benefits in the Scheme until they become payable at the age of 60 or 65, dependent upon whether the benefit was earned before or after 6 April 2006. Always seek independent financial advice before transferring pension benefits. Further guidance is available from the Tri-Scheme booklet: “Transferring Benefits” — MMP/129.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 120,603 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I contacted them 8 months before as I want to take advantage of new legislation taking it as drawdown.

    What new legislation? Nothing has changed on your scheme and drawdown is not an option available to you.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • hyubh
    hyubh Posts: 3,779 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Bonny123 wrote: »
    I was told when I left the WRAF to contact appropriate people 6 months before my 60 th birthday. I contacted them 8 months before as I want to take advantage of new legislation taking it as drawdown.

    That same legislation has banned transfers out from unfunded public sector schemes like your one to DC arrangements where the new flexibilities actually apply.
    It seems very wrong that I dont have a choice how I take my pension.

    Your choices are those the scheme itself provides.

    (Also, no big deal, but there's no need to post the same question more than once.)
This discussion has been closed.
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