Michelin tyre company DB pension scheme

madeinireland_2

I am asking this question on behalf of my brother who has a small pension from having worked at Michelin Tyre Company.

Does anyone know if they have a pension booklet on line that describes the rules of the DB scheme. I can find details of their new DC scheme which came about when the DB scheme closed in 2008.

A basic question is what was the normal retirement age for the scheme ? What happens if you go beyond that age without drawing it ?

Thanks...

xylophone

http://www.michelin-pensions.co.uk/Pages/Contactus.aspx

Perhaps he should contact the Pensions Department in Stoke on Trent as a first step to getting his questions answered?

chiefie

I take it he worked at ballymena ? Visited there many times from Stoke michelin.
The NRD is 65. You can take the pension early but the reductions are quite punitive. They will also give to an estimated transfer value if you want to move it out.
I agree with xylophone, ring or write to stoke they are very efficient.
Cheers:beer:

madeinireland_2

He did indeed work at Ballymena for 13 years.

I've been trying to help him as he does not understand pensions and has been ignoring letters on the matter.

I now live abroad and had a concern that the normal retirement age was 60 as with my own pension - he is now 61.

Are you sure that the retirement ago didn't change in 2008 such that it maybe moved from 60 to 65.

He was on the production line and I'm surprised that they would have expected those guys to have worked to 65.

All his pension would be DB as he left before 2008 - so was just thinking that maybe the punitive reductions would only apply to years after 2008. That's the way it has worked in my own scheme when it changed in 2009.

Thanks for your help.

chiefie

Hi

I left in 2002 and the NRD then was 65 although there was a scheme in place that allowed some staff to pay more to allow them to retire earlier. It is possible that he signed up to that as he was a little older than me. I know some people who signed up to this and went at 57.

He will have to ring the pension dept at Stoke or you could draft him a letter. The pension scheme in my eyes was an excellent one - it's recent funding statement was at 77% but the company have committed to put more in to meet this gap until 2024 at least so he should be ok there.

Good luck

xylophone

You say that he has been ignoring letters- are these his annual deferred benefits statements?

It is unlikely to be in his best interests to transfer out and if those benefits have a value in excess of £30,000 he would need to take the advice of an IFA qualified in pension transfers before he could do so.

If you are not in a position to give face to face assistance, this might be of interest.

http://www.citizensadvice.co.uk/pages/pension_wise_guidance_to_be_available_face_to_face_across_28_cab_offices_in_northern_ireland/

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/information-and-services/pensions-and-retirement-planning/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/new-state-pension-from-6-april-2016/reaching-state-pension-age-on-or-after-6-april-2016.htm

chiefie

xylophone wrote: »

You say that he has been ignoring letters- are these his annual deferred benefits statements?

It is unlikely to be in his best interests to transfer out and if those benefits have a value in excess of £30,000 he would need to take the advice of an IFA qualified in pension transfers before he could do so.

If you are not in a position to give face to face assistance, this might be of interest.

http://www.citizensadvice.co.uk/pages/pension_wise_guidance_to_be_available_face_to_face_across_28_cab_offices_in_northern_ireland/

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/information-and-services/pensions-and-retirement-planning/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/new-state-pension-from-6-april-2016/reaching-state-pension-age-on-or-after-6-april-2016.htm

It's not the annual benefit letters are we don't get them, just a letter stating how the DB fund is funded and what is happening with the shortfall.

He can logon to michelinplan.co.uk but will need to ask for passwords etc to get up and running. Once you are up the site tells you what your benefits are at 65 and allows you to see what they could be at different retirement dates.

FatherAbraham

xylophone wrote: »

You say that he has been ignoring letters- are these his annual deferred benefits statements?

As far as I'm aware, deferred members of defined-benefit schemes don't get annual benefits statements. Only active members do.

Warmest regards,
FA

hyubh

FatherAbraham wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, deferred members of defined-benefit schemes don't get annual benefits statements. Only active members do.

Not that this is relevant to the OP, but LGPS administrators have had a statutory duty to produce both deferred and active annual benefit statements since 2004...

mgdavid

FatherAbraham wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, deferred members of defined-benefit schemes don't get annual benefits statements. Only active members do.

Warmest regards,
FA

some do, some don't. One of mine did, the other two did not.