Barclays bank Pension

TJB444

I worked for Barclays Bank from July 1974 to July 1978 after I left school. I am trying to trace whom I should contact to find out what happened to my pension for that time. I have been on the government website and found it confusing.

Thank you

JoeCrystal

It sounds like you may not meet the criteria to keep your pension back then. Have you got in touch with Barclays Bank Pension administrators about it? Have you got any statements or paperwork when you left? Any booklets at the time? It is quite possible that you got a refund back when you left in 1978.

 Here is the link for their contact details: https://epa.towerswatson.com/accounts/barclays/public/barclays-bank-retirement-contacts/

Silvertabby

If you had less than 5 years membership - and were under 26 when you left - then it's likely that your only option would have been a refund of your contributions.  This may have been paid automatically, in the form of a cheque sent to your home address. 

xylophone

been a refund of your contributions.

I am pretty sure that the Barclays 1964 Pension Scheme (employees pre 1997) was non contrib.

JoeCrystal

xylophone said:

I am pretty sure that the Barclays 1964 Pension Scheme (employees pre 1997) was non contrib.

You are right! I stumbled across a few articles now written in 2008 as the article was pointing out that Barclay employees had to pay a 3% in the new scheme! Poor them... especially with Barclays paying 20%+ into their DC scheme on their behalf.

@TJB444 Considering that it was non-contributory and that you are unlikely to meet the minimum criteria at the time, I am afraid you might not have any pension with Barclays in the first place. But double-check with the pension administrators to be sure! Speaking of Government website, what about the list of years / State Pension that caused you some confusion?

xylophone

I have been on the government website and found it confusing.

What exactly does your state pension forecast show?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Sanxxx

I worked for Barclays from 78 to 83 , and had less than 5 years service when leaving and was under 26.  As it was less than 5 years there was no residual DB pension however there was a small GMP element which has been growing at 8.5% annually. 
I don't recall being offered a refund of contributions so I expect you would have a similar GMP pot, TowersWatson should be able to find this.

parcival

Interesting. I worked for Barclays from September 1976 until July 1978, so less than 2 years. I was not expecting any DB Pension but I did ask TowersWatson a couple of years ago if there was a small GMP left over - they said no.

xylophone

Interesting. I worked for Barclays from September 1976 until July 1978, so less than 2 years. I was not expecting any DB Pension but I did ask TowersWatson a couple of years ago if there was a small GMP left over - they said no.

https://epa.towerswatson.com/accounts/barclays/public/barclays-bank-gmp-equalisation/#:~:text=A Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) is the minimum level of,1978 and 5 April 1997.

FAQ

What is a Guaranteed Minimum Pension

A Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) is the minimum level of pension that an occupational pension scheme has to provide for those employees who were contracted out of the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme on a salary-related basis, at any time between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997.

You only had about twelve weeks service after the GMP system started.

Brynsam

parcival said:

Interesting. I worked for Barclays from September 1976 until July 1978, so less than 2 years. I was not expecting any DB Pension but I did ask TowersWatson a couple of years ago if there was a small GMP left over - they said no.

GMPs were only introduced in April 1978, so any GMP would have been tiny in the extreme. It was normal to 'buy back' people with short service (i.e. not long enough to qualify for a deferred pension from the scheme itself) into SERPS by paying something known as a 'Contributions Equivalent Premium'. I suspect that may have happened in your case - the cost of maintaining a pension record for you would have been much more than the cost of providing the actual GMP pension!

garmeg

Sanxxx said:

I worked for Barclays from 78 to 83 , and had less than 5 years service when leaving and was under 26.  As it was less than 5 years there was no residual DB pension however there was a small GMP element which has been growing at 8.5% annually. 
I don't recall being offered a refund of contributions so I expect you would have a similar GMP pot, TowersWatson should be able to find this.

There would have been no return of contributions in a non contributory scheme.