Civil Service - applied to buy added pension - shows as "Alpha AVC Self" on payslip

simon_or

Hi, I work in the civil service part time and had applied to buy added pension through monthly contributions. The first payment has been taken and it shows as "Alpha AVC Self" on the payslip.

Does that look right please? I thought AVCs referred to another scheme run by L&G?

I have asked the question of my shared services HR department but they have an insanely long turnaround time so hopefully I'll get an answer here before that, thanks.

hugheskevi

AVC=Additional Voluntary Contributions.

Whilst this usually refers to Defined Contribution AVCs, they can also be Defined Benefit. Rather confusingly, the Civil Service has a Defined Contribution AVC scheme which is referred to throughout as the AVC scheme, whereas the Defined Benefit AVC options (Added Pension and EPA) are never referred to as AVC except on payslips.

So that all looks fine - note that the Added Pension you are purchasing only pays out to yourself, so when you die your partner will not receive anything.

simon_or

Ah that makes sense. Thank you so much for the detailed explanation.

You're absolutely right, none of the forms I filled or guidance I read referred to AVCs in the context of buying added DB pension, that's why I got confused when I saw the payslip.

NedS

For reference, mine (DWP) show's as "Alpha Added Pension Fixed" as I pay a fixed additional monthly contribution for Added Pension.

It does sound a bit strange, but I defer to @hugheskevi's superior wisdom on such matters. If in any doubt you can always give MyCSP a call and check everything is as you expect.

simon_or

NedS said:

For reference, mine (DWP) show's as "Alpha Added Pension Fixed" as I pay a fixed additional monthly contribution for Added Pension.

It does sound a bit strange, but I defer to @hugheskevi's superior wisdom on such matters. If in any doubt you can always give MyCSP a call and check everything is as you expect.

Mycsp says they have given the department the right info but can't say whether the department have processed it correctly or not.

I went around in circles all day yesterday trying to get a straight answer from someone in HR shared services but gave up after being on the phone for an hour and a half mostly on hold and then getting cut off. I've raised a ticket but they take weeks to respond.

Golactico

Just for added clarity, I make monthly AVC payments to the Civil Service Legal & General DC scheme and it shows on my payslip as 'Legal and General Cash'.

pathsofdarkness

I make  Alpha Added Pension contributions, and also Additional Voluntary Contributions via Legal & General. They look like this on my payslip:

simon_or

I've got a formal response from HR Shared Services.

They confirm that "Alpha AVC Self" refers to added pension and not AVCs.

Apparently the description was wrongly created on the department's HR system in 2015 when the new Alpha codes were introduced and they haven't been able to amend it since.