Annual Allowance Statement from NHS Pension Agency

Tom_Bradbury

I want to invest some inherited money into another private pension but don't know how much annual allowance I have left over from the last 2/3 years.  I'm a member of the NHS Pension Agency and asked them for a statement to show how much of my annual allowance I had available and they said they only send statements to those who have exceeded the annual allowance.  They referred me to the ready reckoner that can calculate if I exceed the ready reckoner for this year, and plugging in some numbers, it says I exceed the allowance by around £900 this year. I shared it with my payroll department and they said they didn't believe it because I don't earn enough.  They also had a go and came up with the same response, so I know the numbers are right but can't believe the output.  I am so confused, and don't know why NHS Pension Agency won't tell me how much allowance I have left from previous years, and I am just trying to put a bit more away for my pension.  Do I need to speak to Pension Agency again?  They weren't very helpful last time, but I may have got somebody on a bad day! 

Flugelhorn

I wonder if the NHSBSA are counting previous years and carrying forward the unused allowance from there?

PS NHSBSA are not great at providing anything in a timely manner, I had to guess how much my pension would be and whether it was anywhere near the LTA as they were about 18 months behind 

saucer

Although it is a bit of a faff you can work out you inputs and outputs yourself. From there you can determine how much allowance you have used up and use this alongside previous years to see what you can put in this year. Within the NHS scheme the things that can eat up the allowance are pay rises (that increase your likely final salary on which the pension is calculated), and big inflation jumps. All said though I would be surprised if you don't have headroom to invest more. Remember you can stage pension contributions it over this and later years.

saucer

To add, the pensions staff on the phone are usually kind and helpful but very limited on what they know and can do.

hugheskevi

All pension schemes have a statutory obligation to issue a Pension Saving Statement showing pension inputs for the last year and 3 prior years to members on request, regardless of whether they have breached the Annual Allowance or not. 

Rather than phaff around trying to estimate the figures yourself, I suggest contacting the administrator again and reminding them of their obligation.

Be careful though, as 2022/23 is an odd year due to inflation, as set out in this article, although it seems the NHS is consulting to change rules so this may not be an issue.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

HMRC's guidance on the requirement to issue annual allowance information is here,

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/pensions-tax-manual/ptm051700