NHS pension final statement 45% less than annual statement 20 February at 5:51PM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 22 replies 1.7K views

alisontaylor94

I have an NHS deferred pension with earnings transferred in from previous pension schemes. 
For the last three years my annual statements have showed a lump sum increasing from £33k to £37k based on early retirement at 60. I’ve now applied for it to start from 31/3/23 but the settlement statement shows £20k. 
How can I check this is correct and if the amounts of the transfers in have been included? 
I now can’t afford to retire on that lower lump sum and yearly pension which is also dramatically reduced. 
Please can you help ?

Flugelhorn

which scheme are you in? is this all 1995 or some 2015?

alisontaylor94

I’m in 2008 and 2015 schemes but the issue is with the 2008 scheme. 

tacpot12

If you still have access to your Total Reward Statment, you could look to see if there is anything on there that might explain the difference or confirm that the transfers were included in the TRS figures, but realistically you are going to have to ask the NHSBSA to explain the difference and confirm that your transfers were included.  

If you can get access to your Total Rewards Statement, I would recommend grabbing as much of the data as you can., e.g. if you can access any previous years, get it.

You might need a good accountant to check your pay and records as NHS employers seem to make a lot of mistakes with payroll, and this can feed through into you pension.

You might benefit from making a Subject Access Request for all the data that the NHSBSA hold on your pensions. Alternatively, you can ask the NHSBSA to justify their calculations, and then check their calculations with a fine tooth comb.

I would also have a good read of the information on this page as you may need to make a complaint: Contact NHS Pensions - members | NHSBSA

calcotti

tacpot12 said:

… check your pay and records as NHS employers seem to make a lot of mistakes with payroll, and this can feed through into you pension.

That was my wife’s experience. Took a lot of correspondence to get to a point when her employment history roughly matched her actual employment

tacpot12

Also, do you remember when you transferred into the 2008 pension, did see your reckonable serivce years increase on the TRS?  

Flugelhorn

I agree with @tacpot12 get all the info you can from TRS.

I was on 1995 and at one point my pension halved as they calculated my FTE salary based on the daily rate I got for a job, only they assumed I was working 15 hours a day and not 7.5 so the hourly rate turned into an annual rate of 50% of what it should have been - all got sorted in the endd.

alisontaylor94

The impossible situation is that they have been unable to produce a TRS for the last 3 years at least and the excuse is that it has confused the system since the transfer from other scheme so they have had to produce a manual statement (estimate) each year which has been showing an increase but now that they gave produced the final statement it is suddenly 45% less and no explanation. I have tried talking with NHSBSA call centre who were unable to help and simply referred the case back to the calculations team and couldn’t give me a timescale for this. I have also submitted a formal complaint but again this could take sone time and my pension is due to be paid out on 31/3/23. 

Thank you both @tacpot12  and Flugelhorn for your help and I will request a SAR too. 

spaniel101

Information provided on annual TRS statements is the value of your defined benefit pension at that time (from the previous April), if taken at 'Normal Retirement Age', for 2008 scheme,  this is 65.     If you are taking at 60, there would be 5 years of Acutarial Reduction (from that value at that time, because it is being paid sooner and for longer).     Did you account for this (24%) reduction to your Annual Pension ?

The 2008 scheme doesn't have an 'Automatic' tax-free lump sum (PCLS), rather this is 'optional'.     If at the date of chosen Retirement, you decide to give up some of your pension to provide a tax-free lump sum, £1 of annual pension is deducted, in exchange for £12 lump sum.

The maximum 'optional' lump sum available, is then calculated AFTER your pension is already Acutarially Reduced, making the total reduction rather 'eye watering'. 

  

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2019-08/Early Retirement factsheet (05.2017) V3.pdf
2008 Section
The minimum pension age in the 2008 Section is 55. You can choose to take voluntary early retirement from the minimum retirement age and receive reduced benefits. Your pension is reduced to allow for the fact that it is being paid earlier than expected. Your dependants will still get any benefits they are entitled to in full.   The following table shows approximately how much your pension is reduced by if you choose to retire early. If you retire between the ages shown the benefits payable will vary. If you take a lump sum, this is calculated from your pension after reduction. There are no reduction factors for lump sums in the 2008 Section.
Age	64		63		62		61		60		59		58		57		56		55
Pension	6%		11%		15%		19%		24%		27%		31%		34%		37%		40%

GrubbyGirl_2

Just to check that you are over 65?  

Flugelhorn

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Just to check that you are over 65?  

OP said she was taking pension at 60