DB Pension Increase in Payment - Choices?

xylophone

Do you by any chance have a copy of the Scheme Guide?

What does it have to say on how your pension increases in payment?

LHW99

Was there a change in the scheme for new joiners at one point, so the uncapped refers to an older version?

BennyBrownBoy

Found a copy of the Scheme Guide and it says the following:

"You may also give up part of your pension to provide additional increases to your pension at retirement up to the increases in RPI. This means that your starting pension will be lower but it will be increased each year in line with RPI rather than at, for example, 2.5% for service after 6 April 2006. Details will be provided by the Pensions Officer on request"

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I am assuming that the pension forecasts I receive from the administrator (Mercer) every year provide a forecast figure that assumes I will take the Capped option. 

Will check with Mercer!

 

 

Albermarle

Will check with Mercer
Don't hold your breath for a quick response from Mercer, or any response at all.

BennyBrownBoy

Albermarle said:

Will check with Mercer
Don't hold your breath for a quick response from Mercer, or any response at all.

I know what you mean - have had very mixed experience in terms of response times and have had to invoke their complaints procedure more than once...

Don't know why they seem so poor - understaffed presumably??

Albermarle

Understaffed, or inexperienced staff paid low wages?
They are not the only large pension administrator to have similar poor customer service.

Farside71

Generally staff who really understand how ancient schemes work and have the right level of technical skill, are in short supply, they are getting on themselves, retiring or leaving the industry or in many cases been outsourced or offshore in the belief that their experience doesn't deserve their well earned higher wages.  Also this  affects life companies dealing with their legacy business. Hence I imagine companies have huge backlogs of enquiries waiting for the right person to review or sign off. 

xylophone

Found a copy of the Scheme Guide and it says the following:

"You may also give up part of your pension to provide additional increases to your pension at retirement up to the increases in RPI. This means that your starting pension will be lower but it will be increased each year in line with RPI rather than at, for example, 2.5% for service after 6 April 2006. Details will be provided by the Pensions Officer on request"

Which makes quite a difference, doesn't it?

Pat38493

xylophone said:

Found a copy of the Scheme Guide and it says the following:

"You may also give up part of your pension to provide additional increases to your pension at retirement up to the increases in RPI. This means that your starting pension will be lower but it will be increased each year in line with RPI rather than at, for example, 2.5% for service after 6 April 2006. Details will be provided by the Pensions Officer on request"

Which makes quite a difference, doesn't it?:)

Well yes, but this seems to imply that the information and quotes given to the OP by Mercer were incorrect.  Sad to say, this doesn't surprise me.  I am also waiting for some quotes where Mercer are involved.  Quotes they have sent me in the past don't seem plausible (e.g. ridiculously generous lump sum commutations) and attempts to get an explanation are difficult.  Indeed I hope the last quote they sent me was correct but somehow I doubt it.

As I've mentioned before, I find it a bad state of affairs when providers or administrators can put out wrong quotes and information, and sometimes even pay out on them, and then suddenly decide years later that it was wrong and they want their money back.  I doubt this would happen if there was some kind of legal or financial risk on the administrator e.g. they the quote they send out is legally binding, like in many other contracts.

xylophone

Well yes, but this seems to imply that the information and quotes given to the OP by Mercer were incorrect.

Certainly incomplete.