NHS PENSION AWARD

bkmla

Sarahspangles said:

bkmla said:

My friend, who lives in Scotland and has recently retired early on the grounds of ill health, has received a letter from the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) awarding him a lump sum and an annual pension.

He would like a qualifiied person to check that the award is coorect, in terms of the contributions he has made. Can anybody recommend such a body?

As far as I am aware the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) doesn't offer this service. It has a connection to a body called Pension Wise, but it only gives advice on defined contribution pensions. My friend has a defined benefit pension.

Also, can anyone offer information on the following two points?

Will the lump sum, or any part of it, be taxable?

Part of the award is ‘Partner’s’ benefits. As far as I know this is an annual pension paid to the pensioner's partner on his/her death.

As my friend has no partner and is unlikely to have a partner in the future, this component of the award appears to be of no benefit to him. In this regard, could an adjustment be made to his annual pension to compensate for this?

He should have been receiving an Annual Benefit Statement annually while he was working in the NHS. Has he previously checked those?

I don't know.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

bkmla said:

Re 'You want it checked? If your friend isn't worried - or wasn't until you raised the issue - is it fair to put him to the expense of paying someone to check the figures?' 

I was looking for a body that would offer this service free of charge.

You've found it 😉

Flugelhorn

bkmla said:

Re 'You want it checked? If your friend isn't worried - or wasn't until you raised the issue - is it fair to put him to the expense of paying someone to check the figures?' 

I was looking for a body that would offer this service free of charge.

Most of us rely on the annual statement / TRS to get an idea of what the pension will be, if it is ill health retirement then there are specific calculations that are done and explained to  the recipient in the award letter
Most pensions are straightforward in the NHS, some are more complex as they combine more than one scheme  or mixed practitioner / officer membership 
There is no such thing as free service for checking  this - those in unions can sometimes get it done but that requires a membership and as I said, most of the calculations are straightforward.  Helps to read up on  how the schemes work re dependants etc 

No_Tim

I had an overpayment issue With NHS Pensions in England and couldn't get any kind of breakdown from them. Someone recommended pensioncare.net and they were really helpful. I'm a GP which makes the pension even more complicated apparently. Pensioncare gave me a full breakdown of my pension and confirmed the overpayment,  which was unfortunately correct. 

You only pay if there's a mistake with the pension and you are owed backdated money. Unsure if they do Scottish Pensions scheme though sorry. 

Nebulous2

bkmla said:

Flugelhorn said:

Is he in a union? they may have people who specialise in pensions

He was a member of Unison, but after his employment terminated back in August he resigned his membership.

It could be worth going back to the union. They have a reduced rate for retired members, and I think they might still be willing to help if he has recently retired. Were they involved in negotiating ill-health retirement? In my experience they often are. 

The scheme isn't hugely difficult to calculate if you know how it works. Making sure all his service has been attributed correctly, using his benefit statements, and that the calculations are based on an accurate salary would be a good starting point. 

The SPPA website (does he have a log-in?) has benefit statements for me, but I don't know if they disappear after retirement.