Civil Service Modeller and Paper Quote

IRunFar

Hi all – I’m due to take partial retirement at 55 this November (Civil Service, nuvos + alpha mix) and I’ve had three different sets of figures that don’t match up. There’s almost a £50k difference in the lump sums between my paper quote pack and the online modeller.Has anyone else had such a big gap? And in the end, which figure matched your final MyCSP retirement quote? 

ali_bear

My small CSP does not start until next year, but my quoted entitlement is bigger than the retirement modeller projection. Assuming the modeller is wrong. 

In the modeller you first have to reject any additional lump sum via commutation. 

IRunFar

Thanks @ali_bear - I have the opposite problem. My quoted figures are way less than the retirement modeller projection. I'm really struggling to wrap my head around it all. The modeller’s figure is massively higher - unless I'm reading it all wrong. 

hugheskevi

Putting figures in expected order of reliability, from most reliable to least:

• Exit quote - prepared to show value of benefits at a specific date, taking into account all scheme rules and latest factors
• ABS - shows value of benefits at a specific date, but does not use all scheme rules, most notably around final pensionable earnings for the final salary sections, where it just uses current pensionable earnings instead
• Modeller - very inflexible (only shows effect of continuing to work to specified age, so no partial retirement, no taking pensions at different times, no leaving before taking pension), doesn't use all scheme rules, similar to ABS, may not work for all members due to not covering specific circumstances.

So if you think your exit quote is wrong, the starting point would be comparing to past ABS.

IRunFar

Ah - that makes sense - thanks @hugheskevi! I'll go back and look at the numbers again - using the the Exit quote as the best indicator. Thanks again. 

SimonSeys

Are there any implications for asking for an Exit Quote?   I’m now a deferred member after switching to Partnership so I should be able to get a definitive quote. (But I don’t want to pull the trigger on retirement just yet as I can’t afford it!)

Simon

hugheskevi

SimonSeys said:

Are there any implications for asking for an Exit Quote?   I’m now a deferred member after switching to Partnership so I should be able to get a definitive quote. (But I don’t want to pull the trigger on retirement just yet as I can’t afford it!)

No implications other than your record would be looked at more closely than usual to ensure the exit figures appear accurate - which is far from a guarantee; errors are commonplace in data. That could result in changes to your pension, although as you are a Partnership member the checks are likely to only focus on the service record as that is all that matters for calculation of exit quote.

Also, your employer pays for quotes to be produced so you would be wasting the time and money of others if you have no intention of accepting the quote. That isn't trivial at the moment, as MyCSP are suffering from strike action.