Civil Service Pension (and refund of WPS contributions)

Suzycoll

Hi all

I am trying to find out how much the WPS contribution part of my CS pension is?

I appreciate it will not be paid out until I fully retire (I part retried in 2018- Classic).

I have been single throughout my CS career.

I don't currently want to raise a query due to the current mess the CS pension is in re Capita !

Does anyone know

1…how I can work out how much it will be and how it is calculated ?

2….If it is paid out monthly payment or a lump sun ?

thanks in advance

Marcon

See

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6393112/cs-039-widowers-pension-scheme-039-refunds-any-way-to-calculate-amount

I'm sure if a more accurate answer is possible, @hugheskevi our resident walking encyclopaedia on all things CS pensions will be along soon!

Isthisforreal99

Unless you have payslips going back to when you started it's impossible to say. The WPS rate was 1.5% of pensionable earnings and will also be dependant on your McCloud choice (Classic or Alpha 2015 - 2022) as only applies to Classic.

It's payable as a lump sum unless you take the maximum pension lump sum when it will be commuted to pension. Interest is also payable but a premium is deducted in case you marry in future.

hugheskevi

Not much to add to the responses above, and the linked thread Marcon referred to.

You say you are partially retired. The WPS refund is paid as part of the pension commencement lump sum when you finally retire. As you have already taken a chunk of the classic pension when you partially retired, it becomes far more likely that there may be insufficient remaining pension to permit headroom to pay the refund as part of the lump sum. In that case, it gets converted to regular pension.

As a very broad rule of thumb, the premium deducted from the refund to cover post retirement marriages is often very similar to the amount of interest received. Given that, you are likely to get 1.5% of your career pensionable earnings as a tax-free lump sum (as long as there is headroom in maximum lump sum entitlement to permit this).

Suzycoll

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81908423#Comment_81908423

Thank you

Suzycoll

Thank you 🙏

Yorkie1

As a very broad rule of thumb, the premium deducted from the refund to cover post retirement marriages is often very similar to the amount of interest received. Given that, you are likely to get 1.5% of your career pensionable earnings as a tax-free lump sum (as long as there is headroom in maximum lump sum entitlement to permit this).

In Classic, there is a lump sum of 3x pension. If one takes that, how is headroom calculated?

Suzycoll

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81909804#Comment_81909804

Thanks

I still am miffed that I will not get it all & some £ is kept back. It's my contributions & I should have it all back really

hugheskevi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81909804#Comment_81909804

There is the standard lump sum of 3x pension, and the maximum lump sum that can be achieved via commutation of pension.

The WPS refund amount is added to the automatic lump sum. Under normal circumstances, there will be a sufficient difference between the standard and maximum lump sum to accommodate the WPS refund. The main exception is Partial Retirement, where a member has already taken a good chunk of their Classic pension but the refund is only paid at full retirement.

The lump sum calculator at this link enables you to play with figures.

Suzycoll

Thanks hugheskevi

All your,and others, help is much appreciated 🙂

horsewithnoname

you get the 1.5% WPS that was deducted from when you became single to end of March 2015 or 2022, depending on your McCloud choice. Plus interest which was BoE rate for part of the time and then a rate that was some average of available rates. They withhold a premium of 30% of the cost of providing a pension to your widow/er should you marry after taking all your classic.
You can find the instructions on line should you wish, I must admit once the 1.5% that I calculated near enough agreed with the amount MyCsp said, I took the rest on trust as it was too much for my O level maths to cope with 😬