Answer:

For those who moved from the final salary scheme to career average scheme on 1 April 2022, they’ll see that change to their pensions from then.

For those members who are in the career average scheme when they come to take their retirement benefits, we'll provide them with information to make a choice (Deferred Choice Underpin) from 1 October 2023.

As we'll have to contact all members affected by the remedy from this date, please bear with us as it’s likely to take some time to reach everyone.

For those members planning to retire, they can claim benefits based on which arrangements they’re in. When we contact members, they may wish to take the alternative scheme benefits for the remedy period. If so, we'll apply the changes retrospectively, from the point they should have been paid.

Answer:

For members who are in the career average scheme when they come to take their retirement benefits, we’ll provide them with information to make their choice (Deferred Choice Underpin) from 1 October 2023. As we’ll have to contact all members affected by the remedy from this date, it’s likely to take some time to reach everyone.

For members who are planning to retire, they can claim benefits based on which arrangements they're in. When we contact them, they may wish to take the alternative scheme benefits for the remedy period. If so, we’ll apply the changes retrospectively, from the point they should have been paid.

Answer:

It’s important to remember that the period of service affected is that between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is known as the remedy period.

As, for many members, the career average scheme is more beneficial, they’ll be given the opportunity to make a choice at retirement as to whether they wish to take final salary, or career average scheme benefits in respect of their service during the remedy period. It cannot be a combination of the two. This is referred to as the Deferred Choice Underpin (DCU). We’ll provide information to enable them to make an informed choice based on what best suits them.

Answer:

If a member's not yet retired by 1 October 2023 their service will automatically be rolled back and their Benefit Statement will be updated to reflect this. The member's Benefit Statement will also include additional information relating to the Transitional Protection remedy to help them understand the options available to them when they retire.

If a member's affected by Transitional Protection, we need to clearly demonstrate to them what their options will be at retirement. The easiest way to do this is by creating a PDF of their Benefit Statement detailing the two options as opposed to the current web page.

This is the simplest method of providing this to the member and still allows them to access their Benefit Statement whenever they need to.