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Initial Notification

A scheme member wishing to voluntarily retire should give their employer the required period of notice.  

There are processes in place to ensure that Peninsula Pensions are formally notified by your employer. 

Once your employer has paid your final salary payment, they will send us a form to confirm your leaving date, reason for leaving and final pensionable pay to use in the calculation of your benefits.

We follow statutory guidelines which state that we are required to contact scheme members with information about their pension benefits as below, although we aim to contact you as soon as possible:

  • if the benefit becomes payable on or after normal pension age – before the benefit becomes payable if practicable and, in any event, within one month after the benefit becomes payable, or
  • if you choose to take the pension benefits earlier with a reduction on a date before normal pension age, within 2 months of the date you have requested they become payable.

Pensionable Remuneration

If you have service before 1 April 2014, the pensionable remuneration used to calculate those benefits is usually your pensionable pay for the last 365 days of your employment or, if higher, one of the previous two years.

However, if you have suffered a reduction (drop in hourly rate) in your permanent pensionable pay since April 2008 and within 10 years of your leaving date, you can choose to use the best average of any three consecutive financial years within the last 13, if you think this will be higher than one of the last three years.

If you think this applies to you, you must notify Peninsula Pensions in writing or via email at least one month before you leave.

Please note, if the final year is not used, cost of living increases will be added to the pensionable pay figure that is used to calculate your benefits.

For your post 1 April 2014 Career Average Revalued Earnings pension account Peninsula Pensions will use your actual pensionable pay, as notified by your employer.

In-house Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC)

If you have an In-house AVC, please contact us via our Member Self Service portal or through our website so that we can inform you of your options on retirement.

Next Steps…

Once we are in receipt of a completed leavers form and any additional documentation we may require from your employer, we will calculate and forward details of the benefits due to you along with the following forms for you to fill in and return to us:

  • Marital Status.
  • Bank or Building Society Details – for your pension and lump sum.
  • Lifetime Allowance – for HM Revenue & Customs to ensure your benefits don’t exceed the maximum allowed.
  • Conversion Form – you can convert some of your pension to a lump sum or, if you have a pre-April 2008 membership, a bigger lump sum than the standard benefits provide. Lump sums are paid tax free.
  • Option on Pension – only included if your pension is reduced for early retirement.

When will payment be made?

When we receive your completed pension forms, payment of any lump sum due (excluding trivial commutation) will be arranged by BACS direct to your nominated bank/building society account within 10 working days.   Please note BACS payments can take between 3-5 working days to arrive in your bank account.

Payment of your pension will be made on the last working day of each month. The first month’s payment will include any arrears due to you or adjustments for part of the month. We will provide you with a letter detailing the breakdown of payments.

After the first pension payment you will only receive a pay advice when your net monthly pension differs by more than £1 from the previous month’s amount. However, you will always receive a pay advice and P60 each April.

Overseas Payments

It is possible to pay your pension in to most overseas bank accounts. Please contact the pensioner payroll team for more details and to request the appropriate form.

Cost of living increase (Pensions Increase – PI)

Each April your pension will increase in line with any cost of living increases that have accrued, and you will be notified of the relevant increase by the end of April.

Member Self Service

Members’ Self Service (MSS) is your personal and secure pension account.

It enables you to check information we hold, update personal information and calculate pension estimates. As you are thinking of, or about to retire, it is important that you check your contact information including email addresses.

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