Ready for Retirement
If you are retiring now, or planning to retire in the coming months, we’ll calculate your pension benefits in the final salary scheme for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022.
This means your service for the remedy period will be automatically moved into your legacy scheme until you’ve made your choice. Then we’ll contact you with your Remediable Service Statement after you retire.
We are updating our systems so we can offer members a choice between final salary and CARE benefits for the remedy period when they apply to retire, rather than post-retirement. This will be rolled out early in 2024.
When will I get my choice?
When will I get my choice?
We’ll start writing to most retired members early in 2024 and we’ll contact everyone to make a Remedy choice by April 2025. The SPPA will provide you with everything you need to make an informed decision.
Don’t worry if you don’t hear from us until later in 2024 – you have 12 months from receiving your options to make a choice. After you decide, any change to your payments or tax-free lump sum will be backdated to your retirement date.
What will I choose?
What will I choose?
After you retire, we’ll offer you a choice between your final salary benefits and your CARE benefits for your service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is called the remedy period.
These are sometimes known as ‘legacy’ benefits and ‘reformed’ benefits.
All members started building up pension in the CARE scheme from 1 April 2022, regardless of their previous protection.
To help you decide, we’ll send you a choice letter, known as a Remediable Service Statement (RSS). This will show your pension benefits side-by-side in your final salary and CARE scheme for the remedy period, and details of any contribution and tax adjustments. This will help you decide which option is the right one for you.