A GUIDE FOR PENSIONERS
- How Pensions are Paid
- New Inland Revenue Contact Details
- Income Tax
- Payroll Number
- Change of Address or Bank Account
- The State Pension
- Pension Increases
- Re-employment following receipt of HPSS Pension
- Family and Dependent Benefits
- Complaints and Disputes
Your pension and lump sum will be paid directly into your bank, girobank
or building society account. This method of payment avoids any risk of delay and ensures that your account
is credited on the day the payment is due.
Your lump sum will be paid as soon as possible after your retirement
and your pension will be paid monthly on the last banking day of each month. An advice slip will be
issued to your home address.
Payments to the Irish Republic or Overseas
The facility exists to have your pension and lump sum paid to your bank
or building society via the Transcontinental Automated Payments Service. Payment is made in local currency.
There will be a small charge for use of this facility.
From 24 November 2004, all enquiries about tax should be directed to:
Inland Revenue
Northern Ireland Counties Area
Foyle House
Duncreggan Road
Londonderry
BT48 0AA
Northern Ireland Counties Area
Foyle House
Duncreggan Road
Londonderry
BT48 0AA
For telephone enquiries, please call: 0845 302 1481
The new Tax reference number for the HPSS Superannuation Scheme is now
916/G78000. Please quote this reference on all correspondence to the Inland Revenue.
Your pension or your dependant’s pension is treated as earned income
for tax purposes. When you first receive your pension we may deduct tax under a temporary tax code until
the Inland Revenue notify the correct code.
Your monthly advice note will include details of any tax deducted and
your tax code. If you want to check your tax code or have any other tax query please contact the Inland
Revenue directly. Their address is:
Inland Revenue
Northern Ireland Counties Area
Foyle House
Duncreggan Road
Londonderry
BT48 0AA
Northern Ireland Counties Area
Foyle House
Duncreggan Road
Londonderry
BT48 0AA
Telephone: 0845 302 1481
You should quote your national insurance number and the Scheme Reference
Number 916/G78000 (this is their reference number for the HPSS Superannuation Scheme).
If tax has been deducted from your pension we will send you a form P60
after the end of each tax year to show the total pension paid and the amount of tax deducted in that
year.
We will allocate a payroll number to you when your pension begins. This
will be quoted on your monthly pay advice note. (This is not the same number as your Scheme reference
number, the “SB number”).
Please quote your payroll number or SB number in any correspondence
you send to us.
If you change your address or bank/building society details please notify
us in writing. Make sure you quote your payroll number. You can download a form to use by clicking here.
Death
In the event of your death your widow, widower or personal representative
must notify HPSS Superannuation Branch, quoting your payroll number.
They will be sent a form to claim any dependant’s pension or life assurance
that may be due.
Superannuation Branch will notify your next of kin or personal representative
about any pension overpaid after death.
Overpayment of Benefits
If your pension or lump sum are overpaid the amount of the overpayment
will have to be repaid.
It is the policy of Superannuation Branch to prosecute in cases of fraudulent
encashment or receipt of pension benefits.
The State Pension Scheme has 2 parts:
1. A flat rate retirement pension (sometimes called an old age pension).
2. An additional pension from the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS).
2. An additional pension from the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS).
The HPSS Scheme, in common with other public service pension schemes,
is ‘contracted-out’ of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme. This means you pay a lower rate of
national insurance contributions whilst you are a member. As a result you only receive the flat rate
retirement pension from the State, unless you have contributed to SERPS in another employment.
How ‘Contracting Out’ Affect your Pension
The Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 introduced a number of changes
to the way contracted out pension schemes are run. These changes came into effect in April 1997.
Every scheme now has to pass a test of scheme quality. The Scheme’s
Actuary (in the case of the HPSS Scheme this is the Government Actuary) must confirm that, when looked
at as a whole, the scheme satisfies the new test. This will involve meeting a statutory standard set
down in the Pensions Order. The Actuary will normally have to do this every 3 years.
No guarantee will be given on an individual basis in respect of superannuation
benefits built up from 6 April 1997 onwards, however benefits from the HPSS Scheme will normally be
much higher than those from SERPS.
In respect of service in the HPSS Scheme prior to 6 April 1997 the Scheme
has to guarantee on an individual basis to provide a pension which is as at least as much as the SERPS
part of the State Pension would have been had they not ‘contracted out’. This amount is called the Guaranteed
Minimum Pension. The Guaranteed Minimum Pension is part of the HPSS pension, not an extra pension.
See below for details of how Guaranteed Minimum Pension may affect the
pension increase on your HPSS pension.
HPSS pensions are increased annually to keep pace broadly with rises
in the cost of living.
As a result of changes introduced by the Pensions (Northern Ireland)
Order 1995 the pension increase on benefits earned up to 5 April 1997 will be calculated differently
from those earned from 6 April 1998 onwards.
Benefits in respect of Service up to 5 April 1997 - The Effect of Guaranteed
Minimum Pension on Pensions Increase
Part of your occupational pension is a Guaranteed Minimum Pension, (see
Part 5) which is broadly equivalent to what you would have received from the State Earnings Related
Pension Scheme if you had not ‘contacted out’. The annual pension increase on the Guaranteed Minimum
Pension (which is part of your HPSS pension) will be paid with the increase on your state pension.
The pension increase on the remainder of your HPSS pension, based on
the rise in retail prices, will be paid by the HPSS Scheme. Sometimes we may have to pay the increase
before the Inland Revenue notify us of the value of the Guaranteed Minimum Pension. If this happens
we may have to increase or reduce later pension payments to you to adjust for any overpayment or underpayment.
We will notify you in advance if we need to do this.
Benefits in respect of Service from 6 April 1997
The increase on the part of your HPSS pension based on service from
6 April 1997 onwards will be paid wholly by the HPSS Scheme. The pension will have to be increased each
year in line with price rises or by 5%, whichever is less.
When Do I Qualify for Pension Increases?
This depends on the type of pension you are receiving.
If you take age retirement or ill health retirement pension increases
will apply from the April after your pension begins.
If you are under age 55 and you retire under the Compensation for Premature
Retirement Scheme (ie retirement on grounds of redundancy, organisational change or in the interests
of the efficiency of the service) your pension will not be increased until you reach age 55.
When you reach age 55 your pension will get all the increases made since
it began, however these will not be paid as arrears.
If you are age 55 or over when you retire under the Compensation for
Premature Retirement Scheme, pension increases will apply from the April after your pension begins.
If you take Voluntary early Retirement your pension will not be increased
until you reach age 55.
Will my Pension always get the full increase?
Only after it has been in payment for a year. However, most pensions
will begin between increase dates, so the amount of the first increase will depend on the number of
months, it has been in payment. For example, if the full increase is 5% but your pension has only been
in payment for 6 months, the increase you get will be 2.5%.
A part month of 16 days or more will count as if it was a full month,
but a part month of 15 days or less will not count. So a pension that begins 15 days or less before
an increase date will not get a pension increase until the following year.
As the increase date may fall part way through the month your pension
for that month will be paid partly at the rate before and partly at the rate after the increase. The
next months pension would all be at the increased rate.
Preserved Pensions
Your preserved pension will probably be based on your pay at the time
you left the Scheme. As soon as it begins it will be given all the increases since your pay ended.
Future pension increases will then be given from the following April
onwards.
Lump Sum Retiring Allowance
A pensions increase will only be applied to your lump sum if your benefits
are based on pay that ended before your last day of HPSS service. In other words, where your benefits
were preserved for a period of time before they became payable.
In these cases your lump sum is increased by the same percentage as
your pension.
Annual Pension Increase Rates
Year | Percentage Increase | Date Applied |
|---|---|---|
2000 | 1.1% | 10 April 2000 |
2001 | 3.3% | 9 April 2001 |
2002 | 1.7% | 8 April 2002
|
Re-Employment
Effect on your pension
If you retire and return to HPSS employment of more than 16 hours a
week within one month and you are under age 70, your pension will normally be suspended and you will
have to repay any pension you have received. The suspension will remain in force for the duration of
your re-employment or until your hours reduce to 16 a week or less or, you reach age 70.
If you return to work within the HPSS after one month and before age
60 your pension will be reduced (abated), so that your HPSS earnings and pension after retirement are
not more than your HPSS earnings before you retired. This reduction will apply up to age 60 or until
you stop working again, whichever is earlier.
If you return to work in the HPSS after one month and you are age 60
or over your pension will remain in payment at the full rate.
Rejoining the HPSS Scheme
You cannot rejoin the HPSS Superannuation Scheme unless you retired
because of ill health and you return to work in the HPSS before age 50.
What to do if you are re-employed in the HPSS
- Tell your employer that you are receiving a HPSS Superannuation pension
- Write to HPSS Superannuation Branch providing details of where you are working and your staff number. Please remember to quote your superannuation reference number (ie your SB number).
When you notify us that you are re-employed we will write to your employer
asking for details of your earnings. If your earnings are fixed we will then calculate what pension
you are entitled to and inform you.
If your earnings vary we will check these at the end of each quarter.
We will normally offer you the choice of having your pension paid quarterly in arrears or continuing
to have it paid monthly (unless it its obvious that no pension is going to be payable). If you decide
on monthly payment we will ask for your consent to adjust your pension, if necessary, at the end of
every quarter to recover any overpayment. We will notify you every quarter of any adjustment.
The amount of pension you get will be:
- Full pension if the earnings from you re-employment plus your superannuation pension are no more than your earnings before you retired;
- Reduced pension if the earnings from your re-employment plus your superannuation pension are greater than your earnings before you retired;
- No pension if your earnings from your re-employment are the same or greater than your earnings before you retired. Reduction of your pension on account of re-employment will continue up to age 60 or until you stop working if this is earlier.
The Scheme may provide the following on the death of a pensioner:
- a lump sum
- widow’s or widower’s pension
- child allowance
- Lump sum
A lump sum is not normally paid when a Scheme pensioner dies, however,
there may be a small amount due where the member draws their pension for a short time (less than 5 years).
The lump sum will be 5 times the gross annual pension less the pension already paid, or, if less, twice
pensionable pay less the retirement lump sum paid.
If you are married or separated any lump sum payable will be paid to
your spouse. If you do not want your spouse to receive any lump sum you should complete form AW237,
which you can get from your employer or HPSS Superannuation Branch. The completed form should be returned
to Superannuation Branch.
If you complete form AW237, or there is no surviving spouse, any lump
sum will be payable to your estate.
Widow’s/Widower’s Pension
A widow’s or widower’s pension will be payable to your spouse if you
are married or separated. A pension is not payable to the surviving partner of a common law relationship.
The pension will normally be payable from the day after the date of
death.
The widow(er) will receive a pension at the same rate as your pension
for 3 months, or 6 months if there is at least one dependent child. Thereafter the widows pension will
be one half the rate of your pension. The widower’s pension will be one half the rate of a pension calculated
on service from 6 April 1988 only.
Child Allowance
Child allowance is payable if there are any dependent children. A dependent
child is someone who:
- is under the age of 17, or
- is age 17 or over but still in full-time education or training, or regardless of age, is permanently unable to earn a living due to ill-health or handicap.
If
a “child” is in full-time education or training, we will ask for proof.
If a “child” is dependent because of ill-health or handicap, we will
ask for medical advice and a medical report before paying any allowance.
The child allowance is based on your pension, however, if you have less
than 10 years membership it will be increased to 10 years (or, if less, to the maximum membership you
could have had to age 65) when we calculate the child allowance.
If there is a surviving parent getting a widow’s or widower’s pension
from the Scheme no child allowance is payable for the first 6 months. After 6 months the allowance is:
- for 1 child - one quarter of the pension
- for 2 or more children - one half of the pension
If
there is no surviving parent or the survivor is not getting a widow’s or widower’s pension from the
Scheme the allowance is:
- for 1 child - one third of the pension
- for 2 or more children - two thirds of the pension.
