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Pension News
Autumn 2019
An update for active members of the Local Government Pension Scheme
(LGPS)
In this issue you can find out about:
Page 2 - What is Orbis?
Page 3 - Contribution Rates for April 2019-20
Page 4 - The 50:50 Scheme
Page 4 - How will Brexit affect my pension?
Page 5 - Your Annual Benefit Statement & ‘My Pension’ portal
Page 6 - What can I do on ‘My pension’ Portal
Page 7 - Going Digital
Page 8 - The Career Average Scheme (CARE) turns Five!
Page 9 - Tax and your pension – The Annual Allowance
Page 10 - ScamSmart
Page 10 - Equitable Life update
Page 11 - Changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
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Why was Orbis created? What's its purpose?
• To drive efficiencies through increased
standardisation and removal of
duplication.
• To pool resources, expertise and
knowledge to identify best practice
approaches that best meet the need of
our customers.
• To create greater operational resilience.
• To deliver greater value for money,
placing customers at the heart of
everything that we do.
• To improve accessibility of services to
the customer through a self-sufficiency
approach.
You can find more information regarding Orbis
on the website below:
orbispartnership.co.uk
What Is Orbis?
Orbis is a public sector partnership between the three councils of Brighton
& Hove, East Sussex and Surrey. The partnership consists of around 2000
staff working collaboratively across the three partners. It was formally
created between East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council in
April 2015, with Brighton & Hove City Council joining as the final founding
partner in May 2017.
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Actual yearly pay You pay
From To Main section 50/50 section
Up to £14,400 5.50% 2.75%
£14,401 £22,500 5.80% 2.90%
£22,501 £36,500 6.50% 3.25%
£36,501 £46,200 6.80% 3.40%
£46,201 £64,600 8.50% 4.25%
£64,601 £91,500 9.90% 4.95%
£91,501 £107,700 10.50% 5.25%
£107,701 £161,500 11.40% 5.70%
More than £161,501 12.50% 6.25%
Contributions Rates from 1 April 2019
As a member of the LGPS, the contribution rate
that you pay depends on your annual
pensionable salary.
Your contribution rate must be reviewed each
April, but your employer’s policy may be to
review your contribution rate more frequently.
If you have a query concerning the contribution
rate that has been applied, please raise this
with your employer.
The pay bands and the contribution rates that
apply from April 2019 are shown below:
2019-20 Contribution Table
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50%50%
The 50:50 Section
The 50:50 section of the LGPS gives you the
ability to pay half of your normal
contributions, whilst you accrue half of your
normal pension.
The flexibility may be useful during times of
financial hardship as it allows you to remain
in the scheme, building up valuable pension
benefits, as an alternative to opting out of
the scheme.
Whilst you are in the 50:50 section, your ill
health and life cover top-up would be
calculated as if you were in the main
section of the Scheme.
How will Brexit affect my pensions?
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
is very secure, because the benefits you receive
are set out in law.
There will be no impact to the pension that you
are entitled to receive on retirement, if or when
the UK leaves the EU.
If there is any information that members need
to be aware of, regarding any future impact of
Brexit on the pensions industry, we will provide
this on our website and in newsletters.
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Your Annual Benefit Statement
All members who were paying into the
LGPS on 31 March 2019 will receive an
Annual Benefit Statement.
The statement shows you the value of
your pension to 31 March 2019 and an
estimate of the value of your pension to
your Normal Retirement Date.
You can view your 2019 Annual Benefit
Statement on ‘My Pension’ online.
Logon to ‘My Pension’ at:
mypension.surreycc.gov.uk and click on
Annual Benefit Statement from your
dashboard.
Guidance notes and a link to the guidance
video can be found under the Annual
Benefit Statement menu on the
dashboard.
How do I register for My Pension?
If you have not already registered for the portal,
it is free of charge and easy to do, by following
the steps below:
1. Go to mypension.surreycc.gov.uk
2. If you haven’t got a username or
password please click on ‘Request One.’
3. You will receive an email within 24 hours
to complete your registration.
If you are having any difficulty registering or have
other questions about ‘My Pension’, please call
our helpline on 0300 200 1034.
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Estimate your projected future retirement
benefits - using the Pension Benefits > Benefit
Projectors menu option. You can calculate an
estimate for future retirement dates.
The Benefit Projector is easy to use but there is a
full guide published in the Documents > Scheme
Documents section.
If you want to opt out of receiving communication
electronically, then please write to us at the
address shown on page 12.
Your signed letter must include your full name,
national insurance number, your current employer
and your date of birth.
Check or update your Expression of Wish
details – for the distribution of any LGPS
death grant that becomes payable.
If you wish to view or update these
details select the Nominations section
from the dashboard. Any changes you
make will be updated immediately.
What else can I use ‘My Pension’ for?
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Going Digital
We are letting you know that we are aiming to go
paperless in the future, to help the environment and
to keep our costs to a minimum.
Going forwards, we will be contacting members by
email, via the website and through the ‘My Pension’
portal.
What do I need to do?
If you are already registered with the ‘My Pension’
portal, then we already hold the details we need to
enable us to contact you in the future.
If you are not registered, then please refer to page 5
which shows you how to register for the ‘My
Pension’ portal.
Once you have logged onto the portal, you can check
that we hold the correct contact details for you.
Can I still receive paper copies?
If you don’t want to use these electronic
methods, or don’t have online access, you
can continue to receive paper
communications.
Please contact us in writing if you would
like to receive correspondence about your
pension by post.
Your signed letter must include your full
name, national insurance number, your
current employer and your date of birth.
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The CARE Scheme Turns Five!
The Career Average (CARE) Scheme has
now been in operation for five years.
Here is a reminder of how the CARE
Scheme works:
• The scheme year runs from 1 April
to 31 March.
• The benefits you build up are
based upon your pensionable pay
for each scheme year.
Remember:
The CARE scheme also provides benefits for
your partner and dependents in the event of
your death.
• If you are in the main scheme, 1/49th of your pensionable pay goes into your pension.
• If you are in the 50:50 scheme, 1/98th of your pensionable pay goes into your pension.
• On 1 April each year, your whole CARE pension is revalued in line with the Consumer Price
Index (CPI.) For 1 April 2019, the CPI increase was 2.4%.
For more information on how your pension is calculated, please visit:
lgpsmember.org/arm/already-member-how.php
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Tax and your Pension – The Annual
Allowance
The Annual Allowance (AA) is a limit on the
increase in the value of the pension benefits
you can build up in a year before you
become subject to a tax charge.
A ‘carry forward’ rule means that if you
exceed the AA in a year then you may not
have to pay a tax charge, providing you have
sufficient unused allowances from the
previous 3 years.
The Annual Allowance for 2018/19 was
£40,000 for most people, and will remain the
same in 2019/20.
The AA from 2016/17 year onwards is
reduced on a tapered basis for high earners.
You will be affected by the tapered AA if:
• Your annual income (excluding
pension contributions) is over
£110,000.
• Your annual ‘adjusted income’
(broadly, your taxable income plus
pensions savings built up over the tax
year) is over £150,000.
The increase in your pension savings may
be assessed against a lower Annual
Allowance if you have flexibly accessed
any benefits in a money purchase
arrangement after 5 April 2015.
If you have exceeded the Annual
Allowance in 2018/19, the Pension
Services would have contacted you
before 6 October 2019 to let you know.
If you have not received a notification,
and believe that you have exceeded the
Annual Allowance, then please contact us
using the contact details on page 12.
Further information about the Annual
Allowance can be found on the Pension
Fund website.
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Equitable Life
A few members of the LGPS have Additional
Voluntary Contributions held with Equitable
Life.
Equitable Life have announced that they have
entered into an agreement to transfer the
Society and all its policies to Utmost Life and
Pensions (formerly known as Reliance Life).
The proposal can be found on Equitable Life’s
website at: equitable.co.uk
The pension fund will vote on their members’
behalf and the results will be communicated
as soon as they are known.
Don’t let scammers enjoy your pension – be ‘Scamsmart’
Scammers try to persuade pension savers to transfer their
entire pension savings, by making attractive-sounding
promises they have no intention of keeping.
Despite the cold-calling ban, scammers often contact
people via phone, email or text, or advertise online with
websites that look official or government-backed.
Scam tactics include:
• Contact out of the blue
• Promises of high or guaranteed results
• Free pension reviews
• Access to your pension before age 55
• Pressure to act quickly
Don’t be deceived into losing your pension benefits. If you
are considering transferring your pension benefits, then
make sure you take independent financial advice before
making any decisions.
Be ‘Scamsmart’ - for further information, please refer
to the Financial Conduct Authority website at:
fca.org.uk/scamsmart
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Changes in the LGPS Regulations
From time to time, the LGPS regulations are amended, or the factors we use to calculate your
pension are changed. The changes are briefly described below:
Revised Early Retirement Factors
If you voluntarily decide to take your benefits before your Normal Retirement Date, then your
pension will normally be reduced to reflect this early payment.
The reductions percentages are calculated by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD). From 8
January 2019, GAD revised the reduction percentages and the new factors are now the same for
men and women.
Please refer to lgpsmember.org for further details.
Revised Late Retirement Factors
If you decide to take your pension after your Normal Retirement Date, then your Pension benefits
will be increased to reflect this late payment.
GAD have changed the way the increase is calculated and the new late retirement factors apply
from the 1 September 2019.
For further details go to lgpsmember.org
Additional Survivor Benefit Contributions
If you are purchasing Additional Survivor Benefits, and still have contributions outstanding, the
contributions that you pay are changing from 1 April 2020.
If this affects you, we will contact you prior to 1 April 2020 to let you know what the new
contributions will be.
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Contact Information
View your pension online:
mypension.surreycc.gov.uk
Problem accessing the portal:
Phone - 0300 200 1034
Have a question about your pension:
Phone - 0300 200 1031
Email Us:
Write to Us:
Orbis Pension Services,
Room 218 County Hall
Penrhyn Road
Kingston
Surrey
KT1 2DN
Useful Links
Pension Fund website
surreypensionfund.org
National LGPS members’ website
lgpsmember.org
The Pension Advisory Service
pensionadvisoryservice.org.uk
The Pensions Regulator
thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
Money Advice Service
moneyadviceservice.org.uk
State Pension Forecast
yourpension.gov.uk
Help Finding an Independent Financial Advisor
unbiased.co.uk