Which members could be affected?
The High Court ruling is likely to affect any Fund pension that was built up between 17 May 1990 that included GMP. This could affect:
- Current members
- Previous members (who are now working for a different employer)
- Previous members (who transferred their benefits out of the Fund)
- Pensioner members (who are receiving their pension already)
- Spouses of partners of members (who are receiving spouse pensions)
- Any dependants (such us children or those who are financially dependant on a member)
Will you write to every member?
No, if you didn’t build up any GMP between 17 May 1990 and 6 April 1997, you won’t be affected so we will not write to you.
If your pension does not need to be increased and you are not owed a one-off extra payment we will also not write to you.
When will you write to affected members?
We will write to members (and former members who transferred out) in stages:
- For pensioner and dependant members this will be from early 2026 onwards. As we have a lot of pensioner and dependant members we expect this work to take several years.
- For former members who transferred out, this is likely to be from 2029 onwards.
- For members who have retired or transferred out recently, or who plan to do either soon, this is likely to be from 2029 at the latest.
If you are affected, we will write to you individually with full details.
How much money could I get if I’m affected?
GMP is typically a small part of someone’s pension, so we expect any pension increase to be relatively small. Any one-off extra payments will vary in size depending on how many years it relates to. The longer you have been retired for, the higher this amount could be. This amount will include interest.
Each GMP will be calculated individually for each member so the amounts will differ from member to member.
- Some members may receive an increase to their pension.
- Some members may receive a one-off extra payment to cover any missing pension they should have received up to now.
- Some members may receive an increase to their pension and a one-off extra payment.
- Some former members may be due a one-off extra payment to cover any missing payment that should have been included when they transferred out.
Will my benefits definitely increase?
No. Your pension may be higher than if you had been of the opposite sex, so you may not have been disadvantaged.
Even if you have been disadvantaged, since GMP is usually a small part of a pension, you might see little difference to your overall pension.
Could my benefits go down as a result of GMP equalisation?
No, your pension will not go down.
I receive an increase every April on my GMP, will this be affected?
No, any increases added to your GMP will be paid as normal with your April pension payment.
How will you review my Fund pension?
We will work out the amount of pension you built up between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997. For some members, we will also look at the benefits built up after 5 April 1997.
We will then work it out again over the same period, but as if you were a member of the opposite sex (the ‘alternative’ pension). Everything else about the calculation will be the same: for example, your age, salary, and the date you retired.
The calculation will tell us:
- If your current pension is lower than the ‘alternative’ pension would be. If it is we will increase your current pension, and
- If you have received a lower pension than the ‘alternative’ pension in past years. If it is we will pay a one-off extra payment (which includes interest) to make up the difference.
When we work out your pension increase in the future, we will check that we are treating benefits equally for men and women and allow for this in your pension.
I transferred my pension out in the past, how will you review that pension?
We will work out the level of GMP previous members who transferred out built up in the Fund between 17 May 1990 and 6 April 1997 and measure the value of their total pension based on that GMP.
We will then measure the value of their total pension worked out as if their GMP built up in the Fund between 17 May 1990 and 6 April 1997 was that of a previous member of the opposite sex.
If the value of their pension is higher than it would have been if they were the opposite sex, they will be due a one-off extra payment.
If I am due an increase and/or extra payment, will I need to do to anything?
No, we will contact you if your Fund pension needs to increase or if there is a one-off extra payment. We will then increase your pension or pay the extra payment, or both.
If you receive an increase or extra payment, you may need to check if you are paying the correct amount of tax. See ‘GMP and tax’ for more information.
If I am owed an extra payment, how will you calculate the interest?
We will use the interest rate as set out in the High Court ruling, which is the Bank of England base rate plus 1%.
I want to retire soon. How will this affect my GMP?
Where possible, we will continue to start paying pension benefits without any adjustment, until we know if they need to increase. Then we’ll let you know if you will get any extra payments.
I want to transfer out of the Fund. How will this affect my GMP?
Transfer quotations do not currently take into account any GMP equalisation adjustment you might be entitled to. If you transfer your benefits out of the Fund before we have completed our equalisation calculations we will let you know at a later date if you are owed extra payments. This is likely to be in 2027 at the earliest.