There are 3 main reasons why an annual benefit statement (ABS) may not be available for your members. These are listed below with some examples:
There is an issue that needs to be investigated. This could be because:
- We have a query about the data in their pension record that needs to be resolved before a pension statement can be produced. For example, they may be working in more than one post and the time they’ve worked has exceeded the pensionable time allowed.
- They’re subject to membership restrictions as they’ve exceeded the maximum membership allowed.
We need to manually calculate their ABS because their scheme membership pattern is complicated. This could be because:
- They’re a male nurse with different normal pension ages (55/60)
- They’re a re-employed pensioner
- They’re drawing down some of their pension
- They’re buying additional pension or ERRBO
- They’re a practitioner with added years and transition scheme membership
- They’re a practitioner who has chosen to move into a different Scheme or Section
- They’re a practitioner who left the Scheme prior to 1 October 2009
They’re not eligible to receive an ABS this year because:
- They joined the scheme after 31 March 2020, or they joined before this date, but their membership record has not been updated by their employer. This means we do not have the information we need to calculate their ABS.
- They’re not a member of the NHS Pension Scheme.
- They’re a member of the pension scheme but there is not an exact match between the data in their NHS Pensions record and their ESR (electronic staff record) which means their ABS cannot be displayed.
Additional information:
- Retirement age - If a member is a scheme transition member and has Special Class or MHO status with entitlement to retire at age 55, this will not be shown on their ABS. Their retirement age will show as 60 in the 1995 Section. It does not mean they have lost their status. The correct retirement age will be used when they retire.
- Scheme pays – If a member has an election for scheme pays then this deduction is not considered in their ABS.