Noticeboard

The government has made changes to pensions tax under new legislation introduced on 6 April 2024.  One of the main changes was the abolition of the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) regime.  These changes may affect the way you take your benefits and the amount of tax you will pay.

You may have recently received a letter from XPS on behalf of the Trustees asking you to confirm certain personal details held on your pension record by visiting their website at www.XPSverification.com

THIS IS NOT A SCAM.

The Trustees have been reviewing the information held for Plan members and have asked XPS to check that the details held on members' records are correct so that they can pay benefits promptly and accurately and run the Plan efficiently.

Your assistance in confirming your details would be much appreciated and page 2 of the letter sets out how to do this.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact XPS quoting the reference number at the top of their letter:

Tel: 0118 918 5073
Email:  Compass@XPSgroup.com

Thank you.

Scams can be hard to spot and are often disguised with credible websites, recommendations and professional looking documents.

 

Follow these simple steps to help protect from scammers:

 

1.       Reject ‘too good to be true’ offers that come out of the blue.  Cold calling is illegal and an offer of a free pension review is almost certainly a scam.

 

2.       Check that who you are dealing with is on the FCA register at register.fca.org.uk and contact the firm directly.  Call 0800 111 6768 to check they are authorised to give pension advice and check www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart for known scams.  If you don’t use an FCA-authorised firm, you’re unlikely to be able to access compensation schemes if anything goes wrong.

 

3.       Don’t be rushed or pressured to act quickly; time-limited offers are likely to be a scam.

 

4.       Get free independent, impartial information and guidance from www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk or contact an independent financial adviser; you can find one at www.moneyhelper.org.uk.

 

Use the online reporting form on the ScamSmart site or on 0800 111 6768. 

You can also report it to Action Fraudon 0300 123 2040 or at www.actionfraud.police.uk.

 

Be ScamSmart with your pension.  To find out more, visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart.

Following a decision made by the High Court, you may have heard that all UK pension schemes with GMP-related benefits should equalise their GMP benefits to eliminate any gender-related differences.

The Trustees are currently following the necessary advice and guidance required to assess any potential implications for the Plan and its members as a result of this ruling. However, this is a complex task and it may be some time before any affected members are identified and their issues addressed.

We will continue to keep the Plan noticeboard updated with the latest news on this matter and any affected members will be contacted as soon as possible.

You may have heard recently that the UK Government has announced plans to make a change to the Retail Prices Index (RPI). 

 

From 2030, the UK Government and the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) intend to adjust the calculation of RPI and align it to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). 

 

As CPI has generally been lower than RPI and some of the increases the Plan pays to certain pensions in payment are linked to RPI, this may have an impact on the level of the increases that the Plan pays to RPI linked pensions in the future.