Members’ Information

There are an increasing number of companies claiming they can offer you high growth investment options outside of your current pension arrangement or help you access your pension as cash early. You need to be very careful if a company says they can do this for you. Often these arrangements can put your savings at unnecessary risk or result in tax charges and penalties of more than half the pot’s value and you won’t be told about this. If you’re concerned you should consider taking advice from an independent financial adviser. The Pension Regulator has more information about this here.

You may be entitled to a pension or a lump sum if your spouse, partner, or someone you were dependant on has passed away. Please do let us know here, if someone receiving a pension from us has died, or call us on 0800 122 5800 (from outside of the UK +44 20 3727 9850). We will need the member’s name, address, National Insurance number, date of birth and date of death. It would help if you know the member’s membership number and scheme name. Please let us know your telephone number, email address and relationship with the member. We will then be in touch about the next steps.

If you get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership, the courts need to decide how to divide your assets between you and your former spouse or civil partner. When they do this, they’ll take the value of your pension benefits into account. Please get in touch here to get details of your pension benefits for divorce proceedings.

The RPF provides a range of benefits upon your death.  These can be to your spouse or civil partner, or if you don’t have a spouse or civil partner, to someone who was financially dependent on you.  The benefits payable can differ across the membership, and what we have outlined below is the benefits which are applicable to most members.   However, for some members, your spouse, civil partner or dependent may be due different benefits, which could be less or more.

When you die, the RPF will provide your spouse, civil partner or dependant with a pension for the rest of their life which for most members will be about 50% of your pension (before any Pension Commencement Lump Sum if you have already retired).

If you are currently considering retirement, this estimated dependant’s pension is provided within the options outlined in the retirement quotation. The estimated pension will then normally increase in line with the member’s pension.   When the dependant’s pension comes into payment it will then increase every year in line with the Fund rules.

If you die less than five years after your pension starts, a cash sum equal to the balance of pension payments you would have received to the end of that five-year period will normally be payable

Please contact us for further information on the options noted above or for an estimate of the pension that would be due to your spouse or civil partner on your death before or after retirement.   Estimates of partner’s pensions are calculated individually to ensure that any non-standard benefits attached to the member’s benefit are taken into account as appropriate.   We aim to provide the estimate to you within 5-10 working days.

For most schemes, the minimum age you can start taking a pension in the UK is currently 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028.  This is set by the government.  However, the RPF has a protected minimum retirement age of 50.  Retirement before ‘Normal Retirement Age’, which for most members is 62, will normally result in a reduced pension.  There are exceptions due to ill health.

If you are considering transferring your benefits from the Fund, you can receive a quotation of the lump sum equivalent of your benefits in the Fund (called a “Cash Equivalent Transfer Value” or “CETV”) to transfer to another pension scheme from us.  Transferring your benefits elsewhere will extinguish your benefits in the Fund.

A CETV is a cash sum which is the estimated value of your benefits at this time.  This cash sum would be provided in exchange for you giving up your Fund benefits This includes benefits on retirement and on death which may be payable to your spouse, civil partner, or dependants.

When considering whether to transfer your benefits out of the Fund, it is recommended that you take independent financial advice.  It is a legal requirement for you to take independent financial advice before transferring out of the Fund if your transfer value (excluding Additional Voluntary Contributions “AVCs”) is greater than £30,000.  Go to either https://www.fca.org.uk/register or https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk for help finding an independent financial adviser near you.

The Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) has issued guidance on transfers out of ‘defined benefit’ pension arrangements (such as this Fund).  The FCA is clear that when advising on such transfers, advisers should start from the position that a transfer is likely to be unsuitable for most members.  An adviser should only recommend transferring out of the Fund if it considers your personal circumstances make it a more appropriate option.

A CETV represents the amount of money needed now by the Fund, in today’s monetary terms, which is expected to be sufficient to meet all your pension payments from the Fund in the future.  This includes benefits on retirement and on death which may be payable to your spouse, civil partner, or dependants.

CETVs are calculated in accordance with legislation and the Fund’s Trust Deed and Rules.  In particular, legislation requires the Trustee to determine the assumptions to be used based on advice from the Scheme Actuary and for this method to be based on the best estimate of the expected cost of providing the member’s benefits in the scheme at the date of calculation.

The key factors affecting how the value of a CETV may change if calculated at different dates are as follows:

1. The estimate for future price inflation:

a. If the estimate for future price inflation decreases, the Trustee expect to pay a lower annual pension in the future which results in a decrease in the CETV.

b. If the estimate for future price inflation increases, the Trustee expect to pay a higher annual pension in the future which results in an increase in the CETV.

2. The expected future investment returns:

a. If the expected future investment returns decrease, this increases the expected amount of money needed at the date of calculation to meet the benefits payable in the future which increases the CETV.

b. If the expected future investment returns increase, this decreases the expected amount of money needed at the date of calculation to meet the benefits payable in the future which decreases the CETV.

3. As a member gets closer to their Normal Retirement Date (the date at which you are expected to retire as defined in the Fund’s Rules), the shorter period of discounting results in an increase in the CETV.

The above factors mean that when a CETV is calculated at different dates, the value of the CETV can go up or down.  Please get in touch here if you have any concerns about a change in your CETV amount.

Isio is a multi award winning pension administrator. Our focus is happy staff and a high quality member experience. Please do email, write or call us, if you have any question around the administration of your benefits. We are here to help. If you need any advice however, you need to speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. The government has set up a service to offer free, impartial guidance. You can call MoneyHelper on 0800 138 3944. You can also find lots of guidance around your retirement options at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en.

If you have any questions please get in touch using our online tools, telephone or post.

We have a range of dedicate online forms here or you can ask a question here.

Email: reuters@isio.com

Post: Reuters Pension Administration Team, Isio, PO Box 108, Blyth, NE24 9DY, United Kingdom

Helpline: 0800 488 0796 (from outside of the UK +44 203 372 2106)

Opening times: 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday

If you need a retirement quotation, transfer out quotation or any other information, we have a variety of dedicated forms listed here or you can ask a general question here.

The Trustee expects members to always receive a high standard of service and please be assured that any expression of dissatisfaction is taken seriously.  The Fund runs a multi-tiered complaints system to better support a resolution as quickly as possible. In the first instance, please raise your concerns with us here, and we will look to resolve the matter with you directly.  Please be aware that all complaints raised with us (Isio) are brought to the attention of the Trustee.

Should you not be satisfied with the resolution we propose, you may wish to raise your complaint through the Fund’s Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP).  This is a two-stage process:

Stage 1

The first stage involves a full review of the complaint and relevant events, with a response being considered and provided by the Pensions Manager.  Should you remain dissatisfied, you may choose to progress to the second stage of the IDRP.

Stage 2

The second stage refers the matter to the Trustee directly, by way of an appeal against the response received at stage 1.  The Trustee will then undertake a complete review of the details of the complaint and provide a response.

Please note that each stage of the IDRP can take time, and we would estimate a timescale of up to three months for a response at either stage.  You can request access to the IDRP forms from us or directly from the Pensions Manager – contact details can be found here.

The above process is designed to provide resolution at the earliest opportunity.  This does not restrict your statutory rights to refer the matter to the Pension Ombudsman which deals with complaints and disputes that concern the administration and/or management of occupational and personal pension schemes.  The Pensions Ombudsman will expect your complaint to have fully completed the IDRP process with the Trustee prior to considering your case.  The Pension Ombudsman’s website provides more details on what they can deal with and how their procedure works.

There have been a number of changes relating to pension schemes which are, or have historically been, associated with Reuters, Thomson, Reuters and Refinitiv.

Contact details for the various schemes are:

Reuters Pension Fund (RPF) – administered by Isio.  Contact reuters@isio.com.  However for most requests you should be able to use the forms on the website here

If you wish to bring something about RPF to the attention of the Trustee, contact RPF.PM@barnett-waddingham.co.uk

Reuters Supplementary Pension Scheme (SPS) – administered by Capita. Contact refinitivpensions@capita.com

Refinitiv Retirement Plan (RRP) – transferred to Legal & General. Contact employerdedicatedteam@landg.com

The forms on the website here – will allow you to communicate securely with the Isio team for a variety of different reasons.

In addition, we provide a member portal “My Pension tracker” which provides a secure means to submit requests to us.  We would recommend using this where possible.  However it cannot be used to submit forms or ID.

If you decide to directly email information to us, please consider the ways in which you can do this securely.  For example, you may wish to put the personal information into a separate document which you can then password protect and attach to the email.  The password could be something that is already known to us such as your National Insurance number or date of birth, in which case this can be explained in the email.  For example, you may wish to say “the password is my National Insurance number all in uppercase” or “the password is my date of birth in the format DD/MM/YY”.  If you do choose to use a password, you should never email it to us in a follow-up email because if both emails are intercepted, your personal data can be accessed.

If you would like some guidance on the best way to send your data securely, please call us and we will discuss the options available with you.  We would also encourage members to stay vigilant – keep a look out for unexpected calls and emails which may be suspicious.  The Trustee included some useful information on how to keep your pension savings safe in a previous edition of the Update, including a link to the National Cyber Security Centre website which has some useful guidance on cyber security as well as tips for staying secure online that we would encourage members to refer to http://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/data-breaches

We do not issue payslips automatically each month. You can view your payslip online anytime. You will have received a letter from Isio with instructions for logging in via www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You can request a new password here.

The Annual Allowance is the limit set by the government on how much you can save in a pension scheme before having to pay tax. From the 2023/24 tax year, the Annual Allowance is £60,000. This amount is reduced further if you have an adjusted income greater than £260,000 and your threshold income is greater than £200,000. The government looks at a period of time called the Pension Input Period, to see how much the value of your benefits have increased. This increase is known as your Pension Input Amount and is included in your annual Benefit Statement. You need to check that the pension input amounts from all your pension savings do not go above the Annual Allowance. You may want to speak to an Independent Financial Adviser about this or read more about the detail here.

The LSA (which for most members who have not previously received any retirement benefits is £268,275) is the overall limit for tax-free lump sums paid at retirement.  This limit applies across all your UK-registered pension schemes.  Members who have previously received pension benefits or lump sums from a pension scheme may have a lower LSA than this.

The LSA is used up by Pension Commencement Lump Sums (PCLS) and the 25% tax-free element of Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sums (UFPLS).   Lump sums on total commutation of small pensions (trivial commutation lump sums, winding up lump sums and ‘small lump sums’), will not count towards these allowances, but you may need to have some LSA remaining for some of these lump sums to be paid.

The LSDBA of £1,073,100 is the total amount of lump sums and death benefits which may be paid tax-free across all your UK-registered pension schemes.  The LSDBA will reduce through payment of a PCLS, and the 25% tax-free element of an UFPLS, as well as a serious ill-health lump sum, and the non-taxable part of any authorised lump sum death benefits (excluding a charity lump sum death benefit and a trivial commutation lump sum death benefit).

You can view your payslip and P60 online. You can log in online by going to www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You will need your username, password and memorable word. We have previously sent you this login information, but if you no longer have this please contact us and we will resend it. You can request a new password here.

We cannot answer questions about your tax code. If you think you are paying the wrong amount of tax, or if you think your tax code is wrong, you must contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) direct, quoting your National Insurance number (if you have one).

Phone: 0300 200 3300

Textphone: 0300 200 3319

Outside UK: +44 135 535 9022

Opening times:

8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday

8am to 4pm, Saturday

Closed Sundays and bank holidays

Best time to call: Phone lines are less busy before 10am, Monday to Friday

Post: Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment HM Revenue & Customs, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom

You can view your payslip and P60 online. You can log in online by going to www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You will need your username, password and memorable word. We have previously sent you this login information, but if you no longer have this please contact us and we will resend it. You can request a new password here.

If for any reason you do still receive a paper payslip this will be sent to you by the 31st of May.

Everyone is different in terms of when they want to retire and how much they will want to spend.  You may spend less on transport to work, upkeep of your children and you may have paid off your mortgage.  However, you may want to spend more on holidays and your health.  You can access an online budget planner from the MoneyHelper here.  The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has an excellent resource setting out retirement living standards here.

It may be possible to retire early on the grounds of ill-health.  You can contact us here, if you believe that you are eligible.

You may be able to delay taking your pension.  This could result in an increase in your monthly pension payments when these are taken.

If you elect to take your pension from the Fund, your pension will be paid to you for the rest of your life in monthly instalments.  Your pension is based on your contributory service, salary whilst in employment and relevant accrual rate.  For benefits payable upon death, please see “Upon my death, what happens to my pension?” under General Information.

If you request a retirement quotation, you will receive an illustration of your pension at your chosen retirement date.  You will also be provided with an illustration of the benefits payable to your spouse or civil partner on your death.  You have a range of options, including whether to receive a Pension Commencement Lump Sum.  If you have any queries or would like any information on the options available to you, please contact us.

It is very important to keep your details updated. You can update your bank account here or request a form.

It is very important to keep your details updated. Click here to update your address or marital details.

Your benefits are valuable and so it is important to keep your contact details up-to-date. You can update your postal address here or email address and telephone number here.

Your expression of wish form tells the Trustee who you would like any death benefits paid to. You should regularly update this to make sure it reflects your current personal circumstances and wishes. It is critical that you keep your Expression of Wish up-to-date. You can request the form here.