Your Pension 09 - illustration

[stephen500]

I just received my illustration for 09 and everything went up except the "death in service pension for widow"
Which reduced by £1240 per year!
widow's pension if retire at 60 has gone up and if I retire at 65.
Has any one any idea why this is such a drop?As I said everything else has gone up! (not as much as it would have with the final salary.

[baldrick]

My 'Death in service pension for widow/er' has gone down by £416.
It seems to be half the Final Salary pension at 31 March 2009, quoted at top of page.
It doesn't seem to take into account the CDSB pension at 31 March 2009 - so does
that mean widow/er pension isn't paid on CDSB pensions, or is it a mistake - I can't
find anything to say that in the booklet on the Royal Mail Pension Plan they sent us
last year. It says:
Dependants' pensions
If you have at least 2 years' qualifying service:

* Your widow or widower will get a pension of up to half the pension you
would have received had you retired on ill-health grounds on the date you
died.

[stephen500]

I will ring tommorow to try and get an answer.

[stephen500]

Yet widow's pension if you retire at 60 is half of both csdb and final salary.
Will find out tommorow as I said.

[stephen500]

I rang up this morning and am awaiting one of their advisors to ring me back. (within five days)
I will let you know the reply.

[stephen500]

I didn't get much of a reply.
"It may have been wrong last year [the higher figure].
"Its only a guide"
"the cdsb is new and it may be different next year".

[baldrick]

I think they have made a mistake, but won't admit it because they would have
to reissue an amended Pension Plan illustration to everyone.
It happened before in 2003 when they didn't include Sunday Duty pensionability,
which was supposed to continue until June 2002 under the Way Forward.
I contacted them and they said the same thing - it's only a 'snapshot' in time,
and that Sunday Duty pensionability ended in 2000 (untrue).
The CWU took it up - it would have affected anyone who did Sunday duty,
who retired that year, and they had to issue amended Pension Plan illustrations
to everyone.