Pension at 55 years old.

[muppet43]

Hi guys and girls.
I left Royal Mail over 11 years ago with about 20 years service and i will be 55 years old in about 6 months time. I am interested as to what the procedure is apply to take my pension when i reach 55. I have read that you need to start action well before this time as the process is very lengthy. I was wondering if anybody has the process in written form with contacts etc.
Thanks in advance Ian

[RobertT]

The way our pensions are administered has changed a little since you left, as you now have to contact 2 separate entities to claim your pension, depending on exactly when your service was.

The government took over pensions up to 31st March 2012 as part of the privatisation of the company – that is known as the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme and is administered by Capita.
RM are responsible for everything after 2012 via the Royal Mail Pension Plan.

It sounds as if all of your pension is with the RMSPS, so just contact them and say you want a quote for taking it at 55. Here's their website: https://www.royalmailsps.co.uk/ for more info.

And here's the RMPP website, just in case: https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/

[muppet43]

Thanks for the promp reply, Robert.

[cjjs]

Hi Ian
I am in the same situation as yourself as i left 17 years ago with 15 years service and turn 55 in 6 months.
Looking at the reply's on other posts I'm going to get the ball rolling at the beginning of January.
Fingers crossed that the process goes smoothly !

[derricksmyth]

Hi Folks,

I have just applied for lump sum figures as i am 54 yrs 7 months , which is the age you have to wait to get a figure. I just rang 03456030043 and got through fairly quickly. I was told you will get 2 figures sent to you in about 3 weeks ,and you just add them together to get your total lump sum.

[muppet43]

Hi Folks,

I have just applied for lump sum figures as i am 54 yrs 7 months , which is the age you have to wait to get a figure. I just rang 03456030043 and got through fairly quickly. I was told you will get 2 figures sent to you in about 3 weeks ,and you just add them together to get your total lump sum.

thanks for info.

[muppet43]

Hi Ian
I am in the same situation as yourself as i left 17 years ago with 15 years service and turn 55 in 6 months.
Looking at the reply's on other posts I'm going to get the ball rolling at the beginning of January.
Fingers crossed that the process goes smoothly !

Fingers and everything else crossed too.cheers

[freespeech]

Hi Folks,

I have just applied for lump sum figures as i am 54 yrs 7 months , which is the age you have to wait to get a figure. I just rang 03456030043 and got through fairly quickly. I was told you will get 2 figures sent to you in about 3 weeks ,and you just add them together to get your total lump sum.

thanks for info.

That doesn't sound right to me......as RobertT says you need to contact TWO providers and not just the one you have. Each quote also has two scenarios on it........max pension with no lump sum and maximum lump sum with associated pension. You then add the two figures together (for the same scenario) from both providers. It sounds to me as if you have only contacted one.

[cjjs]

The way I have read it is if you left the business before 31st March 2012 then only 1 provider needs to be contacted ?

[derricksmyth]

Hi Folks,

I have just applied for lump sum figures as i am 54 yrs 7 months , which is the age you have to wait to get a figure. I just rang 03456030043 and got through fairly quickly. I was told you will get 2 figures sent to you in about 3 weeks ,and you just add them together to get your total lump sum.

thanks for info.

That doesn't sound right to me......as RobertT says you need to contact TWO providers and not just the one you have. Each quote also has two scenarios on it........max pension with no lump sum and maximum lump sum with associated pension. You then add the two figures together (for the same scenario) from both providers. It sounds to me as if you have only contacted one.

Thats the number i rang on Royalmailpensionplan.co.uk. They said i will get a figure from RMPP and Capita.

[wacko74]

So when this latest CDC pension comes into existence does that mean we're then going to have contact 3 different providers??

Is it usual for firm's pension schemes to be this complicated or is this just typical RM yet again?

Having to separately contact different pension providers despite doing the same job for the same company throughout our entire career is pretty ridiculous. Why can't there just be one point of contact we can go to that provides all the info and combined figures from all the different pensions/providers?

[freespeech]

Hi Folks,

I have just applied for lump sum figures as i am 54 yrs 7 months , which is the age you have to wait to get a figure. I just rang 03456030043 and got through fairly quickly. I was told you will get 2 figures sent to you in about 3 weeks ,and you just add them together to get your total lump sum.

thanks for info.

That doesn't sound right to me......as RobertT says you need to contact TWO providers and not just the one you have. Each quote also has two scenarios on it........max pension with no lump sum and maximum lump sum with associated pension. You then add the two figures together (for the same scenario) from both providers. It sounds to me as if you have only contacted one.

Thats the number i rang on Royalmailpensionplan.co.uk. They said i will get a figure from RMPP and Capita.

That's not how I understand it if you've left.

[RobertT]

I'm not sure what I posted earlier was completely clear.

I have no personal knowledge of this and am only going by what others have posted. But as the RMPP are responsible for paying inflationary increases to pensions built up before 1st April 2012, then you should indeed get two quotes and two pension payments – one from RMSPS and one from RMPP.

[RobertT]

So when this latest CDC pension comes into existence does that mean we're then going to have contact 3 different providers??

Is it usual for firm's pension schemes to be this complicated or is this just typical RM yet again?

Having to separately contact different pension providers despite doing the same job for the same company throughout our entire career is pretty ridiculous. Why can't there just be one point of contact we can go to that provides all the info and combined figures from all the different pensions/providers?

Many companies have closed their defined benefit pensions and replaced them with defined contribution schemes, so having more than one contact isn't really unusual. But to have one scheme separated into two as is the case with our NRA60 and NRA65 benefits isn't the norm!

Upto a year or two ago there was just one point of contact, but it was the government that decided to outsource the admin of the RMSPS, as it was cheaper!

There will be some RM employees who might end up with more than 3 points of contact for their pension provision:

RMSPS – pre 2012 DB pension.
RMPP - post 2102 DB pension & DBCBS.
CDC – expected sometime in 2021?
RMDCP – there are some who've opted out of the RMSPS/RMPP and have been enrolled into the DC scheme.

AVC's – most are with Scottish Widows but some may still be with the 'legacy providers' of Aviva, Equitable Life, etc. although the point of contact is usually RMSPS or RMPP.