Following the issuing of this year’s Pension Savings Statements, the Trustee and Railpen are aware that many members have concerns regarding the Pension Input Amounts (PIAs) quoted.
These have been calculated using the same method as used in previous years and it is correct that these are considerably higher than previous years’ figures. This is due to the current high levels of inflation in the UK which affects a member’s final accrued pension based on their final pensionable salary, which therefore impacts a member’s Pension Input Amount.
Many of our members have therefore exceeded the Annual Allowance of £40,000 this year and, for some members, this may result in a tax charge.
If you are liable for a tax charge, the Trustees offer a mechanism called ‘Scheme Pays’ where the Scheme will pay the tax charge on your behalf, but your pension benefits will be reduced accordingly. If you would like to take advantage of ‘Scheme Pays’, it is very important that you contact Railpen within the deadlines set out in your Pension Savings Statement.
Please note that the Pension Savings Statement only sets out the position in relation to the Electricity North West group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme. It does not take into account any additional pension savings that you may have made outside of Electricity North West during the 2021/2022 tax year.
If you have any queries related to your Pension Savings Statement, please contact the Pensions Team on pensions@enwl.co.uk