Payments

We pay pensions on the last working day of the month, in arrears. We tend to pay earlier in December. Your pension will be paid into your UK bank or building society account on the dates listed in the payment date table below.

If you are living abroad, payments can be made to your overseas account, either in Sterling or in the local currency, although there may be additional bank charges. Payments to overseas accounts may arrive up to 5 working days after the payment date. Please factor in this timing when setting up any direct debits for household expenses.

Changing your bank details

If you change bank details, it’s vital you let us know in plenty of time. You can do this on the member portal – just register and/or log in and go to My account, My details then Bank details.

If you wish to have your pension paid into an overseas bank account, you can download and complete an international payment form for the relevant country.

Pension payment dates

You can find a list of the pension payment dates for the year here.

*If you are paid quarterly, your pension payments will be made on these dates.

Annual Pension increases

Increases to pensions in payment are applied on 1 April each year. As set out in the Scheme Rules, Section A and B increases are linked to the Consumer Prices Index and Section C pensions are linked to the Retail Prices Index, which are both government indexes capturing rises or falls in the cost of living. The rates for pension increases tend to be confirmed in Spring on our news release page.
Read more about how increases are applied in the pdf below.

Your pension is made up of different components and different percentage increases apply to these different components. Which rate applies is determined by a range of factors, which are set out in the Payslip Guide for your Section of the Scheme.

The chart on page 5 shows how each component of your pension may attract different rises.

Historic pension increase rates

Pension increase rates quoted apply to members' increasing pensions in excess of GMP. The chart on page 5 of your Payslip Guide (above) shows the different components that make up your pension and how increases are applied to each part.

Pension payslips

Monthly payslips are available to view and download on the member portal, just log in and go to My account, My documents then My Payslips. Choose the payslip for the period you want and click download. Your April payslip will show your new monthly pension for the year ahead. If you receive paper communications, you will receive your payslip in the post at the end of April. If you are registered for our portal, you can access your payslip online earlier in April. We will email you to let you know the date it will be available.

HMRC and tax queries

If you have any queries about how your pension is taxed, or your current tax code, you will need to contact HMRC directly on the following number:

From the UK tel: 0300 200 3300

From overseas tel: +44 135 535 9022

Visit: www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account

We are unable to contact HMRC on your behalf and we are only able to update your tax code on the instruction of HMRC. You can access your pension P60 on the portal, just log in and go to My account, My documents then My P60s.

You can also chat with HMRC online or download the HMRC app from the HMRC website.

Read the factsheet below if you want to find out more about the impact of Income Tax on your pension.

We are unable to contact HMRC on your behalf and we are only able to update your tax code on the instruction of HMRC. You can access your pension P60 on the portal, just log in and go to My account, My documents then My P60s.