We were recently contacted by a retired officer from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (‘PSNI’) regarding an ill-health pension calculation from two years ago. The officer had joined the service under the Police Pension Scheme 1988 (‘PPS 1988’), and retired under the Police Pension Scheme 2015 (‘PPS 2015’).
A calculation had been given to the officer in question who immediately thought the sums given appeared on the low side. They had already contacted the force once and were informed that the figures were correct.
The officer had been given figures for a combined pension under the two aforementioned schemes of just a little under £12,000 p.a. We provided them with our calculations, which revealed that the true figure should have been £18,000 p.a. This was a staggering difference of some £6,000 p.a. since they started receiving their pension.
Of course this figure not only affected their annual pension, but would also make a significant difference to any commutation taken.
Now armed with what we believed to be the correct calculation, the former officer contacted the force again, and we are pleased to say that the force now conceded that they had miscalculated this officer’s pension. The officer is to receive back payment of the missing amount.
This begs the question, has every pension calculation since the introduction of the PPS 2015 been wrong? And it may not just be under this scheme alone, ordinary and deferred pensions may have been miscalculated as well?
If anyone else would like to do a calculation for them, can you please complete the form found here – https://iodpa.org/contact/
Here is a list of standard questions that we’d need answers to in order to work out your figures –
- What type of pension i.e. ordinary, deferred or ill-health
- Date of joining
- Date of leaving
- Date of birth
- Whether you brought any pensionable service from a previous occupation
- Which police pension you joined under (PPS 1987, NPPS 2006)
- Which police pension scheme you retired under (PPS 1987, NPPS 2006, PPS 2015)
- If now a member of the PPS 2015, what date you transferred to this scheme (the default date is 01/04/2015)
- If now a member of the PPS 2015 the value of your pension pot in the 2015 scheme (if not known, I’ll estimate it)
- If retiring under the NPPS 2006 or the PPS 2015, whether you were granted upper or lower tier ill health retirement
- Annual salary upon retiring
- Whether you took a commutation, and if so what percentage (1-25)
- If awarded an injury pension, what band were you given
We have already had a number of enquiries over this matter, so please allow us time to respond.
UPDATE: We have confirmed a second case of maladministration, where the pensioner has now recovered tens of thousands of pounds.
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