Royal Mail Pensions
The Royal Mail Group
offers a number of pension scheme arrangements to its employees.
The vast majority of these employees belong to the Section A, B and
C schemes. These schemes came about as a result of the merger of
the Post Office Staff Superannuation Scheme (POSSS) and the Post
Office Pension Scheme (POPS) in the year 2000. At the same time,
the Royal Mail Group launched a defined contributory scheme called
the Royal Mail Savings Plan.
In 2007, the Company announced that it intended to review its pension arrangements as a result of a number of external factors which were affecting the overall viability of the company to continue to provide a defined benefit / salary scheme arrangement for its employees. At the conclusion of the consultation procedure, and without formal agreement with the Trade Unions, the Royal Mail Group introduced revised pension arrangements as from 1st April 2008. The following changes were introduced without agreement:
- Retirement age increased from 60 to 65.
- Existing pension scheme closed to future accrual and to new membership.
- The introduction of a Defined Benefit scheme for new entrants.
- Scheme membership only opened after one year of employment for new entrants.
- Accrued pension paid under existing scheme rules i.e. at age 60 subject to the normal final salary calculations (best year of the last three).
- The introduction of a career averaged defined benefit scheme for future accrual for all existing employees in post as at the 31st March 2008.
Please follow the link for access to the Royal Mail Pensions web site: http://www.royalmailgroup.com/pensions
This site will provide you with information on the main Royal Mail Pension schemes, the Retirement savings Plan and the four Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) options. The site also incorporates calculators for both plans and AVC options and investment performance returns.
Other useful links:
- DWP - Department for Work and Pensions: www.dwp.gov.uk
- OPRA - Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority http://www.opra.gov.uk/
- NAPF - National Association of Pension Funds www.napf.co.uk/
- FSA - Financial Services Authority www.fsa.gov.uk/
- OPAS - Office of the Pensions Advisory Service www.opas.org.uk/
Some useful contact numbers:
For general enquiries about the CPP or CRSP, telephone the Royal Mail Pensions Helpline on 0845 603 0043.
If you have any problems regarding your Royal Mail pension, contact your local Branch Secretary or e-mail Lionel Sampson at CWU Headquarters: lsampson@cwu.org
For Independent Financial Advice, contact the IFA Helpline on 0117 971 1177.
