Between now and when you start taking your pension, the benefits you are due increase on 1 April each year. This is to help protect them against the effect of inflation.
How they increase depends on when you built your benefits up, and which part of the Scheme you were in at the time. Increases are in line with the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation (CPI) for the previous calendar year, capped at a certain level.
This table shows how benefits will increase for members who were in one of these parts of the Scheme:
- British Steel Pension Scheme
- British Steel Staff Superannuation Scheme
- British Steel Manual Grades Pension Scheme
- British Steel Pension Scheme 1990
- British Steel Pension Scheme 1990 Act
- British Steel Standard Scheme
| Part of your pension |
Increases |
| Pension built up before 2006 |
CPI with no cap |
| Pension built up between 2006 and 2012 |
CPI capped at 4% a year |
| Pension built up between 2012 and 2016 |
CPI capped at 3% a year |
| Pension built up after 2016 |
CPI capped at 2.5% a year |
Years in the left hand column relate to 5 April.
|
| Restoration pension |
None |
If you were in any other part of the Scheme, this is how your benefits will increase:
| Part of your pension |
Increases |
| Guaranteed Minimum Pension built up between 1978 and 1997 |
Depending on when you stopped building up benefits, increases are at a fixed rate, or broadly in line with National Average Earnings, in some cases capped at 5% a year. This depends on the Scheme section you belong to and when you stopped building up benefits. |
| Excess pension over Guaranteed Minimum Pension built up before 1997 |
CPI capped at 5% a year. If you stopped building up benefits before 1991, any pension built up before 1985 will not increase.* |
| Pension built up between 1997 and 2006 |
CPI capped at 5% a year |
| Pension built up between 2006 and 2009 |
CPI capped at 4% a year** |
| Pension built up between 2009 and 2012 |
CPI capped at 4% a year |
| Pension built up between 2012 and 2016 |
CPI capped at 3% a year |
| Pension built up after 2016 |
CPI capped at 2.5% a year |
*If you are a Firsteel or Walkers member, who stopped building up benefits before 1991, then this exception doesn’t apply to you.
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**If you are a Firsteel member who stopped building up benefits after 5 April 2005, your post-2006 pension will increase before you retire in line with CPI capped at 5% a year.
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Years in the left hand column relate to 5 April.
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Once you start taking your pension, it will get different increases. See Pension increases.