Useful Terms

Civil partner
A party to a registered civil partnership as defined in the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
CPI is a measure of inflation which measures the change in the costs of a fixed basket of retail goods (excluding the cost of mortgages and council tax).

Contracted-out
The Scheme was contracted-out of the State Second Pension (S2P) – formerly known as the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) – until 5 April 2016, when contracting-out for all pension schemes ended.

Data protection
The Scheme is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Trustee of BSPS holds personal data about you to administer the Scheme membership and benefits. A formal Privacy Policy has been created setting out the Trustee’s commitment to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 to ensure the safe and appropriate use of data it holds in respect of individuals.

Dependants
Your dependants can be any of the following:

  • your widow/widower/civil partner
  • your children or grandchildren
  • your grandparents and the grandparents of your widow/widower/civil partner, and the grandparents of any previous or deceased wife or husband of yours
  • your parents, uncles, aunts and cousins, and the parents, uncles, aunts and cousins of your widow/widower/civil partner, and the parents, uncles, aunts and cousins of any previous or deceased wife or husband of yours, and the spouses of any such uncles, aunts and cousins
  • any person (whether they are 18 or not) to whom you have at any time put yourself in the role of a parent, or their children, and any person who held you in role of a parent of their children
  • any person who the Trustee considers was wholly or partly dependent on or financially inter-dependent with your earnings at the time of your death – such as a ‘common law’ partner, fiancé or fiancée, living at the same address – may also qualify in these circumstances. But please note that no spouse’s pension would be payable.

Employer
The ‘Principal Company’, Tata Steel UK Limited, and every Participating Company in the Scheme.

Final Pensionable Earnings
For service up to and including 31 March 2012, generally your highest Pensionable Earnings for any one scheme year during your last five years of Scheme membership.

Final Pensionable Earnings (2012)
For service on or after 1 April 2012 only, calculated by reference to an average of the highest three consecutive years’ Pensionable Earnings (2012).

Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP)
This is the minimum level of benefit the Scheme must provide for members of the Scheme who were contracted-out of SERPS. If you were an employee member of the BSPS between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997, part of your Scheme pension is GMP. GMP broadly mirrors the amount of earnings-related pension you would have received from the State had the BSPS not been contracted-out.

Incapacity
This means that a member or former member is unable to carry out any gainful employment due to physical or mental incapacity and is likely to remain permanently unable to do so.

Lifetime Allowance (LTA)
When you retire the value of your pension benefits from all sources will be tested against the LTA. The test takes into account all your pension benefits in payment, and any other pension benefits you may have coming into payment at the same time as your Scheme benefits (except your State Pension, which you can build up without paying extra tax). You must advise the Pensions Office of the value of your other pension benefits when you retire. If the value of your benefits when you retire is more than the Lifetime Allowance you will generally have to pay a tax recovery charge on the excess. The standard Lifetime Allowance is £1,073,100.

Longevity Adjustment Factor
For service from 1 April 2012 only, a longevity adjustment factor will be applied to benefits coming into payment from 1 April 2015 onwards to protect the Scheme in circumstances where actual life expectancy for the membership is greater than that assumed by the Trustee.

Normal Pension Age
Age 65.

Pensionable Service
The number of years, months and days that you have been a member of the Scheme.

Principal Company
Tata Steel UK Limited.

Qualifying Service
The aggregate of all of a member’s service in the Scheme and any other period of service that may count for pension purposes.

Retail Prices Index (RPI)
RPI is a measure of inflation which measures the change in the costs of a fixed basket of retail goods (including the cost of mortgages and council tax).

Scheme actuary
The professional adviser appointed by the Trustee to advise on the funding of the Standard Section and associated financial costings.

Scheme Year
The period from 1 April to 31 March each year.

State Pension Age
The age at which you become entitled to receive a State Pension. This is gradually increasing and in April 2020 is 65 and 8-9 months for men and women. It is increasing to 67 years by April 2028. The Government will undertake regular reviews of it, with the next due by July 2023. You can find your State Pension Age by using the calculator at www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pensionor by phoning the Future Pension Centre 0800 731 0175.

Top Up Contributions (TUCs)
An option for members to make additional voluntary contributions.

Trustee
The B.S. Pension Fund Trustee Limited which administers the Scheme in accordance with the terms of its Trust Deed and Rules.

Widow/Widower
The surviving legal spouse.

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