Globe Trotter
I am rarely flummoxed by Pay/Pension/Entitlement rules and Regs, and policy - in this case I am. Not because I do not think that it is fair ........ but because I judge it is not clear.
Absolutely! It's as clear as mud in most cases. I'm reasonably intelligent (on my day and with a fair wind), used to be vaguely numerate enough to pass Meteorology courses and can now interpret and where required engineer policy to benefit ops. Ask me to understand pension issues and calculations and I break out in a cold sweat.
I've recently been looking into my own pensions and frankly I could be 180 degrees out in my calculations and understanding. Despite being contracted out, the HMRC website suggests I'm in line for a full state pension at 67 or whenever they do pay it. I can only assume that's because the reduced qualifying period and number of years left to run mean my contracted out time is made up by the years I have left contracted in. That's my assumption, the website isn't clear at all.
And don't even start with trying to fathom MOD pensions. That took 2 afternoons and help from FPS to resolve (long term forecasts will likely undershoot as they can only calculate your historical pay and pay up to the time you request a forecast; any forecast going forward doesn't factor in any increases, including annual increments so will be less accurate over time despite JPA holding all the relevant data.)
That so many relatively intelligent people have to come on here to ask what's going on, relying on a few in house 'experts' and the wisdom of the crowd is as much as a scandal as anything else.