AFPS Equiniti Newsletter, 2015.

[Al R]

Erm, as thread title, this year's AFPS Equiniti Newsletter.

http://www.equinitipensionsolutions.com/media/650980/2015-armed-forces-newsletter.pdf

[BEagle]

As clear as mud...or rather 'merde'...:\

Too many 'if's' and unfamiliar abbreviations - why can't they write these things in everyday terminology?

[Sandy Parts]

Should we get a copy of that in the post? Getting pension but no letter seen so far (and no, I've not buggered off to the South of France or elsewhere - still in same address :) )

[BBadanov]

(and no, I've not buggered off to the South of France or elsewhere - still in same address :) )


SP, bugger off to the South of France, nice this time of year

[Skeleton]

Have recently had the displeasure of having to deal with Equiniti.

Slow, uncommunicative and story tellers, I don't do irate phone calls especially to overseas premium rate numbers but that was the only way to get the situation resolved. I am sure I am not the first ex military person to emigrate and I am just as sure I am not the first to want his money paid into a local bank, but it appeared I was and I was dealing with there money!

:mad:

[Background Noise]

Had one in the post yesterday for the other half, along with her latest monthly pension statement. Not had mine yet.

Keeping a close eye on this as her tax code has just unexpectedly (and inexplicably) changed. Now tax has been taken off the pension but it is neither appropriate to the pension on its own or her combined income - waiting to see what appears on her monthly pay statement.

[Wander00]

Nice in the Vendee until 4.30 this afternoon - had temps in mid 20s up to 30C, but back down to 15 in the rain

[Lima Juliet]

Skeleton

I think they also use the number: 01293 560 999 - just knock off the "0" and add +44 for international calls. That way it shouldn't be premium rate from abroad.

LJ :ok:

[Herod]

I've got mine, but it's printed on shiny paper!. No use at all in the smallest room.

[Skeleton]

Leon,

Thanks I used a different number that was clearly marked as premium rate, I was expecting to be hit big for using it (Call was 24 mins, 8 of which were in the queue) To be fair bill just came in and as far as my mobile provider in Oz (Optus) is concerned it was a standard overseas call and they have accordingly charged me as such.

[Pontius Navigator]

BN, me too. They have assigned all my available allowance to a small pension that is less than the allowance. My larger pension will be taxed at 20%

[Sloppy Link]

I got mine in the post today along with the advice of payment......which has not increased, is this right? Left last summer aged 53 AFPS75, didn't commute. Or does it rise by inflation on the 12 month anniversary?

[2Planks]

Sloppy - no increase until you are 55 then its indexed linked back to your departure date, it then goes up each year in line with inflation (so not much then!)

[RAFEngO74to09]

Sloppy,

As above, each April by the snapshot CPI rate the previous September.

[glad rag]

Al R. re our [very] previous about pension reductions due to D11 company malpractice..

just this Friday finally managed to find someone who would listen and after some minutes silence agree that said company had actually sent in the required documentation. Now some 11 months down the line there will be a cheque in the post and tax code will be corrected. BUT they had the ******* information, they just sat on it and grabbed the interest.

So much for the UK treasury, :mad:.

gr.

[Sloppy Link]

I thought by not commuting, I would get an inflationary rise each year as the commutated sum was effectively the inflationary rise in advance......that said, only have another year to wait if I got it wrong.

[Just This Once...]

No, that is not how commutation works and you will have to wait until 55 for the pension to be indexed.

As you say, not long to wait and with inflation so low there is no real drama.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I have been trying to get a simple query about residence answered by HMRC since March last year. My latest letter at the end of August was acknowledged in October, and a response promised "shortly". A hastener in January remains unacknowledged. It would appear the system is in meltdown.

See below, issued last week. The HMRC are failing to respond to requests for call response standards despite ICO requiring them to do so. In fact they have not responded in 7 months to a request that has a legal requirement of 1 month.

https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2015/1043701/fs_50568897.pdf

[P6 Driver]

Herod wrote;
I've got mine, but it's printed on shiny paper!. No use at all in the smallest room.

I realise that this was written to attempt comic effect, but on a serious note I found it very useful to have kept my newsletters some time ago.

HMRC wanted me to pay around £4,000 and I appealed against it using Extra Statutory Concession A19. It was the copies of the newsletters that convinced them that the errors had not been mine, but the pension provider. I'd hang on to at least the latest one, if not all of them.

[reds & greens]

Just received my Eq letter, P60 and notice of Pension in the post.
Aged 57, leaving 2yrs ago, I expected a 1.2% rise, but there has been a significant reduction in the pension (Nett).
Any advice from our collective brethren ?

[Sandy Parts]

If the reduction is Net and the Gross amount is the same, suspect Tax Office have supplied duff code to pensions. You'll need to check what code is being applied (and what other code is being applied to other sources of income if applicable). Then it will all change again once you get to State Pension age as the kerfuffle that is the Guaranteed Minimum Pension / SERPS opt-out kicks in (google it for full info elsewhere).

[The Oberon]

Like others, I got my letter this week and for once read it. I had read on Pprune about the 2.5% p.a. reduction in widows pension for an age difference of over 12 years, something I had not heard of before. I ended up calling Equiniti and got nowhere, perhaps someone on here can put me straight.


I left in 1986 as a Chf/Tech, having done 22 years and aged 40. I married in 1988 to a lady 18 years my junior. Can someone say, in percentage terms, what she can expect to get ?

[Al R]

Oberon,

The reduction applies to AFPS05 and 15, but 75 makes no reference to it. Chapter & Verse (Voxpop) may be along to clarify.

Death attributable to service are exempt reductions but even if that doesn't apply, there still might be a caveat to any service though, for any portion of your service pre March 1973. To get complete peace of mind, a quick £30 or so sub and subsequent query to Forces Pension Society might help (no, I'm not on a retainer, but am a member too).

The call centres are useless. I got my newsletter this week and called about an admin matter. I had to bite my tongue, it's disgraceful. I worry that I'm turning into a Daily Mail reader.