Audience

  • Pension leads
  • HR managers

Summary

  • The distribution of Annual Benefit Statements (ABS) and Pension Savings Statements (PSS) will commence from late June 2022.
  • The distribution of ABS will be completed by 31 August.
  • As last year, ABS will only be available online (unless members have requested to receive a paper copy).
  • Members will need to login to the Pension Portal to view their ABS.
  • The distribution of paper PSS will be completed by the legislative deadline of 6 October, but where possible by 31 August.
  • ABS and PSS Management Information (MI) (including indicative MI on who will receive a PSS) will be provided.
  • Free annual statement awareness sessions for Civil Service employers are available.
  • We will respond to ABS queries received by 31 December 2022, by 28 February 2023.

Actions

  • To note when and how ABS will be distributed, and how members can find out when to expect theirs.
  • To review the MI provided and work with the Scheme Administrator to ensure all eligible members receive their statement(s).
  • To be aware of the dedicated ABS and PSS pages (from mid-June) and to promote these to your members.
  • For employers to attend a free of charge annual statement awareness session to support you in undertaking your responsibilities to any of your members who receive a PSS.
  • To help members get the right support if they have any queries.
  • To download and use the campaign materials provided to make members aware of paperless ABS and Pension Portal registration.

Timing

Immediate 

Detail

Each year, we issue:

  • ABS to all eligible members; and
  • PSS to members who meet the criteria (see below).

When statements will be issued

Detailed distribution schedules are provided for both ABS and PSS on the dedicated ABS and PSS pages.

How statements will be issued

As last year, ABS will only be available to view online. Unless a member has requested it, they will not receive a paper copy. For more information, please see the Paperless ABS section below.

We will send ABS either to members’ home addresses (using the addresses provided by employers) or for security reasons, to their employer.

ABS eligibility criteria

To receive an ABS, a member must:

  • be an active or active pensioner member of either the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (classic, classic plus, premium, nuvos) or alpha at the time of production; and
  • have been an active or active pensioner member of either the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme or alpha on 31 March 2022.

In addition, employers must also have provided a sufficient record of pension contributions (or pensionable earnings for members of alpha or nuvos) for the 2021/22 scheme year.

PSS eligibility criteria

To receive a PSS a member must meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • exceeded the Annual Allowance limit of £40,000* in 2021/22;
  • earned over £100,000;
  • or they have requested a copy in advance of the annual exercise.

* Please note, high income individuals may be subject to a tapered Annual Allowance. Information and guidance on how to calculate tapered Annual Allowance can be found on HMRC’s website.

Management Information (MI)

PSS

The Scheme Administrator will contact employers to request contact details of the appropriate person to send Annual Statement MI to.

The Scheme Administrator will provide indicative PSS MI by 30 June 2022. Indicative PSS MI is provided to help you determine if you would like to arrange any Tax awareness sessions for members who receive a PSS. Please note this is not a mandatory requirement.

Complete and member specific PSS MI will be issued to all employers by 16 September 2022.

If you believe that there are any members who earn over £100,000 missing from the PSS MI, please let us know, and we will check our records.

ABS

When ABS are ready to be distributed, the Scheme Administrator will produce MI of the members in your organisation where a statement has been produced. You should check this MI against your HR records to identify any eligible employees who we may have been unable to produce a statement for.

Following completion of the ABS exercise on 31 August 2022, you will also receive a final MI list by 9 September 2022.

If you have any queries about members who have potentially been missed from ABS distribution, please wait until you have received your final MI list before contacting the Scheme Administrator.

Once you have received your final ABS MI list you must review the data provided and where necessary inform the Scheme Administrator of any concerns. If there are any subsequent queries with regards to your final ABS MI list, these must be issued to the Scheme Administrator no later than 31 December 2022.

Support for employers

Please visit the dedicated ABS and PSS pages for information.

Free Annual Statement Awareness webinars for Civil Service employers will take place on 23 and 28 June 2022. Visit the MyCSP training web pages for information and how to book a session.

Detailed MI (as described above) will be provided, and it is important that you work promptly with the Scheme Administrator to ensure that all eligible members receive their statements by the regulatory deadline.

Employer queries

Employers can contact the Scheme Administrator using the dedicated email address: SEABS@mycsp.co.uk

Please do not send individual member queries to this e-mail address.

Support for members

There is lots of information available for members on the dedicated ABS and PSS pages on the Civil Service Pensions website.

The Scheme Administrator offers group tax awareness sessions and pension tax one-to-one sessions to members who may have a pension tax charge to pay. Alternatively, you may wish to arrange your own sessions with another provider. It is not mandatory for employers to provide this support. For information about how to book a session, please visit the MyCSP training web pages. The sessions will be delivered by webinar and telephone. More information can be found on the website.

If a member has a query about their ABS or PSS

Queries regarding pension scheme information (for example employment history, reckonable service, the date they joined, transfer in history, extra benefits) should be sent to the Scheme Administrator. Please direct members to the Contact Us page. Employers should not contact us directly, this is the member’s responsibility.

Queries relating to a member’s personal details (date of birth, National Insurance number, home, or work address) should go to the member’s HR department or Shared Service provider.

We will respond to ABS queries received by 31 December 2022, by 28 February 2023.  

Replacement statements

Members can download a printable version of their ABS from the Pension Portal. For more information, visit the Guide to registering for the Pension Portal page.

Replacement PSS and Pension Input Amounts can be provided by the Scheme Administrator on request.

Paperless ABS

As last year, ABS will only be available online. Paper copies will not be issued to members unless they have specifically requested one.

Members will need to login to the Pension Portal to view their ABS. There are some exceptions to this, for example if a member has opted out of paperless or there are special circumstances i.e. they are paid in Euros. In these instances, we will print and post a paper copy in line with the distribution schedule.

Members who haven’t yet registered for the Pension Portal should follow our step-by-step guide on how to register.

ABS will be produced in line with the ABS distribution schedule which members can find on the ABS page (similar to last year). Production will start from 20 June and finish on 31 August. Employers are asked to communicate their dates to their members.

To support employers, we have created a digital pack of campaign materials (below) for you to use. The campaign reminds members of the benefits of registering for the Pension Portal and informs them to view their ABS online. Please use these materials to encourage members to visit the Pension Portal and scheme website.

Pension Portal promotion

Since its launch in 2019, more than 40% of members have registered for the Pension Portal. If you would like to see how many of your staff have registered, please speak to your Employer Relationship Manager.

On the Pension Portal, members can view their ABS, use the retirement modeller to project their pension, and update their Death Benefit Nomination and personal information.

Members who haven’t yet registered for the Pension Portal should follow our step-by-step guide on how to register.

Members need two pieces of information to create a Pension Portal account:

  • Registration Code
  • Personal Identification Code

The registration code is the eight-digit alphanumerical code which was issued to employers when the Portal was launched in 2019. If you are unable to locate this code, please contact your Employer Relationship Manager.

Please be advised that staff may ask you for the registration code. We are happy for you to promote the code as part of your paperless campaign.

The personal identification code is an eight-digit numerical code. It can be found in the top-right hand corner of an ABS and will either appear as ‘Our Ref’ or ‘Member No’. It also appears as 'Member No' in the top-right hand corner of any letters received from Civil Service Pensions.

If a member has a question about the Portal, they should visit the dedicated web page. If they are still unable to resolve their query, they should email portal@mycsp.co.uk for assistance.

Contacts

If you have a question about the distribution of EPNs, or would like to receive them in a different format, please contact EPN@MyCSP.co.uk.

You can find electronic copies of the Employer Pension Guide, all current EPNs and forms in the Employer section of the Civil Service Pensions website.

This notice is for employers and should not be issued to scheme members.

Members can find information about their pension by visiting the scheme website.

 

Published:
1 June 2022
Last updated:
24 April 2023