With the cost of living crisis and inflation at a relative high, we have provided the Q&As and example below to help with any questions you may have regarding how your pension might increase each year.
Changes the government made in their budget that may impact the tax you pay
Your personal allowance is the amount of income that you do not have to pay tax on. The government will be keeping the personal allowance at its current level of £12,570. However, the income you receive may have increased. For example, the basic State Pension will increase by 10.1% in April 2023. As a result you, may start paying more tax, or you may start paying tax when you did not pay tax before. HMRC will issue a tax code notification if you need to start to pay tax. If you have any questions on tax or how this may impact you, please contact our dedicated team at Tax Help by clicking the following link.
Cost of living support
For guidance and helpful links please click here.
Pension increases Q&As
- How will my pension increase in payment?
Your policy document sets this out. It is common for increases to be linked to an inflation measure such as the increase in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) or the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), subject to a maximum percentage increase.
For any part of your pension where this type of increase applies, if the inflation measure used to calculate the increase is greater than the maximum percentage figure, then the increase applied to that part of your pension will be restricted to the maximum. Please see the example below.
- Does Rothesay decide the amount my pension increases each year?
No - your pension increases are calculated each year in line with what was agreed when your benefits were secured with Rothesay as set out in your policy document.
- Where can I check how my pension increases?
Your policy document sets out if, how and when your pension increases.
- Will Rothesay increase my pension in line with inflation?
When your benefits were secured with Rothesay, we agreed to pay you and, if applicable, your dependants the benefits set out in your policy document.
- Can I view my pension benefits?
Policyholders can view their pension details using our online service. We are in the process of rolling this out to all of our policyholders. Most of our policyholders will already have received a letter providing them with the details they need to access their policy online. If you do not yet have online access or would prefer not to use our online service, please contact us for any information you need.
- Where can I get additional help or support?
If you have further questions on how your pension might increase, please contact us. If you do not have the contact details to hand of the Rothesay team administering your policy, please use the search function on our Contact page.
For additional help and support on the cost of living crisis, please take a look at our Cost of living support page.
Pension increase example
This example assumes that CPI and RPI are greater than 5% over the year.
The table below illustrates the increases that would be applied on the different parts of your pension (sometimes referred to as ‘components’ in your policy document).
|
Benefit component |
Annual increase rate per your policy document |
Increase applied |
Current amount |
Amount after increase |
|
Pre 88 GMP |
Nil |
0% |
£100 |
£100 |
|
Post 88 GMP
|
The percentage change in CPI, subject to a minimum increase of 0% and a maximum increase of 3% per annum |
3% |
£100 |
£103 |
|
Pension in excess of GMP before 5 April 1997 |
Fixed 3% per annum |
3% |
£200 |
£206 |
|
Pension in excess of GMP between 6 April 1997 and 5 April 2006 |
The percentage change in RPI, subject to a maximum increase of 5% per annum |
5% |
£200 |
£210 |
|
Total pension |
|
|
£600 |
£619 |