Your first port of call for answers to questions
about your pension:
The BAT Pensions Administration Team, Capita,
Hartshead House, 2 Cutlers Gate, Sheffield, S4 7TL
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 229 7609
Email:
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Ask Capita – your pension scheme experts
I’ve been off work on parental leave but I just realised I don’t know
whether my pension is still being paid for. Can you tell me whether I am
still building up a pension?
Kevin:
If you are on parental leave your membership of the Fund will continue
and BAT will continue to fund your pension. You will continue to build up
your entitlement to a pension and the amount you receive at retirement
will not be affected.
How can I find out the
current value of my
pension?
Kimberley:
You can view your benefit
summary online at
batpensions. This will
tell you how much your
pension from the Fund
is, including any pension
increase applied that year.
We can also tell you the
value of your pension over
the phone, if you prefer.
I’m leaving the company soon but I want to make sure all the final
salary pension that I have built up in the Fund will be safe. What
happens to it when I leave?
Kimberley:
Your pension when you leave will be calculated based on your Final
Pensionable Salary and your Pensionable Service at the date you left the
Fund. The benefits you have built up in the Fund will be preserved and
increased broadly in line with the cost of living, up to a maximum of
5% each year until you retire. Legislation exists to protect your benefits
between leaving service and retiring.
Experts from Capita make up your
BAT Pensions Administration Team
. Capita were
appointed as the Fund Administrators in 2008 and brought with them a wealth of pensions
knowledge and expertise, built up over 40 years. In total, the dedicated team of 11 have
approximately 97 years’ pensions experience between them. Your administrators have to
understand the Fund in depth, as well as keep up-to-date with changing legislation and how
it affects you, the members.
When you contact Capita, you will be talking to one of the BAT team who are fully trained
on our Fund. Two key members of the team, Kevin Cooke and Kimberley Johns, answer
some typical questions raised by our members at different stages of their careers below.
My Normal Retirement Date is 60. Will I still be able to take
my pension from the BAT UK Pension Fund at the age of
60, although the State retirement age is increasing?
Kevin:
Yes. The age at which you can take your Fund pension is
not tied to the age at which you start to receive your State
pension. If there will be a gap between you receiving your
Fund pension and your State pension
for more
details), you need to plan ahead to make sure your income
will be sufficient for your needs.
I need to change the account that
my pension is paid into. How do I
do this?
Kevin:
It’s easy to change your bank details,
just visit the Hartlink online website
at
/
batpensions and click on the section
to update your own details. It is a
secure website so it is safe to enter
financial information.
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
778
3,268
9,011
Membership of the Defined Benefit Section
- 31 March 2013
Pensioners
Deferred members
Active members
Current employees
Pensioners
Deferred members
Contributions to the Defined Benefit Section
Year to 31 March 2013 (£000s)
£203,907
£28,593
£431
Employer
deficit
contributions
Additional
Voluntary
Contributions
Employer
normal
contributions
Kimberley
Johns
Kevin Cooke
I’ve worked for BAT and been a member of the DB Section of the
BAT UK Pension Fund for 15 years. If I reduce my working hours
in the run-up to retirement, as this will reduce my salary, will it
reduce my overall pension?
Kimberley:
The pension you have earned over the last fifteen years will be
unaffected by your change in working hours and the related
reduction in your salary. For your future pension, Capita will work
out your full time equivalent salary for the years you are working
part time, for the purposes of calculating your Final Pensionable
Salary. For example, if you are working just 2.5 days a week on
a salary of £15,000, your full time equivalent salary would be
£30,000. However, your Pensionable Service will reflect the
hours you work and in this example, as you would be working
2.5 days per week, you would be earning half a year’s pensionable
service every year.
I’ve just got married and I need to change the beneficiaries of my death in service
benefits. We moved house recently as well – can I change my contact details at
the same time?
Kimberley:
You will need to complete a Death Benefit Nomination form – you can update
this online at
or you can download a
form to return to us. You can nominate a person or people as beneficiaries of any
death in service lump sum payable should you die while still employed by BAT.
This form is important because the Trustees have responsibility for deciding who
receives the lump sum and they will use the form to guide them.
You should make changes to your contact details or personal circumstances
through Interact. Any changes will then be communicated to us at Capita.
