As an active member of the ICI Section, you are currently working for contributing employer and paying contributions to build up your pension benefits in the ICI Pension Fund (the Fund).
You can see details of your pension records online through electronic pensions administration (ePA). On ePA you can:
You should be able to access this information about your benefits, all day, every day, without having to speak to the Helpline.
You will have been sent a personal User ID and password, which you will need to access ePA. If you have lost or forgotten your User ID or password, please contact ICI Pensions Services.
Find out more about what you can do on ePA by downloading the ePA guide.
As well as providing you with a pension at retirement, the Fund also provides a range of other benefits (including an initial cash option, ill-health pension and the option to draw your pension early or late) and protection for your dependants (for example, death benefits).
You can read more about your benefits in the member handbook.
There have been a number of amendments to the Rules of the Fund since this handbook was produced and it will require updating in due course. In the meantime, this handbook is available as a reference document. Please contact the Fund Administrator, Willis Towers Watson, if you have a specific question about Fund benefits.
You receive a snapshot of your pension benefits in your annual benefit statement (usually issued in August). Your statement shows:
Keeping us up to date with any changes to your personal circumstances helps us pay you and your dependants the right benefits. It also means that should anything happen to you, your wishes are understood by the Trustee.
You should contact us if you:
Once you’ve completed any form, please return a signed, hard copy by post to ICI Pensions Services.
The Trustee takes the security of your personal information very seriously. Therefore we require any changes to your personal details to be made in writing with your signature to help protect you from fraud. Please note the ICI Pensions Services team will never ask you to confirm changes to your personal information over the phone or by email.
You will be entitled to receive your pension from your normal retirement age. A retirement pension quotation will usually be sent to you six months before your normal retirement age.
When you come to retire you may also have an opportunity to exchange some of your pension for a cash lump sum, which is also referred to as the Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS). Please consider this carefully as you will only be offered this option as you retire – once you have started to receive your pension it is not possible to choose a lump sum, nor is it possible to change the value of your lump sum.
If you think you might want to draw your pension early, a number of ‘early retirement’ options may be available, depending on your personal circumstances.
If you are age 50 or over, you can usually apply to draw your pension early. To get an estimate of what you could expect to receive at retirement, please contact People Services.
You may also have the option of drawing your pension after your normal retirement age. If you are considering working beyond your normal retirement age, please contact People Services to see what options are available to you and find out what decisions you may need to make about your pension benefits.
If you have to stop working due to ill-health, you may be eligible for an ill-health early retirement pension. Contact us to find out more.
If you are ceasing employment with a contributing employer before retirement, you will become a ‘deferred’ member of the Fund.
Shortly after leaving, ICI Pensions Services will send you a statement of your deferred benefits and the options available to you.
See the deferred members’ section of this website to find information about deferred benefits.
If you are a member whose marriage or civil partnership is being dissolved, your pension settlements and entitlements are generally handled through the courts. The following steps normally happen in relation to your pension:
Planning for what happens to your pension benefits in the event of your death is not something many of us like to think about. However, you should consider the benefits payable so that your wishes are understood by the Trustee.
If you die while you are a contributing member of the Fund, the benefits that may be payable can include:
Points to note about benefits that may be payable on the death of a member:
Note: Death in service benefits can vary and there may be other circumstances where the benefits that your spouse/dependant/beneficiary receives are different to those described above.
Opting out of the Fund means that you will stop building up future benefits in the Fund and will become a deferred member. You will not be able to re-join at a later date, although you may be able to join the Company’s Defined Contribution (DC) Plan. Please contact People Services for more information on joining the DC Plan.
If you are considering opting out of the Fund, we strongly advise that you seek independent financial advice before doing so.
If, after receiving advice, you would still like to opt out of the Fund, please place a request through People Services.
You cannot transfer your benefits from other pension schemes into the Fund.
Member Handbook (ICI 1967 Section) – The handbook to the 1967 Section of the ICI Pension Fund has been updated to include changes to the benefits earned by active members and to reflect pension legislation. Inside you will find everything you need to know about being a member of the 1967 Section, including working out your benefits, the protection the Fund offers your dependants, what happens to your benefits if you leave and how to claim them when you retire.
Look out for these symbols to find the information relevant to you:
Like most other specialist areas, at times the world of pensions uses technical terminology that can sound like jargon and although we’ve tried to keep this to a minimum, sometimes it’s simply unavoidable. We’ve also produced a jargon buster which defines some of the industry specific terms you’ll find in some places of your handbook.
Please note that the handbook is a summary of the benefits provided under the Fund and does not detail every member’s individual benefits, which will depend on the member’s circumstances and may therefore differ from those set out in the handbook. The Trustee must pay member benefits in line with the Fund’s Trust Deed and Rules, which will prevail in the event of any difference between the handbook and the Trust Deed and Rules.
This handbook is available as a reference document. Please contact the Fund Administrator, Willis Towers Watson, if you have a specific question about Fund benefits.