As a deferred member, you are no longer working for a contributing employer but have left your benefits in the ICI Pension Fund (the Fund). On your retirement you will receive benefits from the Fund or benefits may be payable to your dependants on your death. These are called ‘deferred benefits’.
You can see details of your pension online through electronic pensions administration (ePA). On ePA you can view:
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.
This leaflet is for members of the 1967 Rules Section who are no longer building up benefits in the Fund but have yet to start their pension.
These notes have been designed to provide information and answers to questions that are frequently asked by financial advisers providing advice around transferring benefits out of the Fund.
This leaflet explains what having a Guaranteed Minimum Pension means for you and how your pension from the Fund interacts with State benefits.
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.
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 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 are age 50 or over, you can usually draw your pension early. To get an estimate of what you could expect to receive at retirement, taking into account your earlier pension start date please contact ICI Pensions Services. You may request up to two free quotes within a twelve-month period (there will be a charge for additional quotes).
You can start to take your pension benefits after your normal retirement age, if you wish to do so. You should contact ICI Pensions Services for more information.
Important message about potential scamming
If you wish to transfer your Fund benefits into another pension arrangement, you should contact ICI Pensions Services.
As you are currently a member of a Defined Benefit (DB) pension arrangement, we strongly advise that you seek independent financial advice before you consider transferring your benefits.
If your transfer value is £30,000 or over, you will be required to take regulated financial advice first.
You cannot transfer your benefits from other pension schemes into the Fund.
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:
Note: the Trustee cannot take into account any interim or informal financial arrangements in respect of your pension benefits that are not detailed in a Court Order.
Note: there are administration charges for carrying out this process – ask for a copy of charges from ICI Pensions Services.
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 deferred 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: Benefits payable upon your death as a deferred member can vary and there may be other circumstances where the benefits that your spouse/dependant/beneficiary receives are different to those described above.
If you are a relative or a representative of a deceased member, please click here for more information.
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.
The handbook also describes the benefits payable to deferred and pensioner members of the 1949 section. There are some differences, the main one being that there are no supplementary pensions payable under the 1949 rules.
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.