If you leave within one month of joining nuvos, or you leave after one month but within three months and you do not already have a preserved award, you will receive a refund of the contributions you have made which your employer will refund with your salary, less tax.
If you leave nuvos before pension age with more than three months' but less than two years' service (including any service you have transferred in) and do not already have a preserved award, the Scheme Administrator will give you the choice of:
The Scheme Administrator will write to you about your options shortly after you leave. See the leaflet “Leaving nuvos before pension age with less than two years service” for more information.
Please note that if you have transferred a personal pension into the scheme, you will be treated as if you have two years’ service, so you will immediately become entitled to a preserved pension or a transfer. In these scenarios you will not be eligible for a refund of your contributions.
If you have two or more years’ service (or you have transferred a personal pension into nuvos) you will be able to choose between a preserved (frozen) pension in nuvos, or taking a transfer value to another scheme.
If you preserve your pension, it will increase every year in line with inflation. You can choose to draw your preserved pension at any time after your 55th birthday, but if you take it before pension age it will be reduced because of early payment. If you draw it after your 65th birthday it will be increased for late payment.
Any added pension which you have bought will be treated in the same way as your nuvos pension.
You can choose to bring your nuvos pension into payment at any time from your 55th birthday. If you choose to draw your pension before pension age, though, it will be actuarially reduced because of the early payment.
Note that your pension is reduced for life: it will not go back up to the full rate once you reach pension age. However, any pension payable to your dependants will be worked out as if your pension had not been actuarially reduced.
If you choose to bring your nuvos pension into payment early, then any added pension will also come into payment at the same time, and on the same basis – i.e. if your main pension is actuarially reduced because you are choosing to draw it early, your added pension will also be actuarially reduced. You cannot choose to take your added pension at a different time from your main nuvos pension.
In certain circumstances, if your employer allows this and meets the full costs to the scheme, you may exceptionally be allowed to draw your pension early (after the age of 55) without any reduction for early payment, or with a lesser reduction than normal.
Your employer will pay you compensation under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme for loss of employment. Your pension options will be the same as if you had resigned. You can draw your pension whenever you like after you are 55, but remember that we will reduce it because of early payment unless you are able, under the terms of your redundancy, to opt to give up some or all of your compensation to eliminate or reduce the reduction. Ask the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP) if you want more details.
If you have to leave the Civil Service before pension age, and our medical adviser agrees that you cannot do your job because your health has broken down permanently, we may pay you your pension when you leave. In these circumstances the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP) will pay your pension without making any reduction for early payment.
Any added pension you have bought will also be brought into payment, without reduction, provided that you did not opt to buy it shortly before you are retired. The pension you are paid will also include any pension you bought by a transfer value, unless you are retired within 2 years of bringing in the transfer and we consider that you did not disclose a known health condition at that time.
You usually need to have worked for a Civil Service pensions employer for at least two years before you can qualify for an ill-health pension.
If our medical adviser considers that your ill-health is so severe that you are unlikely to work again, we may enhance your pension as if you had continued to work to 65. The enhancement will be worked out by dividing the earned element of your pension (see question 51) by the number of years you were contributing to nuvos, and multiplying that by the number of years from your date of retirement to your 65th birthday. However, the enhancement cannot take your total pension above the 75% limit (see question 19).
If you have already drawn part of your pension on partial retirement terms (see question 29) then you cannot have an enhanced ill-health pension.
a. Gurnam has to retire on ill-health terms at the age of 55 after 20 years in nuvos. His pension at that point is £7,500. The Scheme Medical Adviser (SMA) confirms that Gurnam is unlikely to be able to work again, so his pension is enhanced by £3,750 (£7,500/20 x 10), giving him a total nuvos pension of £11,250.
b. Alicia retires on ill-health grounds at 40 after 10 years in nuvos; her pension is £3,000. The SMA confirms that she is not expected to be able to work again, so her pension is enhanced by £7,500 (£3,000/10 x 25), giving her a total of £10,500.
If you are terminally ill, with a life expectancy of less than 12 months, you can apply to have your pension benefits commuted into a lump sum and paid immediately. The lump sum will be five times your pension. This will not affect how any dependants’ pensions are calculated.
If you are injured or killed while you are on duty, Injury Benefit may be payable to you or your family to provide a guaranteed level of income. For more information on this, see the booklet “Injury Benefit scheme: a brief guide”, which you can download here: Publications or get from the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP). Injury Benefit is provided under the terms of the Civil Service Injury Benefit Scheme, which is a separate arrangement from nuvos.
If you have a pension in payment from classic, classic plus, premium or nuvos, and you are re-employed by an organisation covered by the Civil Service pension arrangements, your pension will be abated (reduced) if your annual rate of pensionable earnings and your pension together come to more than your pensionable earnings in the twelve months immediately before your pension came into payment. If you are considering re-employment after drawing your pension you should contact the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP) for further information on the impact on your pension.
Your pension will not be affected if you are re-employed by an organisation not covered by the Civil Service pension arrangements.
You can also find out more from the leaflet “What is abatement?” which you can download here: Publications or get from the Scheme Administrator (MyCSP).