Pension Increases

From your State Pension Age (SPA) payment of the increases to your pension may be shared between Wiltshire Pension Fund and the Government. This is because the LGPS guarantees to pay you a pension that is at least as much as you would have earned had you not been contracted out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) at any time between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997. This is called the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).
 

If you reach your State Pension Age between 6 April 2016 and 5 April 2021, Wiltshire Pension Fund will be responsible for payable the full increases to your pension including the GMP amount. 

Prior to April 2016, individuals with sufficient National Insurance (NI) qualifying years would get the basic State Pension and also build up entitlement to the additional State Pension (called S2P/previously called SERPS). Members of the LGPS (as well as a number of other workplace pension schemes) were 'contracted out' of the additional State Pension and as a result paid lower National Insurance contributions. To take into account that some individuals paid less into the NI system, the amount of State Pension they receive from the Government will be lower than that received by people with similar earnings who were not contracted-out.

While those who were contracted-out may not be entitled to the full amount of new State Pension, they will instead receive some of their pension income through a different route. The workplace or personal pension that the individual paid into instead of the additional state pension should include an amount that, in most cases, will be the equivalent of the additional state pension they would have received had they not been contracted out. This is known as the Contracted-Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) amount. However, the COPE amount forms part of the total benefits under the scheme. It is not being paid in addition to those benefits and will not be identified separately.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) introduced the estimated COPE amount to help individuals who have previously been contracted-out see how NI contributions paid before 6 April 2016 will contribute to their overall pension income. The COPE amount shown on a State Pension Forecast is an estimate of the amount that the workplace or personal pension scheme will pay as a result of contracting out. It is only an estimate because the amount that a workplace or personal pension scheme will pay depends on the particular regulations of that scheme. The estimate is based on the National Insurance records that the Department of Work and Pensions holds for each individual. 

You can find more information about the COPE amount on the Governments website. If you have any questions about this please contact the DWP Pension Service.