The Pension Sharing (Safeguarded Rights) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations provide for the treatment of safeguarded rights by pension arrangements once a pension has been shared.

Regulation 1 relates to citation, commencement and interpretation.

Regulation 2 defines contracted-out rights.

Regulation 3 describes the requirements to be satisfied by schemes holding safeguarded rights.

Regulation 4 provides for the identification of safeguarded rights.

Regulation 5 sets out how safeguarded rights in money purchase schemes are to be valued.

Regulation 6 describes the ways of giving effect to safeguarded rights in money purchase schemes.

Regulation 7 describes the requirements which pensions and annuities provided by money purchase schemes must meet in order that they can be used to give effect to safeguarded rights.

Regulation 8 sets out the conditions which an insurance company must satisfy if it is to provide an annuity in order to give effect to safeguarded rights.

Regulation 9 describes the ways of giving effect to safeguarded rights in salary related schemes.

Regulation 10 sets out the payable age in respect of safeguarded rights in salary related contracted-out schemes.

Regulation 11 sets out how payments made in respect of safeguarded rights should be invested and used.

Regulation 12 specifies the circumstances in which payments in respect of safeguarded rights may be suspended or forfeited.

Sections 64A(5), 64B, and 64D of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993, enabling powers under which these regulations are made, were inserted by Article 33 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (“the Order”). The Welfare Reform and Pensions (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000 (S.R. 2000 No. 133 (C. 5)) provides for the coming into operation of Article 33 of the Order, in so far as it is not already in operation, on 1st December 2000.