The Health and Social Care (Pension Scheme) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Applications for transfer value payments: time limits

223.—(1) An application under regulation 222(1) must be made before the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the guarantee date, and, subject to paragraph (4), the payment must be made no later than—

(a) 6 months after that date, or

(b) if it is earlier, the date on which the member reaches 65.

(2) If the payment is made later than 6 months after the guarantee date, the amount of the payment to which the member is entitled must be increased by—

(a) the amount by which the amount specified in the statement of entitlement falls short of the amount it would have been if the guarantee date had been the date on which the payment is made, or

(b) if it is greater and there was no reasonable excuse for the delay in payment, interest on the amount specified in the statement of entitlement, calculated on a daily basis over the period from the guarantee date to the date when the payment is made at an annual rate of 1% above the base rate.

(3) Paragraph (4) applies if—

(a) disciplinary or court proceedings against the member are begun within 12 months after the member leaves the employment which qualified the member to belong to the Scheme, and

(b) it appears to the Department that the proceedings may lead to all or part of the member’s benefits being forfeited under regulation 254 (forfeiture of rights to benefit).

(4) The Department may defer doing what is needed to carry out what the member requires until the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the date on which those proceedings (including any proceedings on appeal) are concluded.

(5) In any case where a direction is given under regulation 254 for the forfeiture of a member’s benefits, this regulation applies as if the amount specified in the statement of entitlement were reduced by an amount equal to the value of the benefits forfeited, as determined by the Scheme actuary.

(6) In respect of an applicant who does not fall within regulation 176(2)—

(a) in the case of an application that requires the guaranteed cash equivalent transfer value payment to be made to a registered occupational pension scheme or a registered personal pension scheme, an application under paragraph (1) may only be made if—

(i) the applicant became a member of that scheme not later than the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day after the date on which member ceased to be in the pensionable service in which the rights accrued (“the leaving date”), and

(ii) the application is made not later than—

(aa) the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day on which the applicant became a member of that scheme, or

(bb) if the applicant became a member of that scheme on or before the leaving date, the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day after the leaving date,

(b) in any other case, an application under paragraph (1) may only be made before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the day after the leaving date.