The Health and Personal Social Services (Superannuation) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Insertion of new regulation 17A

14.  After regulation 17 (Lump sum on retirement) insert—

“General option to exchange part of pension for lump sum

17A.— (1) This regulation applies to a member who is in superannuable employment on or after 1st April 2008.

(2) A member may opt to exchange part of a pension to which the member would otherwise be entitled for a lump sum, which must be an evenly divisible multiple of £12.

(3) If a member so opts, for every £1 by which the member’s annual pension is reduced, the member is to be paid a lump sum of £12.

(4) An option under paragraph (2) must relate to an annual amount of pension that is a number of whole pounds (and accordingly the lump sum will be exactly divisible by 12).

(5) In paragraph (4) “annual amount” in relation to a pension means the amount of the annual pension to which the member would be entitled under these regulations apart from the option, together with any increases payable under the Pensions (Increase) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971, calculated as at the time the payment would be first due.

(6) A member may not exchange pension for lump sum under this regulation to the extent that it would result in a scheme chargeable payment for the purposes of Part 4 of the 2004 Act(1).

(7) If the member has a guaranteed minimum under section 10 of the 1993 Act in relation to the whole or part of a pension, paragraph (2) only applies to so much of the pension as exceeds that guaranteed minimum, multiplied by such factor as is indicated for a person of the member’s description in tables provided by the Scheme Actuary.

(8) The option under this regulation may only be exercised by giving notice in writing to the Department in the form required by the Department—

(a) at the time of claiming the pension; or

(b) before a later time specified in writing by the Department.”.

(1)

See, in particular, section 241 of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 29 to, that Act