The Pension Schemes Act 2015 (Transitional Provisions and Appropriate Independent Advice) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2017

Amendment to regulation 5

4.  For regulation 5 (exception to section 48(1)) substitute—

“Exception to section 48(1)

5.— (1) The trustees or managers are not required to carry out the check in section 48(1) of the Act(1) if the transfer value of the member’s or survivor’s subsisting rights in respect of safeguarded benefits(2) under the pension scheme is £30,000 or less on the valuation date.

(2) In this regulation “transfer value” means—

(a) where the rights referred to in paragraph (1) are transferrable rights as defined in section 93(11) of the 1993 Act (scope of Chapter 1)(3), the amount of the cash equivalent of those rights calculated in accordance with section 97 of that Act (calculation of cash equivalents)(4) and regulations made under it;

(b) where the rights referred to in paragraph (1) are pension credit rights, the amount of the cash equivalent of those rights calculated in accordance with regulations made under section 101I of the 1993 Act (pension credit rights: calculation of cash equivalents)(5);

(c) in any other case, the amount which would be the cash equivalent of the rights referred to in paragraph (1), calculated in accordance with section 97 of the 1993 Act and regulations made under it, as if—

(i) Chapter 1 of Part 4ZA of the 1993 Act (transfer rights: general) applied to the member or survivor by virtue of those rights;

(ii) references to a member in that Chapter and regulations made under it included a survivor of a member; and

(iii) in the case of an active member, the member had ceased to accrue rights to benefits on the valuation date,

but, in each case, disregarding regulations 7D (reductions to initial cash equivalents) and 7E (alternative manner of calculating and verifying cash equivalents) of the Transfer Values Regulations(6).”.

(1)

See regulation 1(3) of S.I. 2015/742 for the meaning of “the Act”.

(2)

See section 48(8) of the Pension Schemes Act 2015 for the meaning of “safeguarded benefits”.

(3)

Section 93 of the 1993 Act was substituted by paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 to the Pension Schemes Act 2015.

(4)

Section 97 of the 1993 Act was amended by section 96(2) of the Pension Schemes Act 2015 and paragraph 11 of Schedule 4 to that Act.

(5)

Section 101I of the 1993 Act was inserted by section 37 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.

(6)

S.I. 1996/1847; relevant amending instruments are S.I.s 2008/1050, 2014/1711 and 2015/498.