Welcome to the
Guaranteed
Minimum
Pension (GMP)
hub.

GMP is the minimum amount of pension that we, the Plan, must provide to you in respect of the period 6 April 1978 to 5 April 1997 while you were in the Plan and if you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension (ASP). During this period, you will have paid lower National Insurance contributions and instead of the ASP, you would receive a guaranteed level of pension from the Plan known as GMP. This is paid as a pension which is a guaranteed income for life.

If you qualify for GMP it will be paid from your 60^th birthday if you are a woman, or your 65^th birthday if you are a man. These payment dates are not affected by any increase in your State Pension Age (SPA).

Following changes to the State Pension system in April 2016, all pension schemes are checking the GMP part of members’ records against those held by HMRC.

In some cases, differences have been identified and the correction of these differences to make sure the records match is known as ‘GMP rectification’ or ‘GMPr.’

Previously, state pensions were paid to men at age 65 and women at age 60, known as their ‘State Pension Age’ (SPA). This meant that men and women built up GMP at different rates.

These SPAs were gradually equalised so that by November 2018, both men and women had an SPA of 65. However, GMPs remained payable at age 65 for men and 60 for women – reflecting the old SPAs.

A 2018 High Court judgment ruled that the differences in GMPs earned by men and women stemming from the old state pension system were discriminatory and unlawful. As a result of this judgment, the Trustees have reviewed your benefits to ensure they are at least equal to those you would be receiving as a member of the opposite sex for the period of 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997.

In late 2023 we issued letters to advise pensioners that their GMP pension benefits with the F&C were being reviewed to ensure that they were at least equal to those of a member of the opposite sex.

If you received this letter and you are already in receipt of a pension, you would have received another letter in January 2024, known as an ‘impact letter’, explaining whether your pension benefits had changed as a result of our GMPe review. This letter also confirmed whether you were entitled to a one-off lump sum in respect of any back payments and a breakdown of the back payments per tax year.

We will work out the amount of pension you built up between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997. Then we will work it out again over the same period, but as if you were a member of the opposite sex (so if you are female, we will work it out as if you were male). Everything else about the calculation will stay the same: for example, your age, salary, and the date you retired.

If you have already retired, we will check whether your pension is less than the amount you would receive if you were a member of the opposite sex and if it is, we will increase your current pension.

We will also work out if you received less pension in past years than if you had been a member of the opposite sex. If you have received less pension, a one-off additional payment (which includes interest) will be paid to you.

We will continue to monitor your pension to make sure that we are treating benefits equally for men and women.

No adjustment is made to your State Pension as a result of amendments that the Plan may make to your pension for GMPe and GMPr.

If you are in receipt of other State benefits, for example Pension Credit or Universal Credit to top up your weekly income, an increase to your Plan pension could potentially impact the amount of State benefits you receive. If you do receive an increase in your pension, who you need to inform will depend on the type of benefit you are claiming; check previous letters you have received about your State benefits or contact Citizen’s Advice for guidance.

If you received an ‘impact letter’ in January 2024, this would have outlined your new pension benefit entitlement, including confirmation of any change taking place from February 2024. If you were entitled to receive a one-off lump sum payment because you previously received less than you were entitled to, then the letter confirmed this amount and when it will be paid.

Please note: if you believe the amount of income tax that you have paid is incorrect or the change affects your tax position for periods covered by any arrears payment, you will need to contact HMRC directly and present this information to them.

The ‘impact letter’ you received as a pensioner confirmed how your pension benefits changed. Your pension may have been lower or higher than if you had been a member of the opposite sex. If lower, this meant your pension was too low and your pension has increased. If higher, this meant your pension was too high; however, the Trustees and the Employer agreed that your pension would not be reduced and so you will not see a change to your pension.

GMP increases on any additional pension amount will be included in your usual pension increase information.

Some pensioner members may receive a one-off additional payment to cover any missing pension they should have received up to now. The ‘impact letter’ you received in January 2024 confirmed the gross amount payable if you are entitled to this.

No, the Plan Trustees and the Sponsoring Employer have decided that no members will be required to pay any money back relating to past overpayments for either GMPr or GMPe.

If the pension in payment has previously been affected by a Pension Sharing Order then this will be allowed for in our calculations.

Yes, you will have received a letter whether you are an active, deferred or pensioner member of the Plan.

If you are an active or deferred member, then when you apply for retirement you will receive a quotation of your benefits and this will include your GMP benefits. These GMP benefits will have been checked against HMRC’s records and will be reviewed at the time (as well as during the time your benefits are paid to you) to make sure they meet the requirements of GMP equalisation between men and women.

Any extra lump sum payments or increases to your pension will be taxed as income, just like your normal pension. The figures quoted in your ‘impact letter’ (which includes your arrears schedule, if applicable) are gross figures, so remember to take into account that this figure will reduce after income tax has been applied. As any arrears payment will have been paid altogether, and taxed at your marginal rate, this may mean that you pay more tax than if the correct payment had been made each year. You may wish to write to HMRC to ask them to calculate the correct Pay As You Earn (PAYE) amount based on the tax years the arrears relate to. This information, if applicable, will have been included with your letter.

Lifetime Allowance (LTA) is a limit that applied previously to the total amount of pension benefits you could build up over your lifetime without incurring a tax charge. The LTA is £1,073,100 for the 2023/2024 tax year.

The Government abolished the charge for the 2023/2024 tax year and intends to abolish the LTA in its entirety with effect from 6 April 2024. However, there could still be tax implications for you if there is an increase to your benefits as a result of Guaranteed Minimum Pension rectification (GMPr) or GMP equalisation (GMPe). This is because the uplift now being granted to your benefits will prompt a re-assessment of whether you paid the right amount of tax when you originally retired (now that the correct amount of taxable benefits that should have been paid to you at your retirement has been confirmed).

Your individual circumstances will determine whether or not there will be any tax implications and you should check if any of the below applies to you when deciding whether to take any action:

• If you’ve not received an increase to your pension as a result of GMPe or GMPr then you don’t need to worry about the LTA.
• If you haven’t retired yet and/or taken any benefits from your pension arrangements then you don’t need to worry about the LTA.
• If you have retired and taken your pension benefits from all your pension arrangements before 6 April 2006 then you don’t need to worry about the LTA.
• If you are a dependant member then you don’t need to worry about the LTA.
• If you have fully retired or have taken some of your pension benefits from 6 April 2006 then benefits from all your pension arrangements still count towards the LTA. There’s no limit on the amount of benefits that you can build up, but additional tax charges may be applicable on any benefits above the LTA when they were taken. If you’re near to or have already exceeded your LTA, the changes to your pension as a result of GMPe or GMPr mean that you might therefore face additional LTA tax charges.

If you know you have used up more than 100% of your LTA (by taking your benefits from this arrangement and/or another arrangements) or think this might be the case after receiving your GMPe/GMPr increase, then you should contact us using the details below:

F&C Asset Management Pension Plan
Capita Pension Solutions
Hartshead House
2 Cutlers Gate
Sheffield
S4 7TL
T: +44 (0)344 391 2415

• If you have ever applied to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for either Primary Protection, Individual Protection 2014 or Individual Protection 2016 – This protection may still be relevant to any benefits you wish to take as a lump sum in the future.  Your LTA protection will continue to apply if you notify HMRC of the increase in your pension within a reasonable period. You will need to contact HMRC in writing as the Trustees cannot do this for you. If you have Individual Protection 2016 you can notify HMRC online.
• If you have Fixed Protection, Fixed Protection 2014, Fixed Protection 2016, or Enhanced Protection then you don’t need to worry about losing your protection as a result of changes to your pension.
• If you have never applied to HMRC for any of the LTA protections listed above then the impact of pension changes on the forms of LTA protection listed above will not be relevant to you.

We will review your GMP record throughout the period your pension is being paid to ensure that it continues to meet the requirements of GMPe between men and women. We will let you know if your pension changes by writing to you.

It is correct. When you are approaching retirement, you will receive a quotation of your benefit entitlement at your retirement age and this will include your GMP benefits. Any effect of GMPe will have been accounted for and this will be reviewed going forward to ensure it continues to meet the requirements of GMPe between men and women.

We are only managing the GMP equalisation changes for benefits in the F&C Asset Management Pension Plan. If you have questions relating to other pensions you will need to contact your previous employer or pension scheme.

You can log on to the online portal for access to your pension details at fandcpensions-online.co.uk if you have not yet registered for your online account you can do so quickly and easily by following the instructions online.

We have a dedicated webpage related to this, which you can access here.

If you need to correct any of your details, then please use the contact details listed here under 'who can I contact with a question?'

If you have a question about GMPr, GMPe, your benefits, or the Plan, then please use the contact details shown below:

F&C Asset Management Pension Plan
Capita Employee Benefits
Hartshead House
2 Cutlers Gate
Sheffield
S4 7TL

T: +44 (0)344 391 2415
Email: F&C@pensionsoffice.com

If you are concerned about your financial situation and the cost of living, there are a number of organisations or charities you could contact.

The following organisations may be able to offer support or assistance:

• Citizens Advice - www.citizensadvice.org.uk
• MoneyHelper - www.moneyhelper.org.uk
• The Government’s Help for Households - helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk
• Pension Tracing Service - www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details
• Unions - you may be able to access advice from any unions that you are (or were) a member of