Your Pension - Your Future 

You can find details of your Normal Retirement Date by logging in to your online account or on the statement you were sent when you left the Scheme.

You can't usually take your pension earlier than the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) set out in legislation. The NMPA is currently age 55 and will increase to age 57 from 6 April 2028. However, some members have a Protected Pension Age which means they can take their pension from age 50.

You can ask to take your pension before your Normal Retirement Date, but it may be reduced to take account of the fact that it will be paid for longer. The early retirement reduction factors are regularly reviewed by the Trustee and can change from time to time.

You may also ask to take your pension later than your Normal Retirement Date in which case it may be increased to take account of the later start date.

You don't have to take all your pension at the same time, so for example you could choose to take your old tier benefits now and take your ZPensionBuilder/final salary benefits at a later date.

You may have pension benefits from a number of different sources including Zurich, other employers and your State Pension. 

• You can get a projection of your Zurich pension by logging in to your online account
• You can get a projection of your State Pension, including when it is due, by checking on the government website 
• You can then ask your other pension providers for a projection of your pension benefits

For your Zurich pension, you can either take the full amount of pension quoted or give up some of the annual pension for a tax-free cash sum (subject to tax limits).

Some people are entitled to a temporary pension, which is intended to bridge the gap between the Scheme retirement age and either 65 or when your State Pension becomes payable (if later). 

If you are entitled to a temporary pension, it will be shown as part of your retirement quotation when you run one online.

Pensions in payment are increased each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI). There is an upper limit on pension increases, which is usually 5%, but may depend on which tier your benefits are in. 

These increases do not apply to any Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) earned before 1997.

You may read about GMPs in the press, and in particular about equalisation of GMPS.

There used to be two State Pensions: the basic State Pension and an earnings-related element, also called SERPS and the Second State Pension. Pension schemes were able to contract out of the earnings-related element, meaning that employers and members paid less National Insurance in return for a guarantee that the workplace pension would pay them at least a certain level of income that was broadly in line with the earnings-related element they would otherwise have earned.

If you were a member of the ES Tier or ZI Tier before 1997 then you will probably have a GMP.

In the past, the State Pension was paid to men and women at different ages and this is still the case for GMPs, which because of this built up at different rates for men and women. In 2018, the Court decided that GMPs built up between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997 should be equal for men and women. Equalising GMPs is a complex project and it will take time to work out how much, if anything, individuals will get as a result.

Most people are able to process their retirement online up to 6 months before their planned retirement date. Log in to the system, select 'Retirement' and follow the process. 

If you are not able to do this for some reason, for example you may have complex benefits in ZPen, you will receive a message on screen saying that it is not possible and you should contact the ZPen team on zpenteam@uk.zurich.com.