Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) extended, helping pensioners across Hayes
The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), created to help pensioners who lose their pensions due to their sponsoring employer becoming insolvent, has been extended.
The scheme will be extended as follows:
• All members of pension schemes that started winding up between 1st January 1997 and 5th April 2005 where the sponsoring employer is insolvent will have their pensions topped up to a level of 80% of the core pension rights accrued in their scheme.
• The cap will be increased from £12,000 to £26,000 a year.
• The current minimum payment rule (de minimis) has been removed and anyone currently excluded from help from the scheme because their FAS payment would have been £520 per year (£260 for survivors) or less will now receive payments.
• Payments will continue to be made at age 65 unless early payments are due because the person is terminally ill or where they are the survivor of a qualifying member.
• Survivors will receive a total income from the qualifying pensions scheme and the FAS, equivalent to at least 50% of the total core income the member would have received from the scheme and from FAS had they lived.
• Initial payments will still be paid at the rate of 60%, but the de minimis has been removed and the cap increased to £26,000.
• The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) Operational Unit will be reviewing all cases and contacting the member, representative or survivor to let them know the position.
• The Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit can be contacted on 0845 6019941.
As a result of the extension it is expected that all the estimated 125,000 people who have lost their pension will now receive at least 80% of their core expected pension – around three times the number who would have been helped before the extension was made.
The scheme will be extended as follows:
• All members of pension schemes that started winding up between 1st January 1997 and 5th April 2005 where the sponsoring employer is insolvent will have their pensions topped up to a level of 80% of the core pension rights accrued in their scheme.
• The cap will be increased from £12,000 to £26,000 a year.
• The current minimum payment rule (de minimis) has been removed and anyone currently excluded from help from the scheme because their FAS payment would have been £520 per year (£260 for survivors) or less will now receive payments.
• Payments will continue to be made at age 65 unless early payments are due because the person is terminally ill or where they are the survivor of a qualifying member.
• Survivors will receive a total income from the qualifying pensions scheme and the FAS, equivalent to at least 50% of the total core income the member would have received from the scheme and from FAS had they lived.
• Initial payments will still be paid at the rate of 60%, but the de minimis has been removed and the cap increased to £26,000.
• The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) Operational Unit will be reviewing all cases and contacting the member, representative or survivor to let them know the position.
• The Financial Assistance Scheme Operational Unit can be contacted on 0845 6019941.
As a result of the extension it is expected that all the estimated 125,000 people who have lost their pension will now receive at least 80% of their core expected pension – around three times the number who would have been helped before the extension was made.
posted by John at
10:00
