About Your Benefits

Early payment of benefits on redundancy

Arrangements made by British Coal provide for benefits to be paid early to certain members made redundant by British Coal or by successor employers. The arrangements in respect of such members who were transferred to new employment as a consequence of privatisation are that benefits will be paid early to those members:

• who were BCSSS contributors at the date of transfer to the successor employer
• who are made redundant by their successor employer (providing continuity with previous British Coal employment is maintained)
• who meet the relevant qualifying conditions for early payment.

Members made redundant who meet the qualifying conditions will be entitled to payment of benefits on reaching age 50 or the immediate payment of benefits if 50 or over at the date of redundancy. These provisions are not contained in the Rules of the Scheme. They were made by British Coal exercising a discretionary power which British Coal held under Rule 50 of the Scheme.

Those affected will have been notified about the arrangements.

Linking arrangements for members taking benefits from the IWCSSS

If you are a contributor to the IWCSSS and you become entitled to an ill health retirement pension from the IWCSSS, this will trigger the payment of your deferred BCSSS benefits.

Payment will start from the same date as your IWCSSS benefits are paid.

Arrangements if you have already taken a reduced early pension from the BCSSS

Members who take reduced early pension under the option described in the 'Benefits on Retirement' section headed 'Taking your benefits early', may subsequently become entitled to the payment of unreduced benefits as a consequence of redundancy or ill health retirement from the IWCSSS. If this happens, the pension in payment will be increased to the full amount of pension due as a result of redundancy or ill health calculated at the date of redundancy or the date the IWCSSS pension starts. Unfortunately, members who took a reduced lump sum when their BCSSS pension first started will not be able to take a further lump sum payment at the time the pension is increased to the unreduced level. Instead there will be a compensating increase to pension. The Scheme’s administration office will explain how the increase is calculated.