Annual Benefit Statements - FAQs

What is an Annual Benefit Statement?

Your Annual Benefit Statement is based on the information provided by your employer and gives you an indication of the benefits earned up to 31 March each year. It is a very important document so please keep it in a safe place. It provides you with information to help you make choices regarding your pension, including planning for retirement. You can use the figures on your ABS to populate our online pension calculators.

For further information regarding your ABS please see our employee pension notice - Annual Benefit Statement and Remediable Service Statement Exercise 2024.

When will I receive my ABS?

If you were a member of alpha on 31 March 2023, you can expect to get your statement by 31 August 2023 as this is a legislative requirement.

How will I receive my Annual Benefit Statement?

Your Annual Benefit Statement will no longer be printed by Civil Service Pensions and posted to your office address. Instead, you will be able to access it via the new Pensions Online Portal.

The NICS Pension Schemes Information Centre is an online portal which allows you to securely log on to view your pension details when they become available. You must register to access the portal and this can be done by visiting the portal webpage and following the instructions.

Further information on other ways to access your ABS is provided in the Employee Notice: ‘Changes to how you will receive your Annual Benefit Statement’.

Why does my statement only cover part of the year?

If you joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) after 1 April 2022, your statement will show the benefits you have built up from the date you joined until 31 March 2023.

How is my pension calculated?

alpha

Your statement estimate is the total pension you have built up as of 31 March. This is based on 2.32% of your pensionable earnings each year.

Find out more about how your alpha pension is calculated in the scheme guide.

Nuvos

Your statement estimate is the total pension you have built up as of 31 March. This is based on 2.3% of your pensionable earnings each year.

Find out more about how your nuvos pension is calculated in the scheme guide.

Classic, Classic Plus and Premium

We use the following figures for your statement estimate:

• pensionable earnings (salary including pensionable allowances and bonuses)
• reckonable service (the amount of time you’ve served in NICS employment that counts towards your pension)

Find out more about how your pension is calculated in your scheme guide.

What can affect my reckonable service?

The following circumstances do not count as reckonable service:

• unpaid leave
• career breaks
• strike days
• sick pay at pension rate

Part-time service will be calculated on pro-rata basis.

This means your reckonable service could be lower than your total qualifying service (the total amount of time you’ve served in your current NICS employment).

Find out more about how changes in working patterns can affect your pension.

I have a previous period of employment within NICS, will this be included in my ABS?

Your statement only shows details of your current active service, including aggregated or linked service.

Any unclaimed pension or previous service that was not aggregated or linked, will not show on your statement.

I am partially retired, how will this affect my ABS?

Your statement will only show reckonable service and pension from the day after you took partial retirement.

Why do I have more than one pension figure on my statement?

If you were in service before April 2015 and moved to the alpha scheme before 31 March 2022, your statement will show pension amounts for the different schemes you were a member of. For example, you may have pension figures for the classic and alpha pension schemes. The rules and benefits will be different for each scheme.

How is my death in service lump sum calculated?

alpha and Nuvos

Two times your actual pensionable earnings (salary including pensionable allowances and bonuses).

Classic

Two times your actual pensionable earnings (salary including pensionable allowances and bonuses).

Classic Plus and Premium

Three times your actual pensionable earnings (salary including pensionable allowances and bonuses).

See your scheme guide to find out how your death benefits are calculated.

Those who joined alpha without a break in service (or with a qualifying break in service) from the classic plus or premium pension schemes will receive two times their actual pensionable earnings plus an additional payment in their death benefits. If a member dies between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2025, the additional payment starts as one times your pay on 1 April 2015. This is then reduced by 0.1 each year. For example, on 1 April 2016 it is 0.9, 1 April 2017 it is 0.8 and so on. This continues to reduce until 1 April 2025 when the additional payment no longer applies.

Can I change my death benefit nomination?

We urge you to keep your death benefit nominee(s) up to date.

More information can be found on our Death benefit nomination dedicated page.

Will my ABS show my Pension Sharing Orders or Earmarking Orders

Your statement considers Pension Sharing Orders that have been sent to us and processed. However, Earmarking Orders are not included in your statement as they are based on the value of your benefits when you come to retire.

Do you have questions not answered on this page?

There is also a dedicated ABS e-learning package in LInKS Portal. Details of how to access the package called: 'Understanding Your Civil Service Pensions Annual Benefit Statement' are explained in this employee pension notice - Annual Benefit Statement and Remediable Service Statement Exercise 2024

We have published the most common queries on this page. For questions about your ABS not listed, please email us at cspabsqueries@finance-ni.gov.uk. We urge you to submit any queries within three months of receipt of your ABS.

Please contact your employer/HRConnect with any questions about your personal details, for example:

• date of birth
• National Insurance number
• home or work address