Deferred Members

The Rexam Pension Plan is a Defined Benefit (DB) plan. DB Benefits are linked to your salary and length of service. This means that the benefit you will receive at retirement is calculated using specified or predetermined formula. It is not subject to investment performance.

Another form of retirement benefit is a Defined Contribution (DC, money purchase) plan. With this type of plan the contributions payable by the individual and the company are known but the benefit will vary depending on investment performance. The benefits are not known until retirement. The Plan’s Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) funds are Defined Contributions. Current employees join the Ball UK WorkSave Pension Plan which is a Defined Contribution Plan.

A former employee of Rexam, Bowater, any UK company in the Bowater group of companies, those who were employees of companies acquired by Bowater and of companies sold by Bowater and Rexam and (any acquired companies) who retain a pension in the Rexam Pension Plan which has not yet been put into payment. Ball employees who were members when the Plan closed to future accrual on 5 April 2024 are also deferred members.

In November 2023 the Trustee of the Rexam Pension Plan (“the Plan”) purchased an insurance policy with Rothesay Life (“Rothesay”) which secures the Defined Benefit (“DB”) pension benefits for all Plan members. There is currently no change to the running of the Plan or your benefits. You will continue to receive your pension in the same way and if you have any queries you should contact the Pensions Department as usual. The Plan will continue to pay members’ benefits, but now Rothesay reimburses the cost of those benefits to the Plan under the terms of the insurance policy. Further information in relation to the Rothesay insurance policy is available in the Updates & Reports section.

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will currently permit pension plan Trustees to pay a pension early (ie before the deferred member reaches the normal retirement or pension age) to a deferred member but not before they reach age 55.

The Rexam Pension Plan will only pay a deferred pension early at an actuarially reduced rate if the following apply:

a) Both the Trustee and the Company agree to early pensions being paid
(Currently, both agree to these being paid early so long as no augmentation is required)
b) The deferred member completes a Lump Sum Allowance form as required by HMRC
(A copy of the required form will be sent to you with your quotation)
c) The deferred pension is not restricted by contracting out guarantees from being paid early (Individual calculation required to assess)

Pension payments are treated as earned income and tax will be deducted (if applicable) via the pensioner payroll. It should also be noted that payments can only be paid direct to a member’s bank or building society account and not to a third party.

Our target is for a response to be sent within 20 working days following receipt of all of the above information.

It is possible to defer taking your pension up to the age of 75. You will be asked to sign a Request for Postponement form issued with your normal retirement pack.

Available for those Deferred members pre-retirement age, who may wish to surrender the accrued pension (ie the present value of the deferred pension built up through being a member of the pension plan and any attaching spouse and dependent pensions and any associated indexation) for a single cash equivalent lump sum, which can only be transferred to another Registered pension plan in the UK and some overseas pension arrangements approved by the HMRC.

Such a cash equivalent transfer value is usually only available once a year.

A cash equivalent transfer value is guaranteed for 3 months (12 months for divorce purposes) and if the transfer is to proceed a written request must be received by the Pensions Department within the guarantee period.

Deferred members thinking of this course of action should take their own personal advice from an independent financial adviser. You are required to take regulated financial advice if your transfer value is worth £30,000 or more. The Pensions Department cannot and will not give any advice.

If you are seeking a cash equivalent transfer value to be paid into a new employer’s pension plan, you should first check that they will accept incoming transfer values.

It is not possible to transfer other pensions into the Rexam Pension Plan.

These can normally be requested once a year from the Pensions Department and it should be noted that Retirement Projections can only be provided for up to 10 years in the future. Please put your request in writing, quoting:

a) Your full name
b) Your current address
c) The Company you worked for and period of employment ( eg 1975 to 1988)
d) The date of early retirement (if early retirement requested)
e) Your email address (if you wish to share this with us)
f) The reason for a cash equivalent transfer value request (ie transfer or divorce)
g) Details of the relevant Registered pension scheme of financial adviser, giving your written authority for us to disclose the relevant information to them.

If you move abroad the Trustee can still pay your pension when it becomes due. It is important that you notify the Pensions Department of any change of circumstances so that we can write to you prior to your normal retirement date to notify you of your benefits and any choices you may have. If you want to transfer your pension to another employers scheme in another country this may be possible provided it is an approved scheme. You should contact the Pensions Department for more information.

At retirement you will be given the option to take a pension or a one off lump sum payment (currently tax free) and a smaller pension. You can normally exchange up to 25% of your total pension at date of retirement in return for a cash sum, subject to any guaranteed minimums being covered as a result of state contracting-out requirements. Full options are provided on retirement. Normal retirement packs are issued automatically approximately 6 months prior to normal retirement date. The statement outlines the options available, including the cash sum option.

At retirement, members are given the option to use the value of their AVC benefits to provide additional Pension in the Rexam Plan. This may also have the effect of increasing the cash lump sum available under the Plan. Alternatively you can use the value of your AVCs to buy a pension on the open market.

There are limits on the amount you can save tax efficiently; more details can be found in the following tax guides on HMRC website.

HMRC – Annual Allowance summary guide
HMRC – Lump Sum Allowance summary guide

If you need advice about tax, you should speak to a financial adviser.

From 6 April 2024, the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) regime was removed, with 2 new tax-free lump sum allowances introduced in its place. Please refer to ‘Lump Sum updates’ announcement in Updates & Reports for further information.

If you die before the deferred pension starts to be paid, a spouse’s/dependant’s pension may be payable. A spouse’s pension is payable for life, by right to your legal spouse. Where you are not married but there is an adult who is financially dependent upon you, a dependant’s pension may become payable. The Trustee will consider the circumstances of the relationship and will make a decision based on the evidence gathered at time of death.

A lump sum representing the total of your contributions plus accumulated interest will also be payable. We normally pay the lump sum to the person(s) you have nominated. This is on top of a pension to your dependant(s). It is therefore important you continue to keep your nomination form up to date and keep us informed of any change of address.

In addition, the Plan provides for child allowances, payable until your child or children reach age 18. It may be extended at the Trustee’s discretion up to the age of 23, if the child remains in full-time education or vocational training, or is unable to work through mental or physical incapacity.

Any spouse’s, dependant’s or children’s pension will increase in the same way as your own pension.

At such a sad time, there are many pulls on time and priorities. A short notification of the death to the Pensions Department is all that is needed initially. When the family is able to look to sort out the administration that follows the death of a loved one, the Pensions Department will need the following:

a) A copy of the death certificate
b) A copy of the birth and marriage certificates of any spouse or financial dependent
c) Copies of any children’s birth certificates if under 23 years old and still in full time education
d) Addresses of the person sending the information and addresses of spouse, financial dependants and children if different from the deceased’s address on the death certificate
e) A copy of the member’s Will (if applicable)

On receipt of such information, the Pensions Department will advise whether further benefits such as continuing pensions or any cash payments are due to the family, next of kin or the deceased’s estate.

Our target is for a response to be sent within 10 working days following receipt of all the above information.

Not all deferred pensions have an attaching pension or lump sum payable on the death of a deferred pensioner.