Business Services Organisation
Information regarding 2025 Annual Benefit Statement/Remediable Service Statement (ABS/RSS)
As outlined in Pension Bulletin 22, HSC Pension Service has now issued ABS/RSS Statements to active members via the member self-service (MSS) portal. Deferred members will also receive their statements through MSS portal in the coming weeks.
We are currently receiving a high volume of queries from active members regarding pension contributions owed to the scheme and contributions overpaid during the remedy period (1 April 2015 – 31 March 2022).
A common query is arising due to members comparing their ABS/RSS with those of their colleagues. It is not recommended that you make comparisons with your colleagues as the impact of the remedy is unique to each individual for several reasons, some of which are detailed below.
Variances will occur due to the basis of each members rank/roll, and on their protection level i.e. tapered, protected or unprotected. However, from the queries raised to date, we have found members are not taking into consideration that periods of temporary promotion also have an impact.
This arises as temporary promotions are treated differently under the legacy final salary schemes compared to the reformed scheme. Under the CARE Scheme temporary promotions are non-pensionable. In contrast, under the legacy schemes, temporary promotions are pensionable but not included in final salary pensionable pay. Instead, they generate an entitlement to additional pension benefits for those periods. These additional pension benefits are added to your pension calculation before commutation. Upon roll back into legacy schemes (FPS/NFPS) additional contributions are due for the periods of temporary promotion.
We have set out some examples below to help demonstrate this for members with a view to addressing a number of queries.
The examples provided assume the member had no protection and joined CARE Scheme 1 April 2015. We have demonstrated the impact on the member as a result of periods of temporary promotion compared to a member who had no periods of temporary promotion.
Case 1: Rolling back into FPS (with temporary promotion) – Wholetime only |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (Temp Promotion) | FPS Employee Contribution (14.7%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Contribution Adjustment owed to the scheme |
| From £37K up to £51K over period | £43,994.60 | From £34K up to £38K over the period | £32,217.31 | £11,777.29 | |
Case 2: Rolling back into FPS (no temporary promotion) – Wholetime only |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (No Temp Promotion) | FPS Employee Contribution (14.7%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Contribution Adjustment owed to the scheme |
| From £34K up to £38K over period | £37,227.58 | From £34K up to £38K over period | £32,217.31 | £5,010.27 | |
Case 3: Rolling back into Standard NFPS (with temporary promotion) – Wholetime & On-Call |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (Temp Promotion) | NFPS Employee Contribution (10.4%-10.9%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Overpaid Contribution Adjustment due back |
| From £37K up to £51K over period | £32,436.34 | From £34K up to £38K over period | £32,217.31 | £219.03 | |
Case 4: Rolling back into Standard NFPS (no temporary promotion) – Wholetime & On-Call |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (No Temp Promotion) | NFPS Employee Contribution (10.4%-10.9%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Overpaid Contribution Adjustment due back |
| From £34K up to £38K over period | £27,432.99 | From £34K up to £38K over period | £32,217.31 | £4,784.32 | |
Case 5: Rolling back into Special NFPS (with temporary promotion) – On-Call only |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (Temp Promotion) | Special NFPS Employee Contribution (14.2%-14.7%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Contribution Adjustment owed to the scheme |
| From £12K up to £18K over period | £14,251.65 | From £11K up to £13K over period | £10,739.11 | £3,512.54 | |
Case 6: Rolling back into Special NFPS (no temporary promotion) – On-Call only |
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| Legacy Period
01 April 2015– 31 March 2022 |
Pensionable Pay (No Temp Promotion) | Special NFPS Employee Contribution (14.2%-14.7%) | Pensionable Pay (CARE Scheme) | CARE Employee Contribution (12.2%-12.9%) | Total Contribution Adjustment owed to the scheme |
| From £11K up to £13K over period | £12,049.90 | From £11K up to £13K over period | £10,739.11 | £1,310.79 | |
For clarification, additional pension benefit (APB) is paid on top of your final salary pension. We have set out two examples below to show the additional benefit, each member will differ dependant on the age they undertook temporary promotion or received CPD.
Examples below are a FPS and NFPS members aged in their early 40’s, substantive rank Firefighter acting up to Crew Commander, and a member substantive role Watch Commander acting up to Station Commander and Station Commander (Flexi) during the remedy period.
| FPS – Firefighter acting up to Crew Commander | |
| Temp promotion difference paid to member during remedy period | £9,066.71 |
| Total employee pension contribution (14.2%-14.7%) | £1,287.81 |
| Total APB due to be added to pension before commutation | £185.53 |
| Additional lump sum if retiring at age 55 (does not account for tax charges) | £1,094.61 |
| Additional pension benefit per year | £139.15 |
| FPS – Watch Commander acting up to Station Commander & Station Commander (Flexi) | |
| Temp promotion difference paid to member during remedy period | £45,243.87 |
| Total employee pension contribution (14.7%) | £6,650.85 |
| Total APB due to be added to pension before commutation | £1,047.70 |
| Additional lump sum if retiring at age 55 (does not account for tax charges) | £6,181.40 |
| Additional pension benefit per year | £785.77 |
| NFPS – Firefighter acting up to Crew Commander | |
| Temp promotion difference paid to member during remedy period | £6,954.63 |
| Total employee pension contribution (10.4%-10.9%) | £744.53 |
| Total APB due to be added to pension before commutation | £204.03 |
| Additional lump sum if retiring at age 60 | £612.10 |
| Additional pension benefit per year | £153.02 |
There are too many scenarios and variances to cover every individual case. However, please note that all contribution adjustment calculations will be reviewed and recalculated at the time of election.
Due to the significant demand at this time and if your enquiry relates to pension contributions already made please contact the Pensions Department directly at McCloud@nifrs.org
If your query concerns your ABS/RSS, please contact HSC Pension Service directly at NIFRSABSQueries@hscni.net
NO ACTION REQUIRED