Business Services Organisation
This newsletter is for all general practitioners (GPs) who are members of the HSC Pension Scheme. This communication will include all relevant updates and procedures regarding the administration of principal, salaried and locum GPs. Please read carefully and retain for future reference.
Principal and salaried GP’s should use gpcertificates@hscni.net mail box.
Locum GPs should use GPLocums@hscni.net mail box.
This newsletter contains information about:
- Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit 2023/24
- Email Queries
- Payment on Account (POA)
- Scheme Membership
- GP Locum 10 Week Rule
- Contact Us
This newsletter is available in a downloadable/printable format here.
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Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit 2023/24
The Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit 2023/24 together with guidance notes will shortly be uploaded to the HSC Pension Service website.
The Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit is primarily to record the pensionable profit for GPs and HSC Pension Service also use this to reconcile any Seniority payments that are made to GPs.
SPPG continue to complete funding allocation for GP Practices making any adjustments through the Global Sum via FPPS.
As the Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit has the employer contribution tier set at 22.5% and funding for opt out for Seniority set at 16.3%, HSC Pension Service will complete a separate piece of work to ascertain the figure to use for Seniority purposes and communicate any under/over payments as we have done in previous years.
As we no longer accept cheques for underpayments of pension contributions, please note the HSC Pension Scheme bank account details below –
Account Name: HSC Pension Scheme Account
Sort Code: 95-01-21 Account Number: 90197955To enable HSC Pension Service to allocate the payment to your account the payment reference number should include the Practice Number and the GP Cypher Number e.g. Pr000 E0000, include the year is possible e.g. 23/24.
Please send an email to gpcertificates@hscni.net to confirm the processing of the transaction. We will wait for the transaction to be recorded in the Scheme Bank Account before we allocate this to the corresponding GP’s Annual Certificate of Pensionable Profit.
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Email Queries
The GP Certificate inbox receives a high volume of emails on a daily basis. When contacting the Practitioner section can you please include as much information as possible on your query so we can answer your query accurately and efficiently. Please include part of your National Insurance Number and Date of Birth so we can access your Pension record and provide you with the required information. We have noticed that a lot of emails do not contain the information above and we are having to write back for these details which is delaying us provid-ing an answer to your queries.
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Payment on Account (POA)
The Payment on Account form (POA) is an estimate of pensionable pay for GPs, submitted at the beginning of each year. Please submit a realistic average figure at the beginning of the year to avoid multiple submissions of POA in year.
There is no need to submit a revised POA if your pensionable pay figure has a slight variation from the original submission. This will help us to manage the time spent on POA administration.SPPG also have access to all submitted POAs for funding purposes.
A revised POA does not in itself update a GP’s status in the scheme, Form SS14 or SD502 is required to accurately reflect the status of scheme membership at any point in time.All forms are available on our website at – Practitioners | HSC Pension Service
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Scheme Membership
Joining the Scheme
In order for a GP pension record to accurately reflect all pensionable employments, GPs are reminded to complete Form SS14 for each new Practitioner employment (Locum GP, Salaried GP, Principal GP or OOH with WUC or DUC). GP Locums will only have to complete one Form SS14 for any GP Locum employment and not for each GP practice they work in.
All HSC employees within a hospital-based setting are automatically enrolled into the HSC Pension Scheme and any information regarding these employments are interfaced onto their record on a monthly basis.
Opting in and Out of HSC Pension Scheme Membership
GP’s can opt out of their practitioner employment but remain pensionable in their officer employment or vice versa. However, if they choose to opt out of their practitioner employment they must opt out of all their practitioner posts. If a GP chooses to opt out of the scheme they must notify all of their employing authorities, not just HSC Pension Service and complete a SD502 Form for each employment.
If a GP chooses to re-join the scheme it is very important that each time they re-join they complete Form SS14 for their GP employment and again they must also notify all of their employing authorities, not just HSC Pension Service.
Please note: No retrospective application for opting in or out of the scheme can be made.
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GP Locum 10 Week Rule
When GPs are submitting Locum A&B Forms for any Locum work completed the rule states that GP locums cannot pension work that is over 10 weeks old. Please ensure forms are submitted within 10 weeks from the first date worked on the Locum A&B Forms.
HSC Pension Service will not accept any Locum A&B Forms received outside of this time frame and forms may be returned to you for re-submission which may cause a delay in the contributions being deducted from your bank account.
Information regarding the 10 Week Rule can be found on the GP Locum Factsheet:
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Contact Us
By Post:
GP Certificates
HSC Pension Service
Waterside House
75 Duke Street
Londonderry
BT47 6FPVia e-mail: GPCertificates@hscni.net or GPlocums@hscni.net
Please do not send any returns to individual team members email accounts.
By Telephone: 028 7131 9111 option 3.
10.00 am to 12.00pm / 2.00 pm to 4.00pm – Monday to Thursday
10.00 am to 12.00pm – FridayFind us on Twitter – @hscpensions
Find us on Facebook – HSC Pension Service