The Transfer of State Pensions and Benefits Regulations 2007
| Year | 2007 |
2007 No. 1398
SOCIAL SECURITY
The Transfer of State Pensions and Benefits Regulations 2007
Made 4th May 2007
Laid before Parliament 11th May 2007
Coming into force 1st June 2007
The Secretary of State is designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19721in relation to rights in respect of State pensions and benefits of members of the pension scheme provided for officials and servants of Community institutions and bodies2.
Accordingly, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the power conferred by section 2(2) of that Act, makes the following Regulations:
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Transfer of State Pensions and Benefits Regulations 2007 and shall come into force on 1st June 2007.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the 1992 Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 19923;
“the Communities’ scheme” means the pension scheme provided for officials and other servants of Community institutions and bodies in accordance with regulations adopted by the Council of the European Communities4;
“guarantee date” means the date—
(a) by reference to which the cash equivalent value of transferable rights is calculated; and
(b) which falls within a period of three months beginning with the date on which the transfer application is received by the Secretary of State;
“relevant benefit” means benefit under—
(a) sections 36 and 37 of the National Insurance Act 19655(graduated retirement benefit);
(b) Parts II to V and X of the 1992 Act;
(c) sections 1(2) and 2 of the Jobseekers Act 19956(contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance);
“statement of entitlement” means a written statement—
(a) of the amount of the cash equivalent at the guarantee date of the transferable rights which have accrued to, or in respect of, the transferor; and
(b) which contains details of the basis of how that amount has been calculated;
“transfer application” means an application referred to in regulation 3(1);
“transferor” means the person who has applied to the Secretary of State to transfer his transferable rights into the Communities’ scheme.
(3) References in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) relevant benefits include benefits under the corresponding Acts or Orders in force in Northern Ireland;
(b)
(b) provisions of the 1992 Act or of the Social Security Administration Act 19927include references to the provisions in force in Northern Ireland corresponding to those provisions.
Transferable rights
2.—(1) In these Regulations, “transferable rights” means, subject to paragraph (2), any rights to relevant benefits, which, at the guarantee date, have accrued to, or in respect of, a person by virtue of—
(a)
(a) the payment by that person of Class 1, 2 or 3 contributions under the 1992 Act;
(b)
(b) that person having been credited with such contributions or with earnings; or
(c)
(c) contributions of any class paid under the National Insurance Act 1965.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not include—
(a)
(a) any rights under—
(i) section 48 of the 1992 Act8(use of former spouse’s contributions); or
(ii) sections 82 to 86A of that Act9(adult dependency increases); or
(b)
(b) the cash equivalent of the value of the appropriate national health service allocation under section 162 of the Social Security Administration Act 199210.
(3) In determining a person’s rights to relevant benefits for the purposes of this regulation, regulation 6(1) of the Social Security (Widow’s Benefit and Retirement Pensions) Regulations 197911(benefit at reduced rates for those who do not satisfy contribution conditions in full) shall have effect as if the words from “provided” to the end of the paragraph were omitted.
Transfer application
3.—(1) Except where paragraph (2) applies, a person who wishes to transfer his transferable rights to the Communities’ scheme must make an application to the Secretary of State.
(2) The transferor shall be treated as having made an application under paragraph (1) where the Secretary of State receives a copy of the transferor’s application to become a member of the Communities’ scheme.
(3) An application under paragraph (1) shall be in such form as the Secretary of State may from time to time approve.
Statement of entitlement
4.—(1) The Secretary of State shall, subject to paragraph (4), provide the transferor with a statement of entitlement before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the guarantee date.
(2) A statement of entitlement shall remain valid for a period of seven months beginning with the day on which it is issued by the Secretary of State.
(3) Where the transferor is not satisfied as to the accuracy of any of the information contained in the statement of entitlement, he shall notify the Secretary of State accordingly within one month of receiving it.
(4) The Secretary of State need not provide a statement of entitlement to a transferor if he has provided a statement of entitlement to that transferor in the previous twelve months.
Calculation of the cash equivalent of transferable rights
5.—(1) The cash equivalent of the transferor’s transferable rights is to be calculated and verified in such manner as may be approved by, or on behalf of, the Government Actuary.
(2) Where, at the guarantee date, the transferor is in receipt of one or more relevant benefits, the cash equivalent of any amounts paid in respect of that benefit or those benefits shall be deducted from the total cash equivalent of his transferable rights.
Notice of intention to complete transfer
6. A transfer of a transferor’s transferable rights to the Communities’ scheme may only take place where the Secretary of State has been notified in writing, before the expiry of the period referred to in regulation 4(2), that the transferor wishes the transfer to take place.
Action to be taken by the Secretary of State
7.—(1) Paragraphs (2) and (3) apply where the Secretary of State receives a notice under regulation 6.
(2) Where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the cash equivalent of the transferor’s transferable rights is correct, he must transfer into the Communities’ scheme—
(a)
(a) an amount in respect of that cash equivalent; and
(b)
(b) interest accruing on that amount by virtue of regulation 10,
before the end of the period of ten months beginning with the guarantee date.
(3) Where the Secretary of State is not satisfied as to the accuracy of the cash equivalent of the transferor’s transferable rights, he shall notify the transferor accordingly and issue a revised statement of entitlement.
(4) Where—
(a)
(a) the Secretary of State receives a notice from a transferor indicating that he wishes to complete a transfer of his transferable rights to the Communities’ scheme; and
(b)
(b) that notice is received after the expiry of the period referred to in regulation 4(2),
he shall notify the transferor that his application is invalid and that a new application must be made and a new statement of entitlement obtained in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.
Effect of making a cash equivalent transfer payment
8.—(1) This regulation applies where the cash equivalent of the transferor’s transferable...
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