Check your Pensions
by Neville Maguire, Former Lambeth Teachers
Association President
It may seem odd to begin thinking of your pension many
years before it becomes necessary but recent events have focussed on the need
to have a regular financial check on this. 'Capita', the supply teacher
company, has taken over the running of TPA and so the company will take over
the records. Recently several people have checked their records including
myself and found that we were missing certain years.
I received a reply about the years 1992-4 that I was
working part-time and that it was random, intermittent supply teaching and had
made no contributions for these years. Luckily I had the vital payslips to
prove that I was employed by Lambeth and had been for several years before and
after. Lambeth Personnel also backed up my case and were as puzzled about the
situation as I was. After a lot of difficulties with the TPA (they only reply
to correspondence after 6 weeks and take 10 days to open them!! If only we
could do our teaching with deadlines like that!) I finally had the years
inserted back into the records.
I was lucky since I had worked for Lambeth for the
whole time, had the payslips and Lambeth Personnel were extremely helpful since
they had to confirm the employment record. My own payslips were not taken as
evidence as it is the local authority that has to confirm this. Teachers are
therefore advised to make sure every two years that their records have been
updated and that their past record of employment has been recorded. TPA works
up to two years behind the present records as LEAs only send in their records
at Easter each year.
In order to gain your information you need to have
your name, d.o.b, teacher's number and either write to Teachers' Pensions,
Mowden Hall, Darlington, DL3 9EE or you phone them with this information on
01325 745745 to request a print out of the records. Teachers who have had any
break in service, maternity leave, movement between posts or LEA or even just
been in the same post for a long time are advised to begin their checking
today. Remember if you have changed LEA, you will have to go back to them to
confirm your past employment record. Teachers are advised to begin keeping
their payslips and annual P40s as they are invaluable records of evidence.
Younger teachers are especially asked to do this as
there are major changes to pensions that will come about. Some of these include
the rising of the retirement age for women to 65, private firms changing
conditions of the pensions and the government's possible new policies on
pensions. It is worth noting that to get a full pension of half your present
pay, you need to work 40 years.
This compares negatively with many other services
such as the police and the armed services, which have a length of service of 30
years. Given the pressures of work in London and the chances of actually making
it through 40 years to collect a pension,it is worth campaigning to lower
this.
REMEMBER IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY TO BEGIN PLANNING FOR
YOUR RETIREMENT. |
