Our Scheme is a trust-based arrangement, with a single Trustee, QinetiQ Pension Scheme Trustee Limited. The Director of this Trustee body is a professional pension trustee, represented by Dalriada Trustees Limited.
We have also established a Member Representative Group (MRG) which meets to review and discuss aspects of the Scheme's activity from a member perspective. This includes reviewing the communications you receive as members, including this website.
Some benefits payable from the Scheme, such as lump sum death benefits, are paid at the Trustee’s discretion. To ensure that the Trustee can take your wishes into account you should regularly consider updating your Expression of Wish details, especially if your circumstances change (such as you get married or you have children).
How to complete or update your Expression of Wish
If you have a question about the Scheme, or your benefits, which is not answered on this website, please contact Buck, the Scheme Administrator. There are several ways you can contact Buck, these are all explained on the Contact us page.
The Scheme is closed to new members. It is also closed to future accrual. This means current members are not building up any further benefits (although those benefits already built up may increase over time to lessen the effect of inflation).
Members are no longer required to contribute to the Scheme. At least every three years the Trustee will undertake a formal assessment of the Scheme’s financial health (known as a formal valuation). It will use the results of this valuation to agree with the Company what contributions it needs to pay, if any, to ensure the Scheme can pay all the full benefits built up by members when they are due to be paid.
The key objective of the Scheme is to provide members with an income in retirement. As a Defined Benefit scheme the level of pension you will receive will be based on how long you were an Active (contributing) member of the Scheme and how much you earned (Pensionable Earnings). You can see how much pension you built up in the Plan by logging into the Member Portal.
How to register
Your Normal Pension Date is your 65th birthday. This is the date the Trustee expects you to start receiving your pension. You may be able to start receiving your pension earlier or later than this date. The earliest, by law, most members can start to receive their pension is currently their 55th birthday (increasing to 57th birthday from 6 April 2028). If your pension is paid before your Normal Pension Date it may be reduced to take account of the fact it is being paid early and therefore likely to be paid for longer.
In addition to a pension, you can also receive a cash lump sum. This will be broadly equal to three times your initial pension. You can see what level of cash sum you are likely to receive by logging into the Member Portal.
Pensions are paid monthly, directly to a bank account that you nominate. Your pension will be taxable as income (similar to a salary). We will calculate the tax that is due and deduct this from you pension before it is paid to you. The cash sum payable is normally tax-free. This will be paid shortly after your retirement date, normally to the same bank account that you have chosen to receive your pension.
How to view your pension in payment
Unless you have already started to receive your pension, you can consider transferring your benefits out of the Scheme. You can see the current estimated value of your Scheme benefits by logging into the Member Portal.
You should consider very carefully whether transferring your benefits out of the Scheme will provide you with the best outcome in retirement. Remember, you are transferring all your benefits, including those that may be payable to your loved ones should you die.
If the value of your Scheme benefits is in excess of £30,000 you will need to demonstrate that you have received advice from an appropriately qualified individual, authorised to give financial advice with regard to pension transfers by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), before the Trustee can release any funds. Even if the value of your benefits is less than £30,000 the Trustee encourages you to get the appropriate advice before choosing to transfer your benefits out of the Scheme.
If you need help finding an appropriately authorised individual in your area, the FCA has a register of those individuals which you can access at register.fca.org.uk
Pension scams are still on the rise, it’s more important than ever to be aware of scammers trying to con you.
You may think you won’t fall victim for a scam, but fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated in their approaches, by producing professional looking brochures and websites promoting attractive but bogus offers.
In some cases, these fraudsters will target pension members offering the chance to convert pensions savings to an immediate cash sum before the minimum pension age (currently age 55 but rising to 57 from 6 April 2028). Using a transfer of your benefits to try and take them below normal minimum pension age is usually against the law so that sort of an offer should ring alarm bells with you.
Please read the following information carefully to ensure you don’t let a scammer steal your pension.
First things first, you should get to know how your pension works to be aware of how scammers can trick you into thinking differently.
Some of the key facts that apply to all of our pension savings include:
Following are some key tips to help you avoid being scammed:
For further information about pension scams, please visit the FCA'S Scamsmart website.
If you are getting divorced (or ending a Civil Partnership) you will need to include the value of your Scheme benefits when assessing how you will share your assets with your Spouse or Partner. You can get an estimate of the value of your benefits via the Member Portal, in the same way that you can get an estimated transfer value. However, there is specific information your solicitor is likely to require in addition to this estimated value.
Please contact the Scheme Administrator who can provide all the information you and your solicitor are likely to require in a single divorce/dissolution specific pack.
The Scheme may pay benefits to your loved ones following your death. The actual benefits payable will depend on what pension you built up in the Scheme (and whether you have started receiving it). It will also depend on who will be receiving the benefit.
In broad terms the Scheme may pay one or more of the following:
Whilst the pensions can only be paid to specific individuals (which are defined in Scheme rules) the lump sum is a discretionary benefit. This means the Trustee may decide who receives some or all of this payment. To ensure the Trustee can take into account who you would like to receive this benefit you should periodically update your Expression of Wish, especially if your circumstances change.
How to complete or update your Expression of Wish
If you need to notify us of the death of a member of the Scheme, you should contact Buck, the Scheme's administrator, using the details on the Contact us page.
We want to be able to pay any death benefits as quickly as possible as we understand this is likely to be a difficult time. To help with that, you'll need to provide certain information - so we suggest that you make sure you have the following documents before getting in touch: