Paydays
MPS pensions are normally payable every four weeks, two weeks in advance and two weeks in arrears. For members with smaller pensions, payment is made quarterly or annually, in arrears. Your pension will be paid into your UK bank or building society account by direct credit from the Scheme’s bank account. Payment by cheque or girocheque is no longer available.
If you are living abroad, payments can be made to your overseas account although there may be additional bank charges. The Scheme offers an option to pay pensions to those living overseas quarterly or annually in order to reduce these costs.
Go to Paydays to see when you get paid.
Pay increases and bonuses
Every year we look to increase the pension we pay you, to help you with rising prices. You get your increase in the autumn. We send you a pension increase letter every year that explains the different parts of your pension, and how much the increase is.
Payslips
Payslips are not normally issued unless the amount of pension we pay to you changes by more than £5.00 per month. A payslip is normally issued following the autumn pension review.
P60
Your P60 shows the tax you have paid on your pension in the tax year (6 April to 5 April). All pensioners will receive a combined P60 & payslip which will be posted to your home address before the end of April each year.
Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP)
The additional State Pension, provided by the Government, was previously known as the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). Members who contributed to the MPS after April 1978 were contracted out of SERPS. Legislation states that the pension paid by the Scheme from age 60 for women and 65 for men must be at least equal to the pension that they would have earned in SERPS. This equivalent amount of pension is called the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). The GMP is included in the MPS pension and is not an additional pension.
You can read more about GMPs here.
Widows and widowers
The widows and widowers of MPS members who were contracted out of SERPS may also have a GMP entitlement. For widows, this will be half of the member’s GMP. For widowers the entitlement will be half of the member’s GMP arising from service after April 1988.
HMRC will automatically notify the Scheme of the amount of GMP payable to widows and widowers. For most members, the MPS pension will be more than the GMP. For these members, the only effect of their GMP entitlement will be that increases on GMP will be paid separately from increases on the rest of their pension. The Scheme pension is normally higher than the GMP but if it is not, MPS would increase the pension so that it is equal to the GMP.