From: tarquinlinbin 
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Subject: Company pensions capping;comments please?
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 16:48:47 +0100

There has been much talk of how many companies are shutting down final
salry pension schemes etc and introducing other measures to limit the
amounts paid out by company pension schemes.

I am employed by a company within the NGT group
http://www.nationalgrid.com/


My pension scheme has shut down final salry schemes to new entrants
but old hands like myself are still on the final salary scheme.

As part of this years terms and conditions (pay) negotiations they
have proposed as art of the package,a personal pension cap for each
individual.

It works like this;

The company takes the best pensionable pay year of each individual
,chosen from the last three years,and that best pensionable pay year
then becomes that individuals' personal pensionable pay cap for ever
more(there are no periodic updates/reviews)

In following years ,all that individuals' pensionable pay up to their
personal cap is 100% pensionable but any further amounts earned over
the personal cap are 90% pensionable.

This sounds like a long term loss to the individual and I find it
incredible that a company of this size feels that the pension scheme
may be so under threat that they offer such a deal...

Any comments on this deal please??

j