How, and when, you can take your deferred benefits
When you retire, you will be entitled to an annual pension, and a one-off, tax-free, lump sum.
There are also other options you can consider depending on your circumstances, these are outlined below. Please select the relevant topic or drop down arrow to read more.
At your NPA, you will be entitled to:
- an annual pension, and
- a one-off, tax-free, lump sum
These are based on a proportion of your Pensionable Salary and the years of Contributing Service you have built up.
Your benefits usually come into payment at your Normal Pension Age (NPA).
- If you joined the industry on or after 1 April 1988, your Normal Pension Age is 63.
- For male members, who joined the Scheme before 1 April 1988 and left service on or after 17 May 1990, your Normal Pension Age is 60.
You can choose to put your benefits into payment before your NPA but if you do these will be reduced for early payments – please select early retirement minimum age below to find out more.
You can find out more about your NPA and how your annual pension and one-off lump sum are calculated in your member booklet.
The booklet also includes further details about all of the additional options outlined below.
You may be able to exchange part of your pension for an additional lump sum.
You can see the current conversion factors below:
This would be paid in addition to your standard lump sum (as outlined above).
There are some restrictions so make sure to check your member booklet and lump sum allowance information.
You may be able to exchange/convert all, or part, of your standard lump sum, for additional pension.
This option is available on request from the Scheme administrator, Railpen.
If you want to take this option, you need to let Railpen know at least 1 month before you start receiving your pension. See the taking your benefits page for more information on the application process.
Find out more in your member booklet.
If the value of your Scheme benefits are £30,000 or less, you can ask to take it all as a lump sum, if that would work better for you in retirement. If you take this option, your entitlement to benefits under the Scheme will stop and no death benefits will be payable if you die.
The value of your Scheme benefit is your pension plus the pension equivalent of three times your annual pension lump sum.
Contact the Scheme administrator, Railpen, for more information.
You may be able to exchange part of your pension to provide additional pension for your spouse, or to provide a pension for any other dependant when you die. The person named as your dependant can be:
- your spouse
- a child, or
- any other person who was completely, or partly, financially dependent on you immediately before your death (this is at the Trustee’s discretion)
If your dependant is a child, they will not receive a dependant’s pension until they are 18 years old, unless they have a permanent disability.
Contact the Scheme administrator, Railpen, for more information
If you paid Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) while you were an active member of the Scheme you have a number of options regarding when, to take them. For example, you can:
- take your AVCs at the same time as your other pension benefits
- delay taking your AVCs until after you’ve already retired (up to your 75th birthday)
- transfer your AVCs to another pension provider (this option is only available if you have left the Scheme)
You may also decide to use your AVCs in a number of different way. For example, you can use some, or all of your AVCs to:
- increase your tax-free lump sum (subject to HMRC limits)
- get a taxed lump sum (subject to tax allowances)
increase your pension - either within the Scheme (this option is only available to members who started paying AVCs before 6 April 2006) or by buying a pension (annuity) with another provider on the open market
You can find out more in the AVC guide linked below:
You may be able to claim your deferred Scheme benefits including your deferred Magnox pension and cash lump sum early if you are suffering from ill-health.
You will need to meet specific criteria to qualify for ill-health retirement, and your status will need to be confirmed by the Company’s appointed medical adviser.
You can find more details about this and how your pension and lump sum will be calculated in your member booklet or on the changes in circumstances page.
The earliest age that you can usually access your pension and is set by the government and is known as the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA). This is currently age 55, though this is rising to age 57 from 6 April 2028. This change will not affect your ability to take your pension earlier than these ages due to ill health, or if you qualified for an earlier Protected Pension Age (PPA).
PPAs essentially protect rights for individuals who had the right to take their benefits prior to NMPA before it increased. Which PPA may apply to you depends on the Magnox Group’s rules, your own circumstances, when you joined the scheme, whether you are a “Protected Person” under the Electricity and Energy Acts and under which type of early retirement you may access your pension.
The below table summarised the Magnox Group’s current NMPA and PPA, how it will change from 6 April 2028 and whether any PPAs apply:
| Type of early retirement | Affected members | Current position | From 6 April 2028 |
| Flexible or voluntary early retirement | All active and deferred members | From NMPA age 55 | From NMPA age 57 |
| Reorganisation or redundancy | Deferred members who:
| PPA of 50 Note: provided the member did not waive this right on redundancy. | PPA of 50 Note: provided the member did not waive this right on redundancy. |
| Reorganisation or redundancy | Deferred members who:
| From age 55 | PPA of 55 |
Early retirement
You can start receiving your deferred benefits before your Normal Pension Age (NPA). The earliest age will depend on how you left the Scheme, as shown in the table above.
If you decide to start receiving your pension before your NPA, it will be reduced for early payment unless you left under redundancy with a right to an unreduced pension.
For more information on the current early reduction factors please see the document below:
If you joined the industry on or after 1 April 1988, your Normal Pension Age (NPA) is 63. You can take your pension any time from age 60. If you voluntarily decide to claim it earlier than your NPA, it will be reduced to reflect this.
For male members who joined the Scheme before 1 April 1988 and left service on or after 17 May 1990, your Normal Pension Age is 60. Any benefits you earned before 17 May 1990 will be reduced to take into account the fact that they were originally payable from age 63 and are therefore being paid three years early. If you defer taking your benefits until the age of 63, an enhancement will be applied to benefits earned after 17 May 1990 to reflect late payment.
If you have protected status and left the Scheme due to redundancy or reorganisation, you will be able to take your deferred benefits at age 50 unless you waive this right when you leave.
If you don’t have protected status and left the Scheme due to redundancy or reorganisation, you will be able to take your deferred benefits at age 55 unless you waive this right when you left but discounting will be applied for early payment. This option doesn’t apply to members of the Cavendish Nuclear Section of the Scheme.
More information on early retirement for deferred members is available in your member booklet.
