As you have been in the Scheme for less than 2 years but more than 3 months you will be able to choose either a refund of your contributions or you can transfer the value of your pension benefits to another registered pension arrangement.

It is not necessary to contact the Pensions Department before you leave, unless you need to notify us of a change in your address.

The HR Department will inform us of your leaving date. We will aim to write to you within 4 to 6 weeks of your leaving date.

We will aim to write to you within 4 to 6 weeks of your leaving date outlining the options available to you.

We will enclose 2 forms detailing the amount of the refund and cash transfer sum respectively.

Once you have made your decision you should complete and return the relevant option form to the Pensions Department.

You will have 3 months to make a decision between the refund of contributions and the cash transfer sum.

The refund of contributions will be paid less the amount you have saved on your National Insurance contributions by being contracted out. This deduction is made to buy you back into the State Second Pension (S2P).

Tax is then deducted from the balance, currently at the rate of 20% for contributions up to £10,800, and at the rate of 40% for contributions over £10,800.

Your contributions are deducted from your gross pay before your tax code is applied. This means that you get automatic tax relief. Therefore, when a refund of contributions is paid the Trustees are required by law to deduct the tax that would have been paid had you not been a member of the Scheme. This sum is then returned to HM Revenue & Customs.

The net refund is equivalent to the amount you would have received in your pay had you not been a member of the Scheme. Your refund of contributions will be paid by cheque.

The cash transfer sum is the Trustees' best estimate, having taken advice from the Scheme Actuary, of the expected cost to the Scheme of providing you with a pension in respect of your pensionable service.

The cash transfer sum is not directly related to the contributions paid to the Scheme.

You can apply to transfer your benefits to any registered pension arrangement. They may or may not accept the transfer payment depending on their arrangement's rules. You may wish to check if they are willing, in principle, to accept a transfer payment before proceeding.

The cash transfer sum is guaranteed for 3 months from the end of the month in which you leave the Scheme. If the relevant form is received after this date then the cash transfer sum may need to be recalculated.

If you are leaving the Press due to redundancy you will still be given the opportunity to take either a refund of contributions or a cash transfer sum (as mentioned above), but in addition you will also be given the opportunity to leave the pension you have built up in the Group Pension Scheme.  This is called a deferred pension.  For more information about deferred pensions click here