Your pension and the cost of living As prices go up year by year, the pound in your pocket buys less and less, but the good news is once you are drawing your pension from the Scheme, this will go up too, helping to protect you against inflation. We increase our pensions every April in line with prices. The increase is the same as the increase in the Retail Price Index in the year up to the previous September. This is laid down in law, and is the only way we can pay an increase in your pension.

If you draw your benefits before 55
This is only possible if you were a member on 31 March 2008, and retire before 1 April 2010. In this case you will normally have to wait until your 55th birthday for your first pensions increase. We will then bring your pension up to the level it would have been at, had we increased it each year.

If you draw your benefits from 55
We will pay your first pensions increase the following April.

If you draw your benefits because of ill health
We will pay the full pensions increase no matter how young or old you are. But if you draw deferred benefits because of ill health, we can only pay your pensions increase before 55 if you are permanentely too ill to work at all.

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