Officers urged not to act hastily on police pension decisions

FEDERATION members have been urged not to act hastily in decisions over police pension changes which are due to come in on 1 April.

The Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) Pensions will come into place shortly but many officers are confused about whether it provides the best deal for them. Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said the organisation is setting up presentations for officers about pensions.

Mr Smith said: “I think it is appalling that the pension providers and the Government still have not given the information out to the members, what they need to answer their questions.

“And it’s all well and good them being told to go off and speak to a pension advisor, but if that pension advisor doesn’t know what the ins and outs of the new pension are it’s very hard for them to advise.”

You can see our full pension update here http://essexfedfocus.co.uk/?p=1803

Mr Smith added: “Officers will be told it’s still a very good pension and probably the best they can get. And [members] may not like that and I totally agree because I think you should get the pension that you sign up for. But that’s not to be.

“But what I would say to members is, ‘Don’t act too hastily’, because on the first of April you may get transferred across to the new one and you may start paying into it, but you can still make a decision to pull out afterwards if it’s not suitable.”

However, any questions need to be answered by the pensions provider, Mr Smith added.