GMP Equalisation

The government has delayed plans to force schemes to equalise guaranteed minimum pensions until Spring 2014, pensions minister Steve Webb told lawyers last week.

The government said it cannot make any further simplification to guaranteed minimum pension rules in its white paper on the single tier state pension.

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The regulator is encouraging trustees and administers to use a £2 per week ‘tolerance level' to determine the right level of GMP.

The government is reconsidering its advice on GMP equalisation in an attempt to make the process "as painless as possible", Steve Webb has announced.

Funding deficits is still seen by trustees and sponsors as the most significant risk facing schemes, Metlife research shows.

More than one-third of private sector employers support the government's view on guaranteed minimum pensions requirements, a JLT Benefit Solutions study shows.

The industry speaks with a rare degree of unanimity on GMP equalisation: it is unnecessary and, if carried out in the way preferred by the Department for Work and Pensions, extremely expensive.

Sackers has called on the government to rethink plans to equalise scheme benefits, arguing the legislative changes could push schemes into the Pension Protection Fund.

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