In summary

• When your scheme has qualified we will ask the scheme for detailed information about you to see if you are eligible for FAS payments.
• Generally, we expect trustees to provide information about members who are nearest to their normal retirement age first.
• If your scheme has wound up and we have all the information we need, we will work out an ‘annual payment’.
• If your scheme is being wound up, we will generally make payments ‘on account’ of your final FAS settlement. These are called ‘initial payments’

Getting the relevant information

Once a scheme has successfully qualified for the FAS, we will ask the person who holds the scheme records to provide us with detailed information for each member.

This will include the following:

• How long you were a member of the scheme.
• How much pension you had accrued when the scheme began to wind-up.
• How much you will be paid when you reach your scheme normal retirement age.
• We usually ask the trustees for this information but we will ask anyone else we believe holds the necessary records. This could be the scheme administrator or the insurance company that pays, or is due to pay, members’ pensions when they retire.

Generally, we expect the people to provide information about members who have reached (or who are close to) their normal retirement age first. The law has now changed and whoever holds the information is legally responsible for providing the information we need no less than three months before the member’s normal retirement age.

For schemes that have wound-up

Once we have confirmed that you are eligible to receive FAS payments, we will work out your FAS award from the information provided by your scheme. This is called an annual payment. We will calculate the amount you will receive each year, and divide this amount into 12 monthly payments. Alternative payment periods may be arranged depending on your personal circumstances.

Usually, all the information we need to work out your annual payment is only available once your scheme has completely wound-up.

For schemes that are still being wound-up

If your scheme is still being wound-up when you reach ‘normal retirement age’ (or if you have already reached this age) we will work with your scheme’s trustees to work out your pension entitlement. We can use this information to make what we call ‘initial payments’ until your annual payment can be worked out.

The FAS will work out the difference between these initial payments and your annual payment when your pension scheme has been wound-up. If you have been overpaid, the FAS may ask you to repay some of the money. However, we will make checks to help prevent this from happening before making initial payments to you. The FAS will usually make initial payments monthly. Once your scheme has wound-up, the FAS Operational Team will work out your annual payment and tell you how much it will be.

What we need from you

We will write to let you know that you are entitled to the FAS and issue a form (FAS A2) asking you to confirm your personal details (such as your bank details and your National Insurance number). It is important that you complete and return this form as soon as possible as we cannot begin making your payments without it.