If you are a member of your employer's pension scheme, you may
receive an annual statement giving information about the benefits
you have accrued or the performance of your fund. Included in
that statement may be a State Pension forecast. This dual
purpose statement is called a Combined Pension Forecast (CPF). CPFs
allow employees to see forecasts of both their state and current
private pension provision together for the first time.
The Pension Service (the agency that administers the State
Pension) gives your scheme details of the State Pension you have
built up at the time of the forecast and a projection of your State
Pension at your State Pension age. This is then included in the
pension statement sent out by your scheme.
Q & A's
Quite simply a CPF is a free service offered to employers,
pension providers and third party administrators by the Department
for Work and Pensions (DWP) to enable both private and State
Pension information to be seen by an individual where previously
they would only receive an annual statement for their private
pension.
Combined forecasting is a key method for informing individuals
of their likely financial position in retirement. The provision of
regular updates at all stages of an individuals working lives aims
to allow choices to be made earlier about additional pension
provision.
No, if your employer decides to provide CPF's you can opt out.
You will then receive a statement of just your private pension
provision.
No, CPFs are not compulsory
The DWP Pension Service publishes a detailed booklet on Combined
Pension Forecasts known as CPF5. You can obtain a copy of this
booklet from their website by clicking here.
The DWP Pension Service is the organisation to contact. They
have published 5 guides and forms in relation to the service and
they can be found on the employer section of their website by clicking here.
