LTB 346/24 – Royal Mail: Pensions – Communication from the Trustee of the Collective Plan
No: 346/24
29th October 2024
Dear Colleagues,
Royal Mail: Pensions – Communication from the Trustee of the Collective Plan
Further to LTB 329/24 dated 9th October. The Collective Plan has been in operation for a few weeks now and the first monthly salary has been run, with no reported problems. This means that both weekly and monthly contributions are being made into the scheme as expected.
Additionally, we are pleased to report that the number of members who are signing up for either the Lump Sum Booster (LSB) or the AVC continues to rise and the latest numbers are as follows:
- LSB 30,051
- AVC 5,811
Important Communication from the Collective Plan Trustee
The Trustee of the Collective Plan has advised the Union that a mailing to members’ home addresses directly from the Trustee is due to arrive in the coming days. This home mailing provides important information about the Collective Plan and in particular explains that the policy of the Trustee is to deliver all communications digitally. Accordingly, members are being invited to register for an account using both a Personal Identification Code and a Royal Mail Employee ID (the individual details for these are included in the home mailing). This vital activity can be undertaken by either scanning the QR Code on the members’ letter or directly by visiting the Trustee website – www.rmcollectiveplan.com
Nomination in the Event of Death
Crucially, the registering of an account via the new secure portal will enable our members to tell the Trustee who they would like their pension money to go to in the event of death. Members should note that irrespective of previously made nominations (in the event of death) to the other Royal Mail schemes – RMSPS, RMPP, RMDCP, this information needs to be provided once again for the new Collective Plan. To be clear, the other pension schemes cannot legally transfer this information over to the Collective Plan; therefore, all members are encouraged to take the necessary steps to provide the information to the Collective Plan Trustee.
Trustee Request for the Provision Personal Email Addresses
The Trustee is also seeking scheme members to provide personal email addresses to facilitate the sharing of information directly. This is part of the Trustee’s policy for digital communications and is specifically designed to reduce costs so that as much money as possible can be put into the Collective Plan.
Some members may naturally be concerned with the request to provide personal email addresses via MSS the Trustee’s online portal for interacting with pension benefits. We therefore discussed this matter with the Trustee and as a consequence have received the following assurance:
I can confirm that all information provided as part of the MSS campaign constitutes Trustee data which will be held in the administration system. Whilst RMG provide the administration staff via a department called the Pension Service Centre the contract we have in place makes it clear that RMG in its capacity as employer has no rights to access or use that data.
In view of this I can confirm that the Trustee will not be sharing e-mail addresses obtaining in order to administer the Collective Plan and use MSS to Royal Mail in its capacity as an employer.
The Collective Plan Trustee
The Postal Executive, in recognising the above assurance, along with the fact that the Trustee of the Collective Plan is independent of Royal Mail, has agreed to support the request for members to provide personal email addresses.
In closing, it is important that our members register for an account (using the Personal Identification Code and Royal Mail Employee ID) as this will enable them to view, at any time, how much income for life and lump sum they have built up in the Collective Plan and what they may get at age 67.
Further developments will be reported. Any enquires should be addressed to afurey@cwu.org
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary