Who we protect

Find out more about what type of pension schemes we protect.

We protect millions of people in the UK who are members of defined benefit pension schemes

A defined benefit pension, sometimes known as ‘final salary’ or ‘career average’ pension schemes, are a workplace pension based on your salary and how long you’ve worked for your employer.

Your employer will make contributions to your defined benefit pension scheme and is responsible for making sure there’s enough money at the time you retire to pay you a secure income for life.

If the pension scheme you paid into doesn’t have enough funds to pay you the pension it promised, we'll provide compensation in place of your pension, if your scheme is eligible.

Learn more about defined benefit pension schemes on Money Helper

Find out if your pension scheme has transferred to us or is being assessed

Schemes we don't protect

We don’t protect defined contribution schemes, sometimes known as ‘money purchase’ pension schemes.

These are schemes where the money paid in by you or your employer is used to buy investments by the pension provider. The amount you get when you retire depends on how much was paid in and how well the investments have performed.

We also don’t protect public sector pension schemes.

There are other reasons that mean a scheme may not be eligible for PPF protection or that you aren't protected by the PPF.

Schemes that aren’t eligible, and therefore aren’t protected by us, include those:

With a Crown guarantee
Which aren’t tax approved – or tax registered from April 2006
under the tax rules for pension schemes
That only provide death in service benefits
That have fewer than two members
That have fewer than 12 members, where all members are trustees of the scheme
Unfunded public service schemes
Public sector schemes providing pensions to local government employees
Relevant lump sum retirement benefit schemes
Chatsworth Estate Settlement Pension Scheme
Cross border schemes which are not UK registered
A superannuation fund as mentioned in section 615(6) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

Schemes with a partial Crown guarantee are eligible but will only be liable to pay levies for that part of the scheme that doesn’t have a Crown guarantee.

There may be other reasons you aren’t protected by the PPF

These include, if you:

Left the scheme before 6 April 1975
Left the scheme before 1 January 1986 and you were under the age of 26
Left the scheme before 6 April 1988 and contributed for less than 5 years
Left the scheme after 6 April 1988 and contributed for less than 2 years

In these circumstances, a refund of contributions (minus Tax and National Insurance) is likely to have been paid to you.

If after considering the above, you believe you still had benefits within the scheme when it transferred to the PPF, please contact us with relevant evidence so that we can investigate this further.

We need at least one of the following documents:

A letter, or preserved benefit statement, confirming benefits were preserved within the scheme at date of leaving.
Preserved benefit statements sent after the date of leaving the scheme.
Pension correspondence sent after the date of leaving the scheme.

Where to get help if we don’t protect your scheme

- GOV.UK - Workplace pensions

- The Pensions Regulator

- The Pensions Ombudsman

- MoneyHelper

- Financial Services Compensation Scheme

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Who we protect

We protect millions of people in the UK who are members of defined benefit pension schemes

Schemes we don't protect

Where to get help if we don’t protect your scheme

What it means to be a member of the PPF

Worried about your pension?

What happens if your employer becomes insolvent