Exeter Retirement Benefits Scheme (ERBS)

New joiners

Staff on Grades A - D are eligible to join the University Of Exeter Retirement Benefits Scheme (ERBS)

The Contract of Employment you will be offered before you join the University of Exeter will contain brief details of your pension scheme. Importantly, your contract will inform that you will automatically be put into the pension scheme unless you opt not to join. If you do not wish to be a member of the pension scheme, you must contact the pensions office immediately for an 'Election Not To Join' form to prevent any deductions being made from your salary.  The form will need to be completed and returned to the pensions office before the cut off day for our payroll dept.

For a quick look at the ERBS Scheme benefits, see the ERBS short leaflet.

If you are about to join, or have just joined, there are a couple of things you should think about straight away:

Complete the death benefit nomination forms

  • Expression of Wish – Everyone should complete this to let ERBS know where any lump sum should be paid in the event of your death.
  • Registration of Potential dependant – Only complete this form if you are not married nor part of a civil partnership. This form is used to notify ERBS of a financial dependant who might qualify to receive the equivalent of the spouse’s pension on your death.

These forms can be obtained from the Pensions Office.

Opting out of the scheme whilst remaining in employment

Whilst the scheme gives automatic membership, you do not have to take this up and can choose to opt out of the scheme at any time. The options upon leaving the scheme this way are the same as those if you left the employment of the University.

You can, of course, choose to opt back in subject to conditions.

Voluntary early retirement in ERBS

The normal date of retirement for members of ERBS is age 65. You can draw your pension benefits from age 65 in full, without seeking permission from the University or the Trustees of the Scheme.

Following the 2009 valuation of the scheme, the University and the Trustees of the Scheme have agreed that the previous practice of permitting early retirement from age 60 without applying a reduction to benefits for early payment can no longer be applied.

However, the University and the Trustees of the Scheme have agreed that ERBS members who were aged 57 or above on 1 August 2010 will – subject to the approval of the University and the Trustees – be allowed to retire early once they reach the age of 62 without any actuarial reduction of benefits.

Where approval is given for an employee to retire early without any actuarial reduction of benefits, the additional cost of permitting early retirement without a reduction in benefits has to be met by the employing College or Service.

“The approval of the University” means the approval of both the appropriate Dean of College or Head of Service and the Director of Human Resources. The support of an employee’s line manager is not sufficient.

If an employee contacts the Pensions Office to discuss early retirement, the Pensions Office will initially only be able to the employee with an estimate of their benefits on a reduced basis. (Only when the approval of the Dean of College/Head of Service and the Director of Human Resources has been given will the Pensions Office be able to give the employee an estimate of benefits without any reduction.)

The Pensions Office will advise the employee that if they wish to apply for early retirement without a reduction in benefits they should give their consent to the Pensions Office discussing their application with their College/Service.

It may take several weeks for a request for early retirement can be approved since it will be necessary to calculate the cost to be met by the College/Service, and the Dean of College/Head of Service, the Director of Human Resources and the Trustees will need to give their approval.

If the University or the Trustees do not approve early retirement with no actuarial reduction, they may approve early retirement with a reduction in benefits. In these cases, the Pensions Office will write to the employee asking if they wish to retire early with reduced benefits.

Other members of ERBS, who were not aged 57 or above on 1 August 2010 may also apply for early retirement. Where such cases are approved by the University and the Trustees, an early retirement reduction will be applied to their benefits.

When approval is given to early retirement - with or without a reduction in benefits - the employee will be asked to agree their date of retirement with their manager, who should notify their HR Business Partner/Manager/Adviser and the Pensions Office.

For further information, contact the Pensions Office.

Further information