The more pension information that can be provided at the outset then the greater the likelihood that a Pension Sharing Report can be prepared quickly. The less pension information that is provided then the greater the reliance will be on the parties having to request data from their relevant pension providers. Such data requests can lead to very slow response times and will significantly increase the length of time for a Pension Sharing Report to be prepared.

Unfortunately, pensions on divorce legislation provides for limited information to be disclosed and it is invariably the case that this information is insufficient for the detailed Pension Sharing Reports that we are requested to prepare. The process of obtaining the required, additional information is laborious since pension providers can take weeks to provide even the most basic of data.

Please note that Cash Equivalent Values (CEVs) are just one aspect of data required regarding pensions and on their own CEVs are not sufficient to prepare Pension Sharing Reports. Full details are required about the underlying pension benefits such as retirement ages, the accrued pension, contingent spouse’s benefits, pension increases before and after retirement, contributions paid into personal pensions, transfers in, Additional Voluntary Contributions, membership service periods, options that the pension providers offer for Pension Sharing and the charges the pension providers apply for implementing a Pension Sharing Order.

It is virtually certain that in most cases further information will be required from the pension schemes, it is also the case that most people will already have much of the factual information in their possession.

Some or all of the following may or may not apply depending upon what type of pension you have. The list is by no means comprehensive, but should serve as a starting point of the information to send to Collins Pension Actuaries when requesting us to prepare a Pension Sharing Report:

1. The information required to be provided by a pension scheme under the Provision of Information Regulations 2000 in connection with divorce proceedings. Please ensure this is as current as possible.
2. Copies of annual benefit statements for the last 3 years if you are still actively accruing benefits.
3. Copies of a deferred benefit statement, or any such further statement of benefits received since leaving, if you have left active service in a scheme, but have not yet started to receive your pension.
4. Copies of any documentation received at retirement which detail your retirement options together with the letter or statement at retirement which definitively set out your retirement benefits.
5. Copies of letters which advise you of how your pension increases each year.
6. A copy of the scheme booklet that applies to your scheme membership.
7. Copies of any correspondence received from your pension scheme that details changes to your benefits.
8. If you are able to log in to a web based database for your scheme then provide full copies of all pension data you can access online.
9. If you have a personal pension then provide a complete history of the amounts and dates of all contributions paid into the policy.
10. If you have a personal pension and transferred benefits into that pension from another pension provider then for all pensions transferred you will need to provide either the service dates in the former scheme (for a final salary scheme) or provide a complete history of the amounts and dates of all contributions paid into the former policy.
11. If you have a personal pension and it provides Guaranteed Annuity Rates or Guaranteed Conversion Options or a Guaranteed Minimum Pension then you will need to provide documents that fully explain those guarantees.
12. A State Pension Retirement Forecast if you have not yet started to receive your State Pension.
13. The last 3 annual breakdowns of your State Pension entitlement if you have started to receive your State Pension.

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