25 May 2012
Financial Assistance Scheme guidance
This page contains DWP guidance relevant to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). The Pension Protection Fund website also contains more guidance designed specifically for pension scheme members and pension professionals.
- Financial Assistance Scheme (Pension Protection Fund website)
Regulation 22 Financial Assistance Scheme valuations – method and assumptions
This guidance applies to schemes with a Calculation Date on or after 30 September 2010, which, on the date this guidance was published (25 October 2011), had not received notification of approval of their valuation by the FAS Scheme Manager.
- Financial Assistance Scheme - Guidance on method and assumptions to use when undertaking a valuation under Regulation 22 of the Financial Assistance Scheme (266KB)
– schemes with calculation dates on or after 30 September 2010 should use this guidance
Underpin benefits – appendix to the guidance
The appendix provides additional guidance for actuaries undertaking valuations to determine the asset shares of beneficiaries in FAS qualifying schemes that are transferring assets to government. It provides guidance on the treatment of underpin benefits in the FAS valuation.
FAS schemes should direct any queries to the Pension Protection Fund initially.
Guidance for FAS schemes transferring assets to government
The Financial Assistance Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2010 include provision for the assets remaining in relevant FAS-qualifying schemes to transfer to government. The Regulations provide that guidance may be published in relation to the valuations of assets and liabilities of relevant schemes and for individual asset shares to be calculated for scheme beneficiaries.
Example calculations for a valuation for relevant FAS qualifying schemes
Example calculations to accompany the ‘Guidance on method and assumptions to use when undertaking a valuation under Regulation 22 of the Financial Assistance Scheme’ are also available.
Guidance on the preparation of accounts and valuation of assets
Further documents relating to the transfer of assets
The following documents can be found on the Pension Protection Fund website:
- Financial Assistance Scheme - Validation template (33MB)
(Pension Protection Fund website) - Financial Assistance Scheme - Guide to the validation template (207KB) (Pension Protection Fund website)
Equalisation
The Government has also prepared guidance on how transferring schemes might deal with the impact of the guaranteed minimum pension on the equalisation (between men and women) of members’ expected pensions ahead of providing data to the FAS scheme manager.
