Your deferred benefits can be paid any time after your 50th Birthday (for BMARC members subject to Trustee consent in which case the earliest age you can take your deferred benefits will be age 55 after 2010) unless you are suffering from ill-health in which case it may be paid earlier subject to certain conditions.

Crown Service and 1984 members
If you retire early your pension, and in the case of Crown Service members the additional tax free cash sum benefit, will be reduced by an early retirement factor, currently 4% a year, to allow for the extra years over which the benefits will be paid. The reductions are calculated according to the Normal Pension Age that was in force when each element of the benefit was earned.

BMARC members
If you take your pension early, subject to Trustee consent before age 60, your pension will be reduced by an early retirement factor to account for the extra years over which the pension will be paid. The early retirement reduction factors are determined by the Trustees on advice from the Scheme’s Actuary. They are reviewed periodically and may change from time to time. Pension earned after 1 April 2006 is subject to slightly different early retirement terms.

Discretionary Option The Trustees have the discretion to apply more favourable terms if you are able to demonstrate that your state of health satisfies the definition of full medical retirement (incapacity in the case of BMARC members). The Scheme’s Medical Adviser will need to carry out a report for the Trustees, and you will be asked to complete a form authorising the release of your medical records to support this.