The Metal Box Pension Scheme

THE METAL BOX PENSION SCHEME IS WINDING UP

The Defined Benefit (DB) Section

The Defined Benefit (DB) Section of the Metal Box Pension Scheme (the Scheme) has been bought out by a specialist pensions insurer. This is good news for members.

In 2021, the Metal Box Pension Trustees Limited (the Trustee) and Crown Packaging Manufacturing UK Ltd (the Company) agreed to a buy out of the DB Section of the Scheme by a specialist pensions insurer – Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC).

The Trustee wrote to all members of the DB Section of the Scheme on 1 October 2021 to explain what this means.

The payment of pensions to pensioners and dependants will continue as normal.

The Defined Contribution (DC) Section and Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC Plan)

All members' pension savings in the DC Section of the Scheme and the AVC Plan were transferred to the Aon MasterTrust in 2019. If you had savings in the DC Section of the Scheme or the AVC Plan, please contact the Aon MasterTrust. Their contact details are:

Call:

0345 646 0249 (UK Freephone)

Email:

admin@theaonmt.co.uk

Write to:

The Aon MasterTrust Contact Centre

Sunderland

SR43 4DF

On this website, there is more information about PIC for any members who had benefits in the DB Section of the Scheme.

Additional protection for your pension

Unlike a corporate sponsor of a pension arrangement (for example, the Company), insurers like PIC must hold assets that exceed their liabilities to ensure they can fully meet their pension obligations to their policy holders. This means they can provide long-term financial security for your pension, which is a good step for former members of the Scheme.

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PIC's responsibilities

From 1 November 2021, any members with a pension benefit entitlement from the DB Section of the Scheme became individual policy holders with PIC. Those members now have a direct relationship with PIC rather than the Trustee. PIC has legally taken on full responsibility for all members' benefits and will:

  • pay pensions
  • apply pension increases each year,
  • process transfer and retirement quotes for deferred members, and
  • provide death benefits where applicable.

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PIC and your benefits

The Trustee has secured your benefits in full. This means that the pension that you currently receive or are due to receive – plus any dependants' benefits payable when you die – will not change.

Your Normal Retirement Age and the minimum age from which you can draw your pension if you are not already in receipt of it will also remain unchanged.

The way that some benefit options are calculated may change, including the factors applied for early and late retirement, for exchanging part of your pension for a tax-free lump sum at retirement and for exchanging any ring-fenced AVCs you have in the Aon MasterTrust to provide additional pension, along with the assumptions used when calculating your transfer value.

Please note, PIC will not be able to provide a fixed guarantee period for transfer value amounts.

You will not be able to transfer out to another pension arrangement if you apply more than 12 months after your Normal Retirement Age, or after 31 October 2022 if you are already over your Normal Retirement Age.

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About PIC

PIC has an established track record of handling other buy-outs and, in addition to members of the Metal Box Pension Scheme, insures 273,500 pension-fund members. Their sole focus is insuring pension schemes, this means they undertake no other types of insurance business.

PIC has won several awards for the quality of both the insurance and the customer service they provide – all their helplines are based in the UK. They have signed up to the FCA's ‘Treating Customers Fairly' principles, which govern how they communicate with you, the level of service they provide and the fairness of their products and procedures.

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Administration of your benefits

To ensure a smooth transition of administration, PIC appointed Equiniti to continue administering your benefits until May 2022. The administration of your benefits has now been transferred to Capita and you should have received a communication from PIC about this including the new contact details (see below). Information about how to access the online member portal will be sent to you by PIC in due course.

Call:

0800 652 7000 (UK Freephone)

+44 (0)1325 271 860 (from abroad)

Email:

enquiries@picadmin.co.uk

Write to:

Pension Insurance Corporation

PO Box 556

Darlington

DL1 9YX

Please provide your policy number when contacting PIC. This will make it easier and quicker for your record to be located.

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Members who received a lump-sum payment

If you were offered and accepted a lump-sum payment in exchange for your pension the payment you received represented the full amount needed to meet the Scheme's liability to you. This means that no further benefits will be payable to you from the Scheme or PIC, and that there is no ongoing relationship between you and PIC.

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Any questions?

If you have any queries about the wind-up of the Scheme or the transfer or liabilities to PIC, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions included in the letter Equiniti sent you on behalf of the Trustee and the Company on 1 October 2021.

You can contact the Trustee using the following details:

Mrs C R Aston, Senior Pension Management Consultant

Email: MetalBox@Barnett-Waddingham.co.uk

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