Operational updates
Submitting ill-health retirements
For action
Although the employer portal is the best way to send us most information and forms for your members, ill-health retirement forms should still come to us by post.
This is because the information that’s included on these forms is highly confidential and, to protect the member, we have special processes that mean only a very limited number of people are allowed to see them. When you submit forms directly via the employer portal they are immediately available to anyone with access to that member’s record. Ordinarily that’s a real benefit but not for an ill-health retirement.
If you need to submit an ill-health retirement form, please mark it Private & Confidential and send it to:
Ian Sutcliffe, Member service coordinator, USS, Royal Liver Building, Liverpool, L3 1PY.
If you have any queries or a form needs urgent attention, for example because of a full commutation, please contact Ian Sutcliffe on 0151 478 7079.
2019/20 Salary threshold confirmed
For information
In last month’s employer update we told you that, subject to the approval of the Pension Increase Order, the salary threshold from 1 April, would be £58,589.70. This has now been confirmed as 2.4% , reflecting the September 2018 CPI increase.
If you have members who have taken the Voluntary Salary Cap, the salary threshold is the lower limit at which they can cap their salary and you may need to consider updating your payroll. For administrative purposes only, the applicable figure used should be divisible by 12. As such, you should use £58,596 (£4,883 per month) when submitting your monthly contribution files.
2017 Summary Funding Statement
For information
Following the completion of the 2017 valuation, the Summary Funding Statement (SFS) was released on 11 March.
The SFS is available online. We let active members know in the Statutory disclosure of changes to USS letters, that were sent during week commencing 11 March 2019. Members will be able to request a printed copy from the member service desk on 0333 300 1043.
We’ll write directly to retired and deferred members.
Enhanced opt-out rates 2019/20
For information
The contributions for members who have taken the enhanced opt-out option have now been confirmed for 2019/20. They will remain unchanged from 1 April 2019 at 2.5% for members and 2.1% of salary for employers.
Rates are subject to review.
Member update
For information
The next member update will be sent this week. This month we’ve worked with independent retirement experts to give members a feature piece on saving for the future, which looks at LISAs, ISAs, property and pensions.
We’ll also be including a link to the Summary Funding Statement, an update on the new salary threshold and LTA from 1 April, and a reminder about the member webinar on 22 March.