Introducing our ‘Question of the Week’ series for answers to topical questions covering Armed Forces Pensions. We will try to cover questions for those serving and those who are retired.
Let’s start with…
I have received a Benefits Information Statement (BIS) that doesn’t match the forecast I have received. Why would that be?
The BIS is a snapshot of the worth of your pension as if you were leaving service on your birthday that year and the spouse or civil partner benefits which would become payable if you were to die in service at that point.
The BIS, does not offer a forecast of benefits payable at an exit date in the future, and if you have produced or received a forecast for an alternative end of service date, the pension and EDP awards will not match in value with the BIS.
A word of advice, the BIS will only be as accurate as the data used to compile it and you are responsible for auditing that data. The information used to compile a BIS is taken from your service record on JPA and, if you find an error, you should raise it with your Unit HR. It may well be that the anomaly can be sorted out by your Unit HR – if not, they will pass it JPAC for investigation.
