Article 21 Members’ accounts

(1)

When a person is admitted as a member of the Scheme, the Trustee must allocate a member’s pension account to that person.

(2)

Subject to articles 22 to 26 and paragraph (3), the Trustee must accept all contributions made by—

(a)

a member of the Scheme;

(b)

a participating employer of a member of the Scheme, on behalf or in respect of the member, where the member is working or ordinarily works in the United Kingdom; or

(c)

a person other than a participating employer of a member of the Scheme, in respect of the member.

(3)

The Trustee may determine—

(a)

the form in which or the method by which the contributions referred to in paragraph (2) are to be made; or

(b)

subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), that, in such cases as are determined by the Trustee, the Trustee may on any occasion refuse to accept a contribution from any of the persons specified in paragraph (2) where the contribution is below such amount as the Trustee determines.

(4)

The Trustee must ensure that any determination that it makes under paragraph (3)(b) does not prevent the Scheme from satisfying the quality requirement under—

(a)

in Great Britain, section 20 of the Act; or

(b)

in Northern Ireland, section 20 of the NI Act,

in relation to a jobholder.

(5)

Where the Trustee makes a determination under paragraph (3)(b), it must have regard to the cost of administering contributions.

(6)

Contributions as referred to in paragraph (2) must be applied to the relevant member’s pension account.

(7)

Subject to paragraph (8) and to articles 24 and 26, in the cases specified in paragraph (9) the Trustee may provide a refund of contributions from a member’s pension account—

(a)

to the member, where the contributions were made by–

(i)

the member;

(ii)

a participating employer of the member, on behalf of the member; or

(iii)

a person other than a participating employer of the member, in respect of the member; or

(b)

to a participating employer of the member, where the contributions were made by the employer in respect of the member.

(8)

In the case specified in paragraph (9)(a), the Trustee must provide a refund of all contributions made by, or on behalf or in respect of, the member, to the participating employer with respect to which the notice was given.

(9)

The specified cases are where—

(a)

the member has given notice under–

(i)

in Great Britain, section 8 of the Act^f1; or

(ii)

in Northern Ireland, section 8 of the NI Act^f2;

(b)

the Trustee determines that the contributions have been paid in error; or

(c)

the Trustee otherwise determines that a refund is appropriate in all the circumstances.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: Regulations made under section 8 of the Act are regulations 9 to 11 of S.I. 2010/xxxx.
f2: Regulations made under section 8 of the NI Act are regulations 9 to 11 of S.R. 2010/xxxx.