The Financial Assistance Scheme
| What's new |
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| The Financial Assistance Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2008 Regulations were made on 27 November that allow certain occupational pension schemes which could not qualify for FAS or the Pension Protection Fund to be qualifying pension schemes for FAS. The Regulations will come into force on 23 December 2008. |
The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) offers help to some people who have lost out on their pension because:
- they were a member of an under-funded defined benefit scheme that started to wind-up between 1 January 1997 and 5 April 2005, and either:
- their scheme began to wind-up (ended) and did not have enough money to pay members’ benefits, and
- the employer cannot pay the shortfall because it is insolvent, no longer exist or no longer has to meet its commitment to pay its debt to the pension scheme.
The scheme is managed by the Department for Work and Pensions and is administered by the FAS Operational Unit (FAS OU). It makes payments to top up scheme benefits to eligible members of schemes that are winding-up or have wound-up.
Assistance is also payable to the survivor of a pension scheme member.
You can read further information about eligibility for the Financial Assistance Scheme.