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Rule of 85

The Rule of 85 gives some early retirement protections for members who meet the criteria and were contributing to the Scheme before 1 October 2006.

The Rule of 85 refers to a provision of the Scheme which allowed members who retired early to take their pension entitlements without penalty if the sum of their age and length of membership equalled 85 years or more.  This rule was abolished on 1st October 2006 however members who joined before this have some protections:

  • All existing members at 30 September 2006 are protected until 31 March 2008 i.e. the benefits you accrue up to 31 March 2008 will be protected under the 85 year rule.
  • Those existing members at 30 September 2006 who will be 60 or over and meet the 85 year rule by 31 March 2016 are fully protected i.e. the benefits you accrue up to 31 March 2016 will be protected under the 85 year rule.

Those existing members at 30 September 2006 who will be 60 or over and meet the 85 year rule between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2020 will have full 85 year rule protection to 31 March 2008 and have some 85 year rule protection, on a sliding scale, to 31 March 2020.