Section A/B
Section A/B members receive a pension for life and a tax-free lump sum. Find out more about these benefits by using the menu on the left.
Section A/B is only for members (or beneficiaries of members) who joined before 1 April 1987. (More specifically, Section A is for members (or beneficiaries of members) who joined before 1 December 1971.)
You'll notice that this part of the website covers Section A and Section B together. In reality, these are different sections, with different terms and conditions. To find out more about the key differences between Section A and Section B, please refer to the detailed Guide.
- Section A applies to members who joined The Post Office before 1 December 1971 - the majority of these members are now in retirement. If you joined The Post Office before 1 December 1971 and have unbroken membership, you have probably kept your entitlement to Section A benefits on leaving service or retirement.
- Section B applies to all members who joined The Post Office on or after 1 December 1971, or to members of Section A who at retirement choose to receive Section B benefits. Section B was closed to new entrants from 1 April 1987 and from 1 April 2008 members who have left or opted out can no longer rejoin Section B.
Section B members should note that this website reflects the change made to Section B of the Plan on 1 April 2008, changing the way pension is calculated to a Career Salary Defined Benefit ('CSDB') basis for Reckonable Service on and after 1 April 2008. It also reflects the changes that will be made to Section B on 1 April 2010:
- increasing Normal Retirement Age from 60 to 65
- an improvement to the ill-health retirement benefits
- the option to take at age 60 benefits for service earned before 1 April 2010 whilst remaining in Company employment and continuing to build up further benefits in the Plan.
Once these amendments have been formally adopted, guidance will be reviewed to see if any changes are necessary.