Contribution rate meaning

POWER CLAUSE / RULE HELD BY REQUIRES AGREEMENT OR CONSULTATION WITH SUBJECT TO Authority to amend; to wind the scheme up or delay winding-up; to cease future benefit accrual; to shut to new joiners; to readmit employees to membership of the scheme Discretion to set the employer contribution rate; to lower or suspend contributions; to apportion statutory debts Ability to enhance or vary benefits; to permit early retirement pensions and set actuarial reductions; to allow incapacity pensions, decide whether a member meets the incapacity definition, and reduce or pause such pensions; to grant pensions for serious ill-health; to apply actuarial uplifts for late retirement; to fix the rate at which pension is exchanged for a lump sum; to commute trivial pensions; to provide a bridging pension; to award discretionary increases to pensions; to make unauthorised payments Capacity to admit new employers or end their participation; to replace the principal employer; to transfer members’ benefits into or out of the scheme Authority to return...

Navid Doroudvash v Zurich Insurance plc (1) The Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis (2 ) [2025] Lexis Citation 756 With an unusual procedural backdrop, the matter was listed before His Honour Judge Holmes at the County Court at Central London, on Zurich’s bid to pursue an extra claim for contribution or indemnity against the Commissioner. The hearing further considered the claimant’s distinct attempt to join the Commissioner as a second defendant after limitation had expired. This note focuses on Zurich’s application, as it seems to raise an issue not previously aired, or at any rate not addressed in a reported decision. Despite the underlying facts, the Commissioner resisted the bid on a technical point likely to surprise practitioners handling motor claims for insurers. The court reached a pragmatic outcome, hopefully laying to rest an argument that threatened to cut across the purpose and framework of the 2002 Regulations, SI 2002/3061. It arose within a motor claim setting, where a seemingly novel procedural issue was taken, and Zurich’s...

Banking & Finance—July 2025 case round-up Ciddy Ltd v Natalia [2025] EWHC 1616 (Ch) Loan agreement—unenforceable penalty clause The Chancery Division dismissed the bankruptcy petition presented by the petitioner, Anjana Natalia, against the debtor, Ms Ella Vacani. The petitioner sought to recover £657,516.32 said to arise from a loan contract, asserting that the debtor, a professional accountant, had taken legal advice before signing. The debtor, by contrast, maintained that the parties’ relationship was unfair because of unequal understanding, coercive control exerted by her husband, and an excessive default interest rate that, she said, constituted an unenforceable penalty clause. The court identified substantial grounds to challenge the petition, grounded in the debtor’s allegations of an unfair relationship under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and a penalty default term within the agreement. It held that the issues concerning default interest and unfairness were not fanciful and ought to be determined by the County Court. Accordingly, any sums due to the petitioner, if any, remain to be established in separate...

What was the background to the consultation? What was proposed? On 14 November 2024, the DfE opened a consultation examining adjustments to member contribution rates and the extension of Fair Deal to further education institutions within the TPS. The department requested feedback on potential increases to member rates after the 2020 scheme valuation indicated a lower-than-expected member contribution yield. In the TPS, members collectively are expected to contribute 9.6% of pay across the entire membership — the ‘member contribution yield’ — yet the 2020 estimate came in at 9.45%. The consultation papers highlighted that, if contribution rates were left unchanged, the resulting shortfall in member payments would need to be met by employers and, in the end, the taxpayer. Consequently, the DfE consulted on keeping the current six-tier contribution model, while raising the member contribution rates for tiers 2 to 6 by 0.3 percentage points to address the deficit. The tiered system operates by allocating pensionable earnings into defined bands, with a specified contribution rate applied to each...

PI & Clinical negligence horizon scanner—July 2025 [Archived] ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. It summarises the principal legal developments relevant to personal injury and clinical negligence practitioners as at July 2025. For developments predating this horizon scanner, see PI and Clinical Negligence horizon scanning and key cases—overview. Key PI and clinical negligence developments The personal injury discount rate—a review In late 2024, the Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood MP, revealed the outcome of her five‑month review of the discount rate, initiated in July 2024. One month after the new +0.5% discount rate took effect, Thea Wilson (barrister at 12 King’s Bench Walk) assesses its impact on cases, the responses from claimant and defendant representatives, and the consequences of the change for legal practitioners. See News Analysis: The personal injury discount rate—a review. MoJ announces reduction in CFO’s interest rates The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced lower interest rates for the Courts Funds Office’s (CFO) special and basic accounts...

What is the Teachers’ Pension Scheme? The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is a statutory public service pension arrangement for members of the teaching profession in England and Wales. Since 1 April 2015, the TPS has consisted of two schemes: The reformed TPS (often described in TPS literature as the ‘2015 Scheme’), established on 1 April 2015 under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (PSPA 2013) as a career average revalued earnings (CARE) scheme. This Practice Note concerns that scheme. The legacy TPS, created by the Superannuation Act 1972 (SA 1972) as a final salary scheme for those who joined before 1 April 2015. It closed to future accrual on 31 March 2022, while retaining a final salary link within that scheme. For more, see Practice Note: The legacy Teachers’ Pension Scheme. Separate schemes operate in Scotland and Northern Ireland and are outside the scope of this Practice Note. When the reformed TPS launched, the government acted to close the legacy TPS to...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to call for evidence on tax support for entrepreneurs: At Budget 2025, the government issued a call for evidence (deadline: 28 February 2026) examining how existing tax incentive programmes function and exploring ways to bolster support for entrepreneurs. It reviews the impact of current reliefs and potential avenues for additional assistance to entrepreneurs within the tax system. The exercise concentrates in part on the venture capital schemes and on enterprise management incentives. It also considers investors’ relief and, in particular, invites views on how the tax framework can facilitate reinvestment by successful entrepreneurs, including the purpose and effectiveness of business asset disposal relief. Business asset disposal relief (BADR), previously known as entrepreneurs’ relief for tax years before 2020–21, is a capital gains tax (CGT) relief intended to encourage people to found and grow their own businesses. Where the qualifying conditions are met, the relief operates to reduce the CGT rate payable on disposals of certain business assets. BADR is charged at the same rate as investors’...

1 The aim of the absence management strategy 1.1 Decrease the annual absence rate from [ insert rate, eg 3.5% ] to [ insert rate, eg 2.0% ]. 1.2 [ Lessen the negative effect on service delivery arising from the firm’s high level of short, irregular absences. ] 1.3 Enhance the handling of long-term sickness so its contribution to the firm’s absence rate is lowered. 2 Key trends and causes of absence over the past 12 months 2.1 [ One member of staff has been away for six months with long-term illness linked to stress (following the breakdown of marriage). No meetings have taken place yet owing to the sensitive nature of the sickness. ]...

1 Capital allowances 1.1 In this clause 1: CAA 2001 denotes the Capital Allowances Act 2001. Plant or Machinery refers to items within the Tenant’s Works that qualify as plant or machinery for the purposes of Part 2 of CAA 2001. Landlord’s Contribution is £[ insert figure ] plus VAT (if any). SBA Assets describes those elements of the Tenant’s Works where the expenditure qualifies for structures and buildings allowances under Part 2A of CAA 2001. Special Rate Plant means Plant or Machinery for which the spend would be treated as special rate expenditure under CAA 2001, s 104A. Tenant’s Works means the Tenant’s [ fitting out works ] to be carried out at the...

Note: Use this precedent with an application notice template compliant with the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, SI 2016/1024—see Form IAA, IR 2016, r1.35. INSOLVENCY ACT APPLICATION NOTICE CASE NO: [insert case number] In the matter of [company] and the Insolvency Act 1986. Between [Applicant(s)] Applicant(s) and [Respondent(s)] Respondent(s). Section [214 or 246ZB]. Applicant(s): [names/addresses]. Respondent(s): [names/addresses]. Application concerns [company details] to [level of judge] in [court/hearing centre as per heading]. Within existing insolvency proceedings? YES/NO. Ref: [number]. Declaration that from [date] there was no reasonable prospect of [company] avoiding insolvent [liquidation/administration]. Declaration that the Respondent(s) contribute [sum] or such other sum as the Court thinks fit. Order that the sum found due be paid to the Company. Interest for such period and rate as the Court considers appropriate. Costs of and incidental to this application. Such further order or relief as the Court thinks fit. Grounds: set out in the [number] witness statement of [witness] dated [date]. Served on: [names/addresses] [or none]....