A - D

A

ACCRUAL RATE is the fraction of Final Pensionable Salary that you will receive for each year of Pensionable Service in a defined benefit scheme such as the SOCPF. It is 1/54 for the Pre-2009 Section and 1/60 for the Post-2009 Section.

ACTIVE MEMBER is a member of an occupational pension scheme (such as the SOCPF) who is accruing benefits under that scheme in respect of current service.

ADULT DEPENDANT is a person who, in the opinion of the Founding Companies is financially dependent on or interdependent with you.

B

BASIC STATE PENSION (BSP) is the flat rate (not earnings related) State pension paid to all who have met the minimum National Insurance contribution requirements, their spouses, subject to certain conditions, and widow(er)s.

C

CHILD is any one of your unmarried children (legitimate, legitimated, illegitimate, lawfully adopted, or step) who:

      • has not yet reached 18 years; or

      • is under 23 years and in full-time education; or

      • has a disability that means they are dependent on you.

Children is used throughout this website accordingly.

COMMUTATION is exchanging some of your pension for a cash lump sum.

D

DEFERRED MEMBER is someone who has left the service of companies in the Shell Group or opted out of the SOCPF, not started to receive a pension and retains benefits in the SOCPF.

DEFINED BENEFIT (DB) SCHEME is a scheme in which the benefits are defined in the scheme rules and accrue independently of the contributions payable and investment returns. Benefits are based on pensionable earnings and the length of pensionable service on leaving the scheme, retiring or death, whichever comes first.

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION (DC) SCHEME is a scheme in which a member's benefits are determined by the value of the pension ‘pot’ at retirement. The ‘pot’, in turn, is determined by the contributions paid into it in respect of that member, and any investment returns. It is also known as a 'money purchase' scheme. Defined contribution schemes can be set up by employers for their employees or can be set up by an individual for him or herself.

DEFERRED PENSION is a benefit relating to the past service of a member of an occupational pension scheme who is no longer an active member but has not yet retired. The benefits are payable at retirement or, if earlier, death.

E - M

E

EMPLOYING COMPANY is the participating Member Company that currently employs a member, or in the case of a Deferred Member or a Linked Fund Member, was the last participating Member Company to employ the member.

F

FINAL PENSIONABLE SALARY is the salary on which your pension is calculated at the date you leave your Employing Company’s service, leave the SOCPF or die, whichever is the earliest.

If you are a member of the Pre-2009 Section

Your Final Pensionable Salary is your Pensionable Salary at the date you leave service or die, whichever is the earlier. If you have been in receipt of pensionable shift allowance at any time, please see the Pensionable Shift Allowance factsheet .

Please refer to the Linked Fund Membership and the Inter Fund Linking Rules (IFLR) factsheet if you are a Linked Fund Member.

If you are a member of the Post-2009 Section

Your Final Pensionable Salary is your highest average annual Pensionable Salary in any 36 consecutive months in your last five years’ Pensionable Service immediately before you leave service or die, whichever is the earlier. If, when you leave, you have not completed three years’ Pensionable Service, your Final Pensionable Salary will be your average annual Pensionable Salary over that shorter period. If you have been in receipt of pensionable shift allowance at any time please read the Pensionable Shift Allowance factsheet (factsheet will be available shortly).

Please refer to the Linked Fund Membership and the Inter Fund Linking Rules (IFLR) factsheet if you are a Linked Fund Member.

FOUNDING COMPANIES are The Shell Petroleum Company Limited and Shell Group Holdings Limited. Some discretionary powers under the SOCPF are vested in these companies.

I

INTER FUND LINKING RULES (IFLR) set out the position for members who accrue pensionable service in the SCPF and the SOCPF. These rules deal with the calculation of such members’ benefits, the apportionment of those benefits between the SCPF and SOCPF and the funding of those benefits.

L

LIFETIME ALLOWANCE (LTA) is the maximum value of pension benefits that HMRC allows you to build up during your lifetime without incurring a tax charge. Pensionable service accrued in the SOCPF is not subject to the Lifetime Allowance.

LINKED FUND MEMBER means a member of a Fund who is not accruing Pensionable Service in that Fund but has past Pensionable Service in that Fund, and who is an active member of the other Fund and whose periods of Pensionable Service in the two Funds are continuous or are continuous as a result of linked Pensionable Service. Please note, if you are a Linked Fund Member by virtue of SCPF and SOCPF membership, you should read this website in conjunction with the factsheet on Linked Fund Membership.

M

MEMBER means someone who is or has been employed by one of the Member Companies and joined the SOCPF during this period of employment. There are three categories of member: active, deferred or pensioner.

MEMBER COMPANY is a company admitted to membership of the SOCPF by the Trustee with the consent of the Founding Companies

P - Z

P

PENSION AGE is the age you can take your pension without Employing Company consent, and without having your pension reduced.

  • For members of the Pre-2009 Section this is normally age 60, although some members of this Section may have a different Pension Age for historic reasons.
  • For members of the Post-2009 Section this is age 65.

PENSIONABLE SALARY is the annual figure on which your contributions to the SOCPF is based. It is a sterling amount based on the equivalent Pensionable Salary for your job group in the UK, including any pensionable shift allowance and is set by your Employing Company. Any salary sacrifice arrangement is not taken into account.

PENSIONABLE SERVICE is the total of your years and months of SOCPF membership whilst in the service of Member Companies, plus any years and months of additional service granted as a result of a transfer in from another pension scheme. Any part month of service will be rounded up or down to the nearest month.

PENSIONER means someone who is or has been employed by one of the Member Companies and joined the SOCPF during this period of employment, and has started to receive a pension from the SOCPF.

PROSPECTIVE PENSIONABLE SERVICE is the service you can build up until Pension Age.

Q

QUALIFYING SPOUSE is someone you are legally married to or in a civil partnership with at the time of your death.

R

RETAIL PRICES INDEX (RPI) is the index of retail prices (for all items) published by the Office of National Statistics in the UK.

RETIRED MEMBER is someone who is receiving a pension from the SOCPF. See also PENSIONER.

S

SCPF is the Shell Contributory Pension Fund.

SOCPF is the Shell Overseas Contributory Pension Fund. This includes a pre-2009 Section and post-2009 Section of membership.

SPONSORING EMPLOYER is the employer with responsibility for meeting the liabilities of a DB pension scheme.

T

THE TRUSTEE is Shell Trust (Bermuda) Limited, which is a Corporate Trustee.

More in Forms & Helpful info

SOCPF Library

The following SOCPF documents are available to download

Factsheets

The following factsheets give you additional information about situations that may affect you as a member of the SOCPF.