RPSM12301050 - Scheme Administrator Pages: Information requirements and administration: Information the scheme administrator is required to provide to HMRC: The Event Report: Event number 3 - Early provision of benefits

[Reg. 3 The Registered Pension Schemes (Provision of Information) Regulations 2006 - SI 2006/567] 

Reportable event

Reportable event 3 occurs where

• benefits are provided to a member before normal minimum pension age (age 50 before 6 April 2010 and age 55 from 6 April 2010) and
• the member was in the year of the benefits were provided, or in any of the preceding six years
• a director of the sponsoring employer, or an associated company of that employer, or a person connected with a director,
• either alone or with others, the sponsoring employer, or
• a person connected with the sponsoring employer.

For guidance on 'connected with' please see page RPSM12301290.

However no report should be made under reportable event 3 where the benefits provided are

• an unauthorised payment (and so is a reportable event 1 - see RPSM12301030,
• a serious ill-health lump sum (see RPSM09104610) and so is reportable under reportable event 4 - see RPSM12301060, or
• a winding-up lump sum.

A report only needs to be made at the point benefits are first provided, so that for a pension there is no need to be report continuing payment of that pension. Each benefit provision must be reported as separate event, so where both a pension and lump sum are provided at the same time to a member this would be 2 reports for that member.

Information required

The information that must be provided on the event report for reportable event 3 is

• the name of the member
• their National Insurance number
• the date of payment
• the amount of benefits provided
• the nature of the benefits and
• the reasons for early payment.

See RPSM12301295 for what to do if the individual does not give the scheme administrator their National Insurance number.

For a pension the amount of benefit provided is the annual rate of the pension at the date of first payment for a scheme pension or lifetime annuity. Where the pension is an unsecured pension the annual rate is the maximum amount that can be taken from the designated fund in accordance with RPSM09102310.

What the event report looks like on Pension Schemes Online

Event report summary page 

Having brought the event report summary page up, click on ‘Go to reportable fund movements’ on the right hand side of the screen. This brings up the following screen.

Event report page for reportable fund movements