Interpretation

1.-(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:-

"the appropriate Department" means:-

"the Board" means the Pensions Commutation Board;

"the commutation rate" means the amount by which a pension, or a portion of a pension, to be commuted is to be multiplied in order to determine the capital sum to be paid;

"pension" has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of the Pensions Commutation Act 1871.

(2) The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply for the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

Application for commutation

2. A person desiring to commute a pension, or a portion of a pension, shall address an application in writing to the appropriate Department, and such application shall be deemed to be made on the date on which it is received by the Department during the hours of public business.

Action by appropriate Department

3.-(1) On receipt of an application, the appropriate Department may, if it thinks fit, forward it, accompanied as provided in paragraph (2) of this Regulation, to the Board, who shall thereupon inquire into the application with a view to reporting on it to the Treasury.

(2) The application shall be accompanied, in a case in which the Ministry of Defence is the appropriate Department, by the recommendation of the Defence Council, and, in any other case, by the recommendation of the appropriate Department.

Requirements as to medical examination etc

4. The Board shall require the applicant to undergo a medical examination, and the applicant shall, if the Board so require, furnish proof of the date of his birth and such further information with regard to his application as the Board may think necessary.

Withdrawal before medical examination

5. The applicant may withdraw his application at any time before undergoing a medical examination on payment of any expense (not exceeding £2.10s.Od.) which may have been incurred by the Board.

Lapse on failure to attend for medical examination, etc

6.-(1) If at the expiration of the relevant period, or such longer period as the Treasury may allow in the exceptional circumstances of any particular case, the applicant has failed to furnish information required by the Board or to attend for medical examination, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn, and no further action shall be taken with regard to it.

(2) In this Regulation, the expression "the relevant period" means:-

(a)in the case of an applicant resident in the United Kingdom or the Irish Republic, the period of four months beginning on the day on which the application was made; or

(b)in any other case, the period of six months beginning on such day.

Procedure where application approved by Treasury

7.-(1) If an application for commutation is approved by the Treasury, the Board shall, by means of a notice in writing addressed to the applicant at the address given by him, notify him of the amount of money which would be payable in respect of his application.

(2) The applicant may, upon receipt of such notice, notify the Board in writing that he wishes the commutation of his pension, to take place; and in that event the applicant shall within the prescribed period either:-

(a)give notice that he is desirous of having the cheque for the net amount sent through the post in accordance with Regulation 3(1) of the Pensions Commutation Payment Regulations 1958(1); or

(b)collect the said cheque in accordance with Regulation 3(2) of those Regulations.

(3) Within the prescribed period, the applicant may withdraw his application on payment of a fee of £2.10 s.0d.:

(4) If the applicant does not either comply with the provisions of paragraph 2(a) or (b) of this Regulation, or withdraw his application, the commutation of his pension, or portion of a pension, shall take place on the day following the expiration of the prescribed period, and from that day the net amount shall be available for payment in accordance with the provisions of the Pensions Commutation Payment Regulations 1958.

(5) In this Regulation, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:-

"the prescribed period" means:-

"the net amount" means the amount of money referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation subject to the deduction mentioned in Regulation 9(2) of these Regulations.

Commutation rate

8.-(1) The Table set out in the Schedule to these Regulations shall be used to determine the commutation rate.

(2) In determining the commutation rate by the use of the Table, the age of the applicant shall be reckoned as the aggregate of his age on his birthday next succeeding the date of his application and any years to be added to his age on account of his life being impaired.

Commutation fee

9.-(1) There shall be charged in respect of the commutation of any pension or any portion of a pension a fee of 1 per cent. on the amount awarded;

provided that such fee shall not be less than £2.10 s.Od. nor more than £20 in any case.

(2) The amount of the fee shall be deducted from the amount awarded.

Cessation of pension

10. A person whose application for commutation has been approved shall continue to draw the pension, or the portion of a pension, which he has applied to commute up to:-

(a)the day on which a cheque is posted to him under Regulation 7(2)(a) of these Regulations; or

(b)the day on which he collects a cheque under Regulation 7(2)(b) of these Regulations; or

(c)the day on which commutation takes place under Regulation 7(4) of these Regulations,

as the case may be.

Revocation

11. The Pensions Commutation Regulations 1955(2) and the Pensions Commutation (Amendment) Regulations 1962(3) are hereby revoked.

Citation and Commencement

12. These Regulations may be cited as the Pensions Commutation Regulations 1968, and shall come into operation on 1st August 1968.

SCHEDULETABLE FOR DETERMINING THE COMMUTATION RATE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations supersede the Pensions Commutation Regulations 1955 (as amended). They set out the procedure to be adopted where retired officers of the Armed Forces, or certain former holders of civil offices, desire to commute their pensions, and the conditions under which commutation may be effected. The principal changes are as follows. Regulation 6 lays down new time limits within which applicants must furnish information required by the Pensions Commutation Board and attend for medical examination and Regulation 7 lays down a new time limit within which applicants resident outside the United Kingdom and Irish Republic may withdraw their applications. New fees are prescribed in Regulations 5 and 7(3), in respect of the withdrawal of an application, and in Regulation 9(1), in respect of the completion of an application. Regulation 10 provides a new definition of the date on which an applicant's pension is to cease to be payable.