Progress on the Plan’s journey to reduce risk
Over the past few years, it has been our top priority to reduce risk across the whole Plan. In 2021, we bought an insurance policy (known as a buy-in) with Rothesay, to cover DCL Section benefits. Then, in December 2024, we bought a similar policy with PIC for the Dow Services Section. Both Rothesay and PIC are specialist insurance companies who focus on securing pension benefits for hundreds of thousands of pension scheme members across the country.
In the last edition of Spotlight, we looked at why securing all members’ benefits in this way is a great achievement for the Plan overall, while making no difference to your benefits. We also told you that we’ve been working with Rothesay to move towards a buyout, and with PIC to verify member data. Here’s an update on how we’re getting on.
DCL members: Moving to buyout with Rothesay
We wrote to DCL members in May to formally confirm that we’re converting our buy-in policy to a buyout. As a reminder, this means that Rothesay will manage and govern the benefits provided by the DCL Section rather than us as Trustee. Once all benefits have been transferred and Rothesay are supporting you, the DCL Section will close or “wind up”. As we’ve mentioned before, the buyout of the DCL Section and its eventual wind up is a natural step forward and one that many other schemes like ours are taking to increase the security of your benefits.
Please read on if you’re a member of the DCL Section.
Since May
We’ve continued to work with Rothesay and our advisers to progress the legal steps to transfer responsibility to Rothesay and wind up the DCL Section, including taking steps to finalise the DCL Section’s finances.
Rothesay are excited for and preparing for the transition.
We’ve also been answering your questions, many of which have been about your benefit entitlement. We’d like to reassure you that a buyout does not change this. The Benefits Summary included with your May letter did not provide the most up-to-date values:
- If you’re receiving a pension from the Plan: the summary showed the benefits you were receiving as at 1 April 2024, before this year’s increases and any uplifts for GMP equalisation.
- If you’re not yet receiving a pension from the Plan: the summary showed the benefits that had accrued up until when you left service with the Company (or at 31 December 2013 when the DCL Section closed to future benefit accrual, if you were still in service then). The summary did not include any increases that will be applied to your pension before it comes into payment (broadly in line with inflation). See your May letter for full details.
We also sent you further updates on the buyout in August and early September 2025. Assuming the buyout progresses as expected, Rothesay will send out welcome information in early November.
What’s happening next
Our current expectation is to send you our final update later in October. All future updates about your benefits and any legislative changes will be provided by Rothesay.
If you have any further questions, please see your May, August and September communications.
Dow Services Section members: Post buy-in with PIC
Since securing the insurance (buy-in) policy late in 2024, we’ve been working with PIC to check and verify member data to ensure the insurance policy accurately reflects members’ entitlements. This is an important step, and one that will take time to complete thoroughly and accurately.
As part of the verification of information held, it may be the case that you are contacted by the Trustee in relation to your benefits in the Plan. There are multiple exercises ongoing to ensure that benefits held in the Plan are correct and it may be that you are impacted by one or more of these exercises.
Only once this step is complete will we as Trustee (together with the Company), consider if and when a buyout might be right for the Dow Services Section. In the meantime, the Plan will continue to receive income from PIC each month to pay members’ benefits.
You don’t need to do anything, and you won’t notice any difference day-to-day.
We will keep Dow Services Section members updated on any progress.