FAQs on Pre-97 indexation

The government has passed new legislation, the Pension Schemes Act 2026, that allows us to pay inflation increases – also known as indexation – on PPF benefits relating to service before 6 April 1997. There are two groups of members who will be eligible for pre-97 increases:

1. Members whose scheme rules required the payment of indexation on benefits relating to pre-1997 service (members belonging to these schemes will, in most cases, start getting increases on all of their pre-97 PPF benefits) and;
2. Members whose schemes provided pre-1997 indexation only on post-1988 Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (members of these schemes will, in most cases, get increases on a proportion of their pre-97 PPF benefits).

The Act states that indexation will be capped at 2.5 per cent, per year and it will be paid going forward (prospectively).

You don’t need to contact us, we’ll contact eligible members directly. We intend to start writing out to all eligible members in the summer. 

In the meantime, we’ve published a list of eligible schemes here: https://www.ppf.co.uk/our-members/pre97-schemes

We must apply increases in January each year – we have no discretion to pay increases out of this cycle. 

For members whose schemes provided mandatory inflation increases on pre-97 pension benefits beyond just the post-88 Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMP), the intention is to bring the legislation into force on 31 December 2026. Members who are in payment at that time will receive their first pre-97 increase in January 2027. 

For members who were only entitled to pre-97 increases on post-88 Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMP), we currently expect that the legislation will come into effect from 31 December 2027. Members who are in payment at that time will receive their first pre-97 increase in January 2028. However, the increase we apply in January 2028 is expected to make an allowance for the delay. 

If you’re eligible for pre-97 indexation, then, in most cases, any eligible beneficiaries you have will also be entitled to increases on their pre-97 PPF compensation.  

The Act gives the Board of the PPF a discretion that allows it to alter the rate of pre-97 and post-97 indexation for PPF members.

The Board reviews its discretion powers annually – no decisions have yet been taken for next year.

We know though that:

• We can’t use the new pre-97 discretion provision to cover the absence of past pre-97 increases.
• The clear purpose of the power, when it's in force, is in relation to future inflation levels.
• As a compensator, we need to approach very carefully any decision that could result in us paying more than original scheme benefits.

We’ll share updates on this page ppf.co.uk so that you can stay fully informed of developments.

You don’t need to contact us. We intend to write out to all eligible members, starting in the summer.

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