Saving more with BRASS

How BRASS works

When you join BRASS, you start a Personal Retirement Account (PRA). This is a pot of money held separately to your main DB pension with the Scheme.

Your PRA is invested in a range of funds with the aim of helping it to grow over time. 

You can choose to manage your own funds or have them managed for you. You can also check and change your fund choices at any time.

When it’s time to take your benefits, the value of your BRASS pot is used to buy you extra pension in your Section of the Scheme. You normally have to take a tax-free cash lump sum equal to the value of your BRASS pot, up to the maximum allowed by HM Revenue & Customs. Or you may be able to transfer your BRASS pot to another scheme in order to access other options. 

Check the following pages for more information: 

• how investments work - offering a general overview of investments and the choices you can make 
• BRASS fund choices - for details on the investment funds available
• managing my BRASS - for information on how to change your fund choices
• taking my BRASS - to understand how and when you can take your BRASS pot

How much you can pay into BRASS

You can pay as little as £2 a week or £10 a month into your BRASS pot. For most Sections, the most you can pay into BRASS each tax year is the higher of either:

Make a one-off contribution

To make a one-off contribution directly, and not through your employer, email us at oneoffcontribution@railpen.com using the wording from the below template. Please also include 'One-off contribution request' in the subject line of your email. 

We cannot accept payments from other people.

As part of the process, we will need to contact your employer to check that the payment does not breach the Scheme limits. This is because you can only contribute a certain amount to BRASS each year. There are also limits on how much you can contribute overall before there are tax implications - this is known as the Annual Allowance. You can learn more about this in this Read as You Need guide, or on the pension tax limits page.

In certain circumstances, we may need to contact you to confirm details regarding the source of the funds. Once we have completed all relevant checks, we will email you with instructions to make the payment.

Your contribution will be invested in the default fund. Once completed, you can update your fund choice.

If you do make a payment this way, you will need to contact HMRC separately for any tax relief.

If you reach the maximum amount that you can pay into BRASS and still want to pay more, you may be able to apply to join AVC Extra. However, this option is currently not available to Network Rail members. Find out more on the saving more with AVC Extra page.  

How to join BRASS

You can join BRASS as long as:

• You’re a member of the defined benefit (DB) section
• You’re still paying into the Scheme
• Your normal contributions do not come to more than both 15% of your gross pay and 20% of your pensionable pay, and pensionable restructuring premiums if you have them

If you're a Network Rail member, the rules are slightly different. Check the Read as You Need guide for Network Rail members of BRASS. 

If you want to join BRASS please speak to your employer to set up regular payments or make a one off contribution.

Alternatively you can complete the relevant form below and then return it to your employer. Please don’t send this form to Railpen. These are standard Scheme forms and your employer may have their own form they would prefer you to use.

• BRASS payroll deduction form. This is not suitable for Network Rail members.
• Network Rail Protected Members BRASS form
• Network Rail Non-Protected Members BRASS form

You may want to consider getting financial advice before you join BRASS. You can find details on where to go for advice on the guidance and advice page.