The factors for these calculations are unisex factors.

There are four tables for each DPA:

• Member only Single Premium
• Member and Dependants Single Premium
• Member only Monthly Premium
• Member and Dependants Monthly Premium

Ages are expressed as age last birthday.

To find the premium to purchase £X of Added Pension, the following formula should be used:

Premium to purchase amount of added pension = £X / 100 x factor

Where:

factor is taken from Tables x-1301 to x-1316

Where a member wishes to purchase added pension via monthly payments part-way through a scheme year, they may only do so for the remainder of the scheme year; a new contract would need to be taken out in subsequent scheme years to purchase further Added Pension. In this instance, the required premium to purchase £X of Added Pension can be found by following the formula for premium to purchase amount of added pension above and then multiplying by 12 and dividing by the number of monthly payments available to be made during the remainder of the scheme year (e.g. multiply by 12 and divide by 6 if election is effective half-way through the scheme year.)

To find the Added Pension purchased by £P of premium, the following formula should be used:

Added Pension purchased by premium = £P / factor x 100

Where:

factor is taken from Tables x-1301 to x-1316

Similarly to above, the Added Pension purchased by £P of monthly premiums that begin part-way through a scheme year is calculated by following the formula for Added Pension purchased by premium above and then dividing by 12 and multiplying by the number of monthly payments available to be made during the remainder of the scheme year (e.g. divide by 12 and multiply by 6 if election is effective half-way through the scheme year).

Note that the relevant factor for a member will change each scheme year (regardless of whether an update to the factors has occurred) if their "age of purchase" has changed (i.e. they will move down the relevant column in the relevant factor table).

For a member with a non-integer DPA of Y years and M complete months, who requires the use of a factor at age N, interpolation between two DPA tables will be necessary. The formula to use is as follows:

Factor(age N, DPA(Y, M)) = Factor(age N, DPA(Y)) + (M/12) x [Factor(age N, DPA(Y+1)) - Factor(age N, DPA(Y))]

We have simplified the presentation of the interpolation formula, but the effect of the formula is the same as the old formulation i.e. it gives the same answer, so there is no need to update administration systems.

The 'age of joining' in the factor tables is used to determine whether the factors should allow for the possibility of Early Departure Payments (EDP), so any prior service which does not count towards EDP qualification should not be included when considering age of joining.

For age of joining, we consider the youngest age at which they could start EDP qualifying service. Reserve service is therefore excluded when looking at the age of joining, which should be adjusted to allow for prior reserve service. Breaks in service should also be excluded.

If a member only has reserve service, then their current age at the point of entering into the AP contract should be used as the age of joining, as this is the earliest age at which they could start EDP qualifying service. For subsequent AP contracts, if there is still no regular service, then the age at commencement of the new contract should be used. Therefore, in addition to the change in 'age at purchase' mentioned above (i.e. that the relevant factor for a member will change each scheme year if their "age of purchase" has changed), the age of joining for members with reserve service only can also vary between contracts.

Where the member has had more than 5 years as a reserve then any regular service prior to the 5-year gap since leaving regular service will not count towards EDP in respect of the current service. The prior period of regular service should therefore not be allowed for when considering the age of joining.

For members re-joining the service, the age of joining will depend on whether the member's current service is treated as continuous with their previous service (as well as whether the previous service can be counted as EDP qualifying service - see Reserve service).

If a member's service is not treated as continuous, then the previous service does not impact on the new service, as benefits for that service are calculated separately to the new service. The age of joining to be used where the previous service is not continuous is the age at the start date of the new period of service (adjusted for reserve service where applicable). Instances where service is not treated as continuous include where a break in service exceeds 5 years.

If a member's service is continuous and:

• periods of previous service are regular rather than reserve service, and:
• the member has not spent any time outside the Armed Forces (i.e. they are a transition member without a break in service),

then the member's age at their original start of service date should be used as the age of joining, even if the member was previously in another Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

Where the service is continuous and wholly in the Armed Forces, but there is reserve service, then the instructions relating to reserve service should be used.

If a member's service is continuous, but the member has spent time outside of Armed Forces regular service, i.e. a break in service of less than 5 years, then the age of joining for AP purposes should be the age on date of joining the Armed Forces, adjusted for the period when the member was not in the Armed Forces on regular service (using the instructions on reservists where applicable).