The Trustees have been advised by the New Zealand Fire Service that it is their intention to pay the PCA (Physical

Competency Assessment) Annual Allowance to those who are entitled to it in the pay they will receive on 25 June for those who are paid fortnightly or on 20 June 2003 for those who are paid monthly.

The Fire Service has asked the Trustees of the scheme if they would be prepared to assist in encouraging scheme members to deposit this allowance into the scheme as a voluntary contribution.

The Trustees have agreed to take an active role in encouraging members to deposit their net PCA Allowance into the scheme as a voluntary contribution.

Enclosed with this Supernews is:

• A copy of the scheme's latest voluntary contributions pamphlet for your information
• A copy of an authority to be signed by the member if the PCA Allowance is to be deposited into the scheme
• A reply paid envelope to return the signed authority to the scheme Trustees.

Members are asked to consider depositing their net PCA Allowance into the scheme direct from the New Zealand Fire Service payroll system.

The Fire Service has advised the approximate net amounts of the PCA Allowance that would be paid to the scheme in the enclosed ‘Adjustment to Pay Deductions' form.

Should it be your wish that the allowance is deposited to the Fire Service Superannuation Scheme as a voluntary contribution you are required to complete and sign the enclosed ‘Adjustment to Pay Deductions' form and return it in the enclosed reply paid envelope to reach the Trustees of the scheme no later than Friday 13 June 2003.

The time frame for the completion of the necessary administration pertaining to this matter is tight. Any ‘Adjustment to Pay Deductions' forms received after 13 June 2003 will be destroyed.

Members are advised that any authority given to the Trustees of the scheme will apply to the payment of the Allowance in June 2003 only and will not apply to subsequent years.

Members are asked to read the enclosed pamphlet related to voluntary contributions carefully prior to making their decision on this matter.

Members are also advised that Fire Service Payroll are not permitted to deal with scheme members direct related to this matter as all changes to contributions to the scheme require written Trustee approval.

Members are further advised that voluntary contributions made to the scheme are not able to be withdrawn until the member becomes entitled to a benefit from the scheme.

Members who require further information are asked to contact the Secretary to the Trustees at any of the addresses set out below.

Member or non members of this scheme who are also members of National Provident Funds are reminded that this scheme accepts transfers from any National Provident Fund scheme.

To finalise a transfer you are required to complete the necessary NPF ‘Election to Transfer to another Registered Scheme' form and submit it to this scheme.

Once the transfer has been approved by the Trustees of this scheme and the National Provident Fund Board the funds will be forwarded to this scheme and added to your retirement accumulation as a voluntary contribution able to be accessed from the time you cease employment with the New Zealand Fire Service.

Any current or prospective member who wishes to know more about this should contact the Secretary to the Trustees at any of the addresses set out on the front page of this Supernews.

The Trustees have used Moore Gallagher as their postal contractors for many years to post out information to members. On many occasions reply paid envelopes are included to make responses to the Trustees as simple as possible.

You may have noticed the return address on these envelopes is different to the postal address set out on the front page of this Supernews.

Members are advised that should they wish to contact the Trustees by post and decide to use these reply paid envelopes for this purpose then there will almost certainly be a delay in the mail being received by the Trustees.

In such instances the Trustees cannot be held liable for any delays that occur.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the administration of your scheme the Trustees invite you to contact them in the first instance to ascertain if the matter can be resolved to your satisfaction. Obviously if the matter is still not resolved to your satisfaction you can take further action to finalise the matter.

Members are advised that the Trustees adopted a ‘Disputes Handling' policy in December 1998 which sets out best practice in relation to disputes or complaints raised by members.

Any member requiring a copy of the policy should contact the Secretary to the Trustees, in the first instance, at any of the addresses set out on the front page of this Supernews.

Members are reminded that the interim interest rate reverts to zero on 01 April each year in accordance with the long standing policy of the Trustees.

The Trustees have been reviewing the method used to establish the interim interest rate to ensure that all members are treated equitably.

Any changes to the method used to establish the interim interest rate will be advised to members in future editions of Supernews.

Members are reminded that where they are making reduced contributions or have suspended contributions to the scheme, and they die whilst these circumstances continue, the Trust Deed pro-rates or reduces the minimum of two times salary as a death benefit available to that member.

As an example, if your contributions are three per cent of your superable wages/salary the death benefit will be a maximum of one half of two times salary or the balance of your accounts whichever is the larger should you die.

Members should take this into consideration if they are considering reducing or suspending their contributions to the scheme.