Please take time to read this important information carefully before you start to use this website, as these Terms of Use will apply to your use of the Member Portal.

1. What’s in these terms?

1.1. These Terms of Use set out the terms and conditions on which we provide the text, software, database, format, documents, graphic and written work and all other materials published on this website mps.brightwellpensions.com The “Member Portal” refers to the secure website that serves as a main entry point for members to get access to information on Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (the “Member Portal”) and the basis on which we allow access to it.

1.2. By using the Member Portal, you confirm that you accept these Terms of Use and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must not use the Member Portal.

1.3. Note that no information contained in the Member Portal alters any member’s benefits or entitlement under the Scheme’s trust deed and rules (which can be amended from time to time) or legislation. If there is any difference or conflict between the information set out on the Member Portal (including the retirement and transfer planning tools) and the provisions of the Scheme’s trust deed and rules or relevant laws, the Scheme’s trust deed and rules or relevant laws will take precedence.

2. Who we are and how to contact us

2.1. The Member Portal is operated by Brightwell.

2.2. The Member Portal is maintained by Brightwell, with registered office One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London, EC3N 2LB on behalf of the Trustees of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme. The Trustees of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme are Coal Pension Trustees Services Limited (CPT). Coal Pension Trustees Services Ltd is registered in England and Wales with registered number [02952260] and registered office at Ventana House, Sheaf Street, Sheffield. S1 2BJ. Brightwell administers the Mineworker’s Pension Scheme on behalf of Coal Pension Trustees Services Ltd.

2.3. References in these Terms of Use to “we” and “us” are references to the Trustees of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.

2.4. If you have any questions about the Member Portal or these Terms and Conditions, please email mps@brightwellpensions.com, or call: 0333 222 0077. Please note the phone lines are open Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5:00pm (excluding Bank Holidays).

3. Privacy

3.1. We take your privacy seriously. Please read the Privacy Notice Privacy Policy to understand how we use and protect the information that you provide to us.

4. Accessing the Member Portal

4.1. You should access the Member Portal through the MPS website homepage at mps-pension.org.uk. If you access online forms or services directly you may not see important material and information including links to important legal or regulatory information which should be read in conjunction with these Terms of Use, our Privacy Notice and other relevant information. We will not be liable if a user suffers loss or damage as a result of failing to see relevant legal or regulatory information displayed on the Member Portal.

4.2. Throughout the Member Portal there are words highlighted in bold, underline and /or colour that are links that will take you to another page of the Member Portal or part of that page. Depending on your screen resolution, the text and materials on one page of the Member Portal may not fit entirely into one screen. Where this occurs, you should use the vertical and/or horizontal scroll bars in order to access the entire content of the page. If you do not do this, you may not see important material and information. We will not be liable if a user of the Member Portal suffers loss or damage as a result of failing to use and access the Member Portal properly.

4.3. You should ensure that your access to the Member Portal is secure. Therefore, you should, where possible, access the Member Portal via your own personal device which is kept up to date with the latest anti-virus software and firewalls.

4.4. You should ensure that you securely log off the Member Portal when you have finished accessing your personal pension information.

4.5. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Member Portal and for ensuring that all persons that access the Member Portal through your internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.

5. Availability of the Member Portal

5.1. We do not guarantee that the Member Portal, or any content on it, will always be available or that you will have uninterrupted access to it. For example, the Member Portal may be temporarily unavailable or restricted for administrative or other reasons. Access to the Member Portal is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to amend, update, suspend or withdraw all or any part of the Member Portal without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason the Member Portal is not available at any time or for any period.

6. You must keep your account details safe

6.1. If you choose, or you are provided with a membership reference number, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. You should ensure the confidentiality and proper use of your password and not disclose it to anyone else. You should restrict access to any devices used to access the Member Portal, or any other device which stores your details. You should not leave any device unattended whilst that device is logged on to the Member Portal.

6.2. We may have to suspend the use of your account from time to time if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms of Use, or due to security or other concerns, and we will inform you of this as soon as we can.

6.3. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your log-in details, you must promptly notify us at mps@brightwellpensions.com

7. Amendments to these Terms of Use and to the Member Portal

7.1. We amend these Terms of Use from time to time. Every time you wish to use the Member Portal, please check these Terms of Use to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. These Terms of Use were most recently updated on 13 January 2025 where we updated the links to our Privacy Notice, contact details and website.

7.2. We aim to update the Member Portal regularly and may change the content at any time to reflect changes to the Member Portal, our members’ needs and the Scheme’s priorities. However, any of the material on the Member Portal may be out of date at any given time and we make no commitment to update the content and materials on the Member Portal.

7.3. If you choose to keep a hard or soft copy of all or any of these pages (including parts of pages) please ensure that you are relying on the most up-to-date version of that information available, by accessing the Member Portal and refreshing or updating any cached copy of the Member Portal or relevant part of it.

8. Information on the Member Portal

8.1. You should not rely on information on the Member Portal.

8.2. The content on the Member Portal is provided for general information and illustrative purposes only unless otherwise stated. The information on the Member Portal does not take into account your personal circumstances and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment, pension-related, or other decisions. It does not, and is not intended to, amount to advice on which you should rely.

8.3. Any estimate, calculation table or facility on the Member Portal has been provided for guidance only. Any actions or decisions taken as a result of using such information provided on this Member Portal are taken entirely at your own risk. Before making any investment or pension-related decisions you should seek independent financial advice. Information and figures provided by the retirement and transfer planning tools on this portal are illustrative estimates only and are based on the information you enter or information held by Brightwell (the Scheme’s administrators) and on various estimates and assumptions about the future.

8.4. In particular, information and guidance provided on the Member Portal may be based on current factors which are subject to change at any time as they take into account, for example, age, inflation, increase in earnings and current market conditions.

8.5. We strongly recommend that you speak to an independent financial adviser (“IFA”) before making a decision either in relation to your investments, your pension choices or on the basis of the content on the Member Portal.

8.6. Whilst we have taken reasonable care to make sure that the information and functions contained or displayed on the Member Portal are complete and correct, we do not warrant or represent that the information or functions on the Member Portal is or are free from errors or omissions, or that the information contained or displayed on the Member Portal is accurate, complete or up-to date. We therefore strongly recommend that you do not rely on the information or functions available on the Member Portal. We will not be liable or responsible for any reliance placed by either any visitor to the Member Portal, or by anyone who may be informed of the Member Portal’s contents, on the information or functions available on the Member Portal.

9. How you may use material on our Member Portal

9.1. We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Member Portal, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.

9.2. You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from the Member Portal for your personal use. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on the Member Portal must always be acknowledged.

9.3. You must not use any part of the content on the Member Portal for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.

9.4. If you print off, copy, share, repost or download any part of the Member Portal in breach of these Terms of Use, your right to use the Member Portal will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

10. We are not responsible for websites we link to

10.1. Where the Member Portal contains links to other websites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We make no representations and give no warranties concerning the content of those websites, and the fact that we have provided a link to a particular website should not be interpreted as endorsement or affiliation by us in respect of that website or information you may obtain from it.

10.2. We have no control over the contents of those third party websites or resources.

11. Uploading content to our Member Portal

11.1. As you are responsible for the reliability and accuracy of the details you provide to us in relation to the Member Portal, when you use the Member Portal, please be sure to check the details you enter, or which we hold on the Member Portal, carefully. If any information is incorrect, please inform us as soon as possible.

11.2. You will be deemed to have authorised us to act on any purchase, sale, switching, contribution, redemption or redirection instructions initiated or sent through the Member Portal without further written confirmation to us. These instructions will be treated as your instructions even if you can prove they were not initiated or sent by you or with your authority, provided that we or our employees were not guilty of negligence, fraud or wilful default. This authorisation remains in force until we have received notice from you of its termination (given in writing or by means of the Member Portal). Such notice will not affect the completion of transactions already initiated by us pursuant to this authority.

11.3. We may need to obtain from you written confirmation of any instruction sent through the Member Portal.

12. Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you

12.1. All warranties and conditions, whether implied by statute, common law or otherwise (including but not limited to satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose), are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. In particular, the Member Portal is provided on an "as is, as available" basis and we do not guarantee the availability, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of the Member Portal or any of its content. All implied warranties are excluded to the extent that they may be excluded as a matter of law.

12.2. Nothing in these Terms of Use shall limit or exclude our liability to you in respect of (i) death or personal injury; (ii) fraud including, without limitation, fraudulent misrepresentation; or (iii) liability which may not otherwise be lawfully limited or excluded.

12.3. As we provide the Member Portal to you without charge, we accept no responsibility and will not be liable (to the fullest extent permitted by law) for any losses, costs, damages or expenses, incurred as a result of negligence or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with, any interruption, suspension or loss of use of the Member Portal.

12.4. As we provide the Member Portal without charge to you, we accept no responsibility and will not be liable (to the fullest extent permitted by law) for any direct or indirect loss, cost, damage or expense (in each case whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise) which you suffer:

• (a) as a result of your use or inability to use the Member Portal, or as a result of your reliance on any content or materials displayed on or accessible through the Member Portal; or
• (b) as a result of any inaccuracies or omissions in the Member Portal that arise in connection with
• (i) any inaccurate or incomplete information provided by you;
• (ii) the acts or omissions of any person other than us, including, without limitation, the incorrect use of the Member Portal by you, or your failure to correctly input any data and/or information;
• (iii) any data transmission, machine or software error; or
• (iv) your operating error.

13. We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them

13.1. We do not represent or warrant that the Member Portal will be uninterrupted or error-free, or free of bugs, viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other impairing or harmful components.

13.2. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our Member Portal. You should use your own virus protection software.

13.3. You must not misuse our Member Portal by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our Member Portal, the server on which our Member Portal is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our Member Portal. You must not attack our Member Portal via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Member Portal will cease immediately.

14. Rules about linking to our Member Portal

14.1. You may not create or allow any links to the Member Portal to exist on any websites. You may create a link to the Member Portal as a "favourite" on your personal computer for as long as you have access to the Member Portal.

14.2. Our Member Portal must not be framed on any other website, nor may you create a link to any part of our Member Portal other than as set out above.

15.Severance

15.1. Each provision in these Terms of Use is enforceable independently of each other provision. The validity of a provision will not be affected if any of the other provisions are invalid.

&15.2. If any provision is void but would be valid if some part of it were deleted, then the provision in question will apply with such modification as may be necessary to make it valid.

16. Which country’s laws apply to these Terms of Use and any disputes?

16.1. These Terms of Use, their subject matter and their formation, (and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with any of them) are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.