Frequently Asked Questions

TPT Retirement Solutions requires your employer’s payroll team to take contributions from your gross pay. Gross pay means the amount your employer is paying you before tax has been deducted.  You will be able to see this on your pay slip. 

As a result, your pay is lower for tax purposes, therefore you will pay less tax. In this way you are receiving tax relief on your contributions. This is sometimes known as a Net Pay arrangement.

Employer contributions are paid in addition to your contributions, and you will not be required to pay tax or National Insurance on your employer’s contribution.

For the majority of members this is a straightforward way to benefit from tax relief. However it does mean that some members benefit more from tax relief than others.

For those members who do not pay income tax will not  any benefit from tax relief under this arrangement.

There is no limit on the amount you can pay into your pension scheme. However the Annual Allowance is the maximum amount of pension saving you can have each year that benefit from tax relief. 

The options available depend how long you have been a member of the Scheme and when you joined the scheme.

If you joined before 1 October 2015 and you have:

• Less than three months' service - you will receive a refund* of the value of your own contributions less tax.

• More than three months' and less than two years' service - you can receive a refund* of the value of your own contributions less tax or transfer the value of the whole fund to another registered pension arrangement. The transfer option lapses three months after leaving the Scheme and a refund will be paid automatically.

• Two or more years' service - your fund will remain in the Scheme and continue to be invested until you retire or decide to transfer the value of the whole fund to another registered pension provider. 

If you joined from 1 October 2015 and you have:

• Less than 30 days' service - you will receive a refund* of the value of your own contributions less tax.

• More than 30 days' service - your fund will remain in the Scheme and continue to be invested until you retire or decide to transfer the value of the whole fund to another registered pension provider.
  
  You can leave the Scheme at any time by giving notice to your employer.
  
  * A refund is not available if you have more than two years' pensionable service in TPT Retirement Solutions in total, including previous pensionable service in CARE or another scheme at TPT Retirement Solutions, and/or transferred-in benefits from another scheme. A refund is also not available if a transfer value has been received for you from a Personal Pension or a Stakeholder Pension Plan. Please note if you have been in a salary sacrifice arrangement, there will be no refund payable as no member contributions have been paid. (The employer pays over the total value of the contributions due).

For Automatic Enrolment (AE) please note:

• If you opt out of the Scheme within 30 days, after your employer has automatically enrolled you then you are treated as though you never joined. Any contributions deducted from your pay will be returned to you by your employer subject to the relevant tax and National Insurance deductions.

• If you continue to be employed, your employer will be required to re-enrol you into the Scheme upon the third anniversary of your employer's staging date. If you are re-enrolled then you will have the option to opt out again.

Employees who opt out of an AE scheme or voluntarily cease active membership of a qualifying scheme have a statutory right to opt back in to a qualifying scheme after 12 months. Please also note that the employer may allow them to opt in before 12 months but this is discretionary.

 

Additional Voluntary Contributions are extra pension contributions that you can make to boost your pension savings.  Please note that you can only pay AVCs to an arrangement that your employer has set up for their employees to pay into.

Your AVCs could be invested in one of TPT Retirement Solutions' defined contribution (DC) funds:

• The Growth Plan Series 4
• Ethical Fund
• Flexible Retirement Plan
• SHAPS Defined Contribution (DC) (only available to SHAPS employees)
• SHPS Defined Contribution  (DC) (only available to SHPS employees)
• ISPS Defined Contribution  (DC) (only available to ISPS employees)
• Genesis Housing Association Defined Contribution (DC)

If you would like more information on the funds please see the respective Member Guide for your Defined Contribution scheme.

Alternatively, you may pay AVCs privately as Free Standing AVCs (FSAVCs) to another pension provider.

If you are currently contributing to the Scheme and wish to retire, please inform your employer of your chosen retirement date as soon as possible.

Your employer will then arrange for a Withdrawal form to be forwarded to us and we will then send your retirement options to your home address.

If you are currently a deferred member of the Scheme and you wish to retire, please contact us advising of your chosen retirement date. We will then provide details of the options available to you and option forms for you to complete and return confirming your retirement choices.

From 6 April 2015 you may have more options on what you can do with your pension savings. We recommend you get guidance or advice to help you with this decision.

You can request a quotation using the DB Online facility if you have signed up.

PensionWise is a new service from the government that may offer free and impartial guidance for members with defined contribution (money purchase) arrangements. Bookings for Pension Wise can be made seven days a week. You will be able to access the government-backed guidance guarantee service between 8am and 10pm Monday to Sunday by calling 030 0330 1001 to book an appointment.

How to take your pension benefits is a very important financial decision and could affect your financial wellbeing for many years to come. You should therefore consider taking Independent Financial Advice before making any decision. The Association of Financial Advisers will be able to advise of a suitably qualified Independent Financial Adviser in your area.

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not recommend Independent Financial Advisers and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give. You may be charged for any advice you receive and you should therefore ensure that you understand and are happy with any charges before proceeding.

TPT Retirement Solutions manages £8bn assets to provide pensions for some 250,000 members.

TPT invests for the long-term and structures its investments so that they are sufficiently robust to weather most eventualities. Our long term strategy is not disrupted by Brexit and we and our investment managers will be looking in this period of market uncertainty for opportunities to strengthen our investment portfolio.

TPT has both extensive in-house expertise and access to high quality professional advice.  We are confident, that if required, we can respond quickly and appropriately to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible outcome for all of the members and employers that rely on TPT.

How will Brexit impact on my pension?

Defined Benefit (DB) Members

Benefits are calculated based upon a formula defined by the Rules of the Scheme.  This will not change as a result of the decision to leave the EU.

If you are a pensioner living in the EU

Your pension from TPT Retirement Solutions will continue to be paid as it is now and will be subject to the same increases.

What about my State Pension?

It is too early to comment on any possible impact on state pensions.

Defined Contribution (DC) Members

It depends upon the fund that you selected, however, most members are invested in the default target date funds.

With a TDF, your pension savings are invested for you in a mix of investment types depending on when you intend to retire. The Fund will gradually move from more ‘adventurous’ investments, through ‘balanced’ to more ‘cautious’ investments as it gets nearer to the planned retirement years.

As you approach selected retirement date, the mix of investments will become more balanced as they move towards a more cautious approach. The cautious investments will be cash and ‘gilts’ (UK government bonds). The investment returns will probably be less than shares over the long run but may help protect your savings as you get nearer to retirement.

Therefore if you are near to your selected retirement age the impact on your fund value is likely to be limited.

If you are some time away from your selected retirement date there may be some short term volatility in your fund value.

If you are uncertain about your options you should seek financial advice.

I am in the process of transferring my benefits to a scheme outside of TPT Retirement Solutions, will Brexit impact on my transfer value?

Defined Benefit (DB) Members

If your transfer value is still in the guarantee period and you confirm that you wish to proceed with the transfer within the guarantee period, the guaranteed amount will be paid. 

Defined Contribution (DC) Members

The transfer value will be dependent upon the unit price on the day that your fund is disinvested.  Changes in markets may therefore impact on the transfer value.  If you are uncertain about your options you should seek financial advice.