Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Defined Benefit members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

Defined Contribution members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. We'll send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court.

We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

You need to note that your pension benefits can only be earmarked or shared once a valid court order has been issued – voluntary sharing of pension rights is not possible. Once you have the court order you will need to send this to us as soon as possible so that we can make sure your records are accurate.

Defined Contribution members

A charge will be deducted from your fund to cover the administration of the fund you are invested in.

Fund charges

Each of our funds has a differing charge so you may want to look at the detail on each of the DC fund factsheets, which share information about the charge alongside features. The charges are shown in the section named Total Expense Ratio (TER).

Transaction charges may also be payable in addition to the above, for example broker commission, stamp duty or the costs of buying and selling investments. These charges vary depending on a variety of factors including, the amount of money being switched on any one day.

Further details of the charges deducted from your fund are available on request. 

Our funds are listed on the fund factsheets page.

Setting up a pension from a Defined Contributions fund

When you draw your benefits, there may be charges for setting up a pension (or ‘annuity’) with another provider, as we do not pay pensions direct to members of Defined Contribution schemes.

Advice

You may want financial advice before taking your benefits and below are links to the government service (Moneyhelper) and a site which allows you to search for financial advisors in your area.

We can also pass your details to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who may be able to help you. There is a charge for this service.

Defined Benefit members - Quotations

A charge would be applicable for additional quotations where a number of quotations have been provided over the previous 12 month period in certain circumstances. Outlined below are the numbers of each quote you are allowed free of charge in a 12 month period and the fee applicable for a further quote. Please note that the charges outlined below will also have VAT at 20% applied on top of the fee stated:

• 2 Retirement quotes – each additional quote fee £150
• 1 Benefit statement – each additional quote fee £150
• 1 Transfer quote – each additional quote fee £200 *
• 1 Divorce quote - each additional quote fee £200 *
• Application of a court order in a Divorce case - £2,200 to £3,000.

*Additional charges may apply if the transfer value is over £300,000. Fixed charges that cover our administration will apply if you divorce or end your civil partnership and your pension is shared with your former spouse or civil partner.

Defined Benefit members

Tax-free cash sum

You can give up part of your pension and exchange it for a tax-free cash sum. This will leave you with a smaller pension, which would have to be taken at the same time as the cash sum.

The maximum tax-free cash allowed will be included in your retirement quotation and you can take any amount you wish up to the maximum amount.

Small pot

You may be able to take taxable one off lump sum if the value of your benefits in the scheme including those under other memberships of the same scheme is less than £10,000, including benefits that have previously been taken.

The £10,000 value is for assessing eligibility, not the sum we would pay. The cash allowed will be included in your retirement quotation if this option is available to you.

Trivial commutation

You may be able to take a trivial commutation if the value of your benefits across all registered UK pensions schemes is less than £30,000, including benefits that have previously been taken. The £30,000 value is for assessing eligibility, not the sum we would pay. The cash allowed will be included in your retirement quotation if this option is available to you.

Defined Contribution members

You can take your fund as a one off lump sum where 25% would be tax free and 75% would be taxable.

When you leave your employer, or if you choose to leave the scheme while you are still employed, you will no longer pay contributions into the scheme. Your employer will let us know the date you left the scheme and send us your final contribution. We will then write to you with full details of your options.

Depending on your age and how long you were in the scheme, different options will be available to you:

Becoming a deferred member of the scheme

You can leave your benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

How long can I delay taking my pension?

Defined Benefit Scheme Members - your benefits can increase over time between leaving and retiring depending on your scheme and how long you were in this scheme.

Defined Contribution Scheme Members - your funds will be invested until you retire or transfer to another pension arrangement. If you want to see how your benefits might increase or how they're invested, check you member guide. 

Taking your benefits at retirement

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide. 

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits. If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information we'll send to you.

Leaving because of ill health

If you are leaving employment for ill health reasons, you may be able to apply to have your benefits paid early.

What if I'm too ill to work?

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme). 

If you can have a refund of contributions, it will be included in the information we send you. 

Transferring benefits

After you leave the scheme you might want to transfer your benefits to another suitable pension provider.

Internal transfer

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you might be able claim continuous service under the scheme.

Re-joining the scheme with the same employer

You can re-join the scheme with the same employer if your employer and the Pensions Committee agree. You would re-join the arrangement that your employer currently offers which can be different from the section you were in before.

Auto enrolment

When you have left a scheme that you were auto-enrolled into, your employer is required to re-enrol you. The employer will re-enrol you on anniversary of their staging date, which is every three years. If you are re-enrolled then you can opt out again. 

If you’re an active member, you’ll receive a Benefit Statement each year, which will be accessible from your online account. This will be your Retirement Savings Account if you’re a Defined Contribution pension, or DB Online if you’re a Defined Benefit member.

We aim to issue statements close to the ‘statement date’ so you can see your benefits. We will also provide you with more information (normally twice a year) including a summarised version of our Annual Report and Accounts, updates on what we are doing and important pensions news, this is usually by email as it helps to reduce costs to your scheme and fits in with our values as an organisation.

For defined benefit schemes, there is a legal requirement to conduct a full funding review of the scheme every 3 years, with an interim funding update provided between full valuations. These are completed by the scheme Actuary. To keep members informed about the scheme’s funding position, Summary Funding Statements are issued to all members. These can be collected from the documents area of DB Online, or will be issued in paper form on request.

To provide any information about an individual’s membership, we need to have a valid ‘Letter of Authority’ (LOA) signed and dated by the member, which explains what the third party is authorised to gather necessary information about them. It will need to contain the following member details to allow us to have confidence that we are able to release the relevant information:

• their full name,
• their full address including their postcode,
• date of birth, and
• National Insurance number

Please scan and email the letter to: enquiries@tpt.org.uk or post it to: TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ so that we can hold it on our records and start the process of getting you the information you request. Please could you also note the members reference number(s) as this will help us when we set up our case(s).

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide.

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits.

If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information that we’ll send to you.

Active scheme members

If you are currently contributing into the scheme and want to retire, you need to let your employer know. They then send us a withdrawal form confirming your date of retirement. When we have received your withdrawal form from your employer, we send you options for your retirement.

Deferred scheme members

When you choose to retire you can contact us with the date you want to retire and we will send options to you.

Defined Contribution members

When you decide you want to retire, please contact us and we will send you details about your benefits. Please note that the process for paying benefits (especially for Active members) is involved and can take time so please give us plenty of notice if at all possible.

Advice

You may want to receive financial advice before taking your benefits, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise which is required. Visit the government's Moneyhelper site to search for financial advisers in your area. 

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service where your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme).

Defined Benefit members

The refund is the value of your contributions with interest (but not the employer's contributions). The refund that you take will be taxed. If you have transferred benefits from a Personal Pension plan, or if you have transferred in service from another pension scheme which takes your qualifying service over two years, you can't take a refund of your contributions.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, deductions from the refund include an amount that will buy you back into the Additional State Pension.

Defined Contribution members

You can have a refund of your contributions (but not any contributions made by your employer) if you have less than two years’ service and joined before 1 October 2015. However, if you joined on or after 1 October 2015, you would only receive a refund of your contributions if you left the scheme within 30 days of joining.

The refund is the value of the units purchased with your contributions (but not with employer's contributions). The refund that you take will have tax applied.

Defined Benefit members

If you take your benefits before Normal Pension Age they will be reduced because:

• You will have been a member of the Scheme for a shorter time.
• Pensions paid early are expected to be paid for longer.

Defined Benefit members who joined their scheme after April 2006

• can take their benefits at any time from age 55 subject to the scheme rules.

Defined Benefit members who joined their scheme before April 2006

• can take their benefits from age 50, subject to the scheme rules, but also have to have left the employment the benefits relate to.

Defined Contribution members

• can take their fund any time after the age of 55.

If you are a deferred member (either you have left the scheme or your employment) then Benefit Statements are no longer automatically issued to you. You can request one in your DB Online account or contact us and we can provide one free statement per year. 

If you’re an active or paid-up member, an annual benefit statement will be produced for you each year. This will be uploaded to your DB Online account for you to view. You’ll receive an email when it’s available. If you’re struggling to get into your DB Online account, please contact us so we can help you. 

If there's medical evidence you're unable to work again in any capacity, your pension may be paid immediately, no matter how old you are.

If you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme) you will be able to request information on your eligibility for ill health early retirement.

If you do not use DB Online or your Retirement Savings Account, you can contact us directly. 

Defined Benefit members

If your application is approved, a reduction won't be applied to your pension benefits for early payment and you still have the option to take a tax-free lump sum. If your application for ill health early retirement is approved, we may need to periodically request updated medical evidence to ensure that you are still able to receive this benefit. If your circumstances change we could reduce or suspend your pension.

Check your member guide to see how your pension would be calculated if you retired because of health.

Serious Ill Health (Life expectancy less than 12 months)

If your life expectancy is less than 12 months, you could take your benefits as a tax-free, one-off payment. We would need evidence from a medical professional to confirm your life expectancy.

Defined Contribution members

If your application is approved, the current fund value would be paid to you no matter how old you are.

The figure shown is based on the pension you have built up at the date shown on the statement and is payable from your Normal Retirement Date. These figures do not include reduction for early payment.

The pension at statement date shows the pension you have built up to this date using the information we hold at that point, and is based on the assumption that you commence taking your benefits at your Normal Retirement Date.

DB Online is the easy, simple and secure online facility available to our Defined Benefit (DB) members.

When you create an account, we'll send you two separate letters in the post to keep things secure - one with your account name and the other with a unique temporary password.

To enhance the security of your information even more, we've introduced two-factor information, which means you will need access to a phone that we can message when you are logging in.

Logging in to a pensions account allows a member to:

• Review and keep your personal details up to date.
• View your scheme record.
• Submit enquiries and request quotes.
• See your benefit statements.
• See payslips and P60s without having to wait for the post to be delivered
• update your bank details if you receive a pension.

Please contact us on 0113 234 5500 or enquiries@tpt.org.uk 

In the event of your death there will be a return of the value of your fund to your beneficiaries. Your employer sets the rate of life cover (if any) as a multiple of your salary and they can confirm this. If you are already an active member in the Scheme, your most recent benefit statement will confirm the level of cover provided. 

The cost of Life Cover is paid by your employer and is paid on a monthly basis along with your normal pension contributions.

Defined Contribution schemes

The scheme you are in will determine any payments should you die before taking any benefits. Please have a look at your scheme guide for further details of the death benefits that would be paid. Payments usually consist of a return of your fund value.

If your employer offers life cover, you are in employment and paying contributions at the date of death, an additional lump sum may be payable. You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. Under current legislation this means that they do not form part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

Defined Contribution schemes

Any payments your nominees may receive after you have taken benefits depends on the choices you made when you retired. For example, if you bought an annuity with another company, any death benefits would be payable by this company and would be determined by the contract you have with them.

If you opted to take all your benefits in cash, nothing further will be payable on your death.

If you opted to take part of your benefits, a residual element may be pain to your beneficiaries at the discretion of the Trustee.

Defined Benefit schemes (SHPS and SHAPS only)

If you die after your pension has started, the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

If you die within the first five years of your retirement then a lump sum would be payable because under the rules of your scheme, your pension is guaranteed to be paid for at least this number of years. The remaining balance of the five years of payments will be paid as a lump sum.

For example, if you were in receipt of a pension of £1,000 per year and you died after two years, there would be three years of the five year guarantee left to pay. The Lump Sum death benefit in this scenario would be £3,000.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your pension will be paid to your survivor if you chose not to take enhanced benefits when you retired. This will be calculated using the survivor’s pension quoted to you when you retired and any increases that have applied to your pension. If you chose to take an ‘Enhanced option’ on retirement, then no survivors pension is payable but there may still be an amount payable to your legal spouse.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

Details of who can be nominated for the Survivors Pension can be seen in the Nominees for death benefits section of your scheme Member Guide. If your survivor is more than ten years younger than you, the pension will be reduced by 2.5% for each year in excess of the ten year difference.

If you were a reduced rate member your benefits will differ. You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your pension (calculated on your full pension before you took any tax-free cash and including your increases to the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

Defined Benefit schemes except SHPS and SHAPS

If you die after your pension has started, the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

If you die within the first five years of your retirement then a lump sum would be payable because under the rules of your scheme your pension is guaranteed to be paid for at least this number of years. The remaining balance of the five years of payments will be paid as a lump sum.

For example, if you were in receipt of a pension of £1,000 per year and you died after two years, there would be three years of the five year guarantee left to pay. The Lump Sum death benefit in this scenario would be £3,000.

Survivor’s pension and children’s pension

A survivor’s pension and/or a child’s pension may also be payable. This depends upon the rules of your scheme and also on the options you took at retirement. Please have a look at your schemes guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die after leaving the scheme, but before you start receiving your pension (and before you reach Normal Retirement Age) the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

A refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death will be payable unless you were a member of a salary sacrifice arrangement. If this is the case, there will be no refund of contributions for the period of time that you were in this arrangement, as all the contributions the scheme received were from your employer.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your deferred pension at the date of your death. If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your deferred pension (calculated at the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for child’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die after leaving the scheme but before you start receiving your pension (and before you reach Normal Retirement Age) the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

There may be a refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death but you will need to look at your scheme’s member guide to confirm exactly what will be paid.

Survivor’s pension

There may be a survivor’s pension payable, which is usually a percentage of your deferred pension at the date you die. You should refer to your scheme’s member guide for details of any survivor’s pension payable, and who may be eligible to receive it. Some schemes also provide children’s pensions details of these can also be found in your member guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die whilst you are member of the scheme and before you reach Normal Retirement Age the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

There may be a lump sum payable from the scheme, which usually consists of a refund of your contributions plus any interest, and a lump sum payable from any life cover that your employer may have chosen for you should you die in service. You can contact your employer to confirm the life cover being provided for you or you can give us a call and we can check this for you.

Survivors pension and children’s pensions

There may be a survivor’s pension which is usually based on a percentage of your benefits at the date you die. You should refer to your scheme’s member guide for details of any survivor’s pension payable. Some schemes also provide children’s pensions details of these can also be found in your member guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die whilst you are member of the scheme and before you reach Normal Retirement Age the benefits payable are:

Lump sum 

Three times your pensionable earnings at the date you die; and a refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death. If you have been in a salary sacrifice arrangement there will be no refund of contributions for the period of time that you were in this arrangement as all the contributions the scheme received were from the employer.

Survivor’s pension 

50% of the pension you would have received, calculated based on the pension earned up to your death, plus the prospective pension from that date to your normal retirement date will be paid to your Survivor from the day after you died. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of the pension you would have received, based on the pension earned up to your death, plus the prospective pension from that date your normal retirement date will be paid to each of up to four dependent children from the day after you died. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for survivor’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

A Reduced Rate member is someone who paid lower pension contributions on the condition that by doing so, a survivor’s pension would not be paid.

For Reduced Rate members there will only be a statutory pension payable in relation to benefits accrued whilst being contracted out of the Additional State Second Pension before 6 April 2016. This is payable to your legal spouse only.

If you joined the Scheme before 1 October 1997 you had the choice of paying:

• Full contributions to provide for a full survivor’s pension, or
• Reduced contributions and not providing for a full survivor’s pension. 

For Reduced Rate members there will only be a statutory pension payable in relation to benefits accrued whilst being contracted out of the Additional State Second Pension before 6 April 2016. This is payable to your legal spouse only.

The reduced contribution rate is a set percentage lower than the full contribution rate. The level of this reduction depends upon the benefit section which you are a member of. 

You may have delayed paying the full contribution rate for a survivor’s pension until later in your membership. If you did this, the pension for your nominated survivor will be calculated from the date on which you started to pay the full rate of contributions. Once you decide to pay the additional contribution, you will not be able to change your decision.

If you have paid the full contribution, you may have the option at retirement not to provide for a survivor’s pension and take an increased pension for yourself. Details of the options available to you will be provided at retirement. These options do not apply to deferred members who left before 6 April 1992.

The lump sum may be paid to one or more persons or organisations. If you choose more than one, you must state the percentage you want each person or organisation to receive. You may only nominate one person to receive the Survivors Pension. This can usually be a spouse or partner or someone who is financially dependent on you.

The Trustees reserve the right to request further information once we have been notified of your death and may need to obtain evidence before a decision is made on who benefits can be paid to. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you. To keep your nominations up to date please go to your DB Online account or complete and return a Nomination Form.

Most of our Defined Benefit schemes provide a survivor’s pension should you die, but you should have a look at your Scheme’s Member Guide for full details.

If you do not wish to provide for a full survivor’s pension when your pension starts, you may have the option of retaining the right to nominate someone in the future or take an increased pension for yourself (enhancement). Details of any enhancement option will be quoted with your retirement benefits, if this option is available under your scheme.

Please note that not all schemes administered by TPT Retirement Solutions provide this option. If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

To keep your nominations up to date please go to your DB Online account or complete and return a Nomination Form. 

If you die and have no one nominated to receive any death benefits, we will contact the person who informed us of your death requesting information to be sent to us which will allow us to pay any benefits due.

If a lump sum is payable from the scheme, we will ask for a Family Information Form to be completed and returned. A decision will then be made by the Trustee on who will receive this lump sum.

It's important that, where possible, you make a nomination for any lump sum death benefits on your DB Online record, or advise us in writing.

Anyone can be nominated for this benefit and it can be split between one or more people or organisations. If you already receive a pension and there is no one eligible to receive a Survivor’s or Child’s Pension, no further payments will be made. If your next of kin know of anyone who is eligible to receive a benefit following your death, they should contact us as soon as possible, even if we do not have updated nomination details from you.

You may wish to seek advice from a solicitor, and possibly a financial adviser, when going through a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. It is important to make sure you understand all the options available to you.

If you are going through a divorce/ dissolution of a civil partnership, the court needs to look at the value of all pension rights when valuing assets. You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. 

We will send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court. We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

There are costs in making sure that a member’s record is correctly amended following a divorce where assets are allocated between the divorcing couple. These costs will need to be met by the divorcing couple themselves.

We will provide a list of the costs involved before a pension sharing order is made by the court when we issue a Divorce Cash Equivalent Transfer Value. The current cost to implement a pension sharing order (excluding the costs for any additional quotations required) is £2,200 plus VAT for the majority of cases, but this can rise to £3,000 plus VAT depending on the type of benefits you hold. If we need to ask our actuary to perform a calculation the cost will be higher.

The divorcing couple can pay the cost directly either by cheque or BACS. Alternatively, the fee can be deducted from the value of the benefits. Before we update the records following the instruction of the Pensions Sharing Order, we need confirmation from the member and their ex-spouse on how the charge is to be paid. If the payment is not being deducted from the benefits then we will need a payment to be made before we implement the Pension Sharing Order. 

The aim of pension sharing is to allow divorcing couples a ‘clean break’ by sharing the pension rights at the time of the divorce. This means that the ex-spouse will have a pension set up which is separate from their spouse. The ex-spouse can usually choose to have a benefit (often a Defined Contribution only membership) with TPT Retirement Solutions under their own membership number, or they can transfer the benefits out to their own pension arrangement.

Pension sharing can only be used where the divorce is final and the Pension Sharing Order has been sent to us. It will not be available in cases of judicial separation.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all accrued pension rights up to the time of divorce may be shared. In Scotland, only those pension rights accrued during the marriage can be shared. We will therefore request the dates of marriage and separation before we can calculate any Divorce Cash Equivalent Transfer Value required under Scottish Law. Shareable rights’ include any private pension rights. They will not include any widow’s, widower’s, children’s and dependant’s pensions already in payment. State Pension benefit may also be included. More information on the effect on your State Pension can be found on HMRC.gov.uk.

Rather than splitting benefits into two separate records on divorce, earmarked pension benefits only start being paid to an ex-spouse when a member chooses to take their own benefits. In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, these payments can be made from:

• The member’s pension income
• and/ or, the pension commencement lump sum (PCLS)

In Scotland, they can only be made from a:

• pension commencement lump sum (PCLS)

While it's simple to understand, pension earmarking does have some considerations you need to understand:

• If a member dies before they reach retirement, their ex-spouse or partner may receive nothing.
• The ex-spouse or partner does not receive anything until the member starts to draw their retirement benefits
• If the member retires early or stops contributing to their pension, their ex-spouse or partner may receive less than they expected.
• If the member dies after they have started drawing their retirement benefits, any income payable to the ex-spouse or partner also stops.
• Courts do prefer a ‘clean break’ approach to divorces and the dissolution of civil partnerships. Pension earmarking does not fit with this approach.

If your employer chooses to move you from a DB scheme to a DC scheme:

If you were previously in the Defined Benefit scheme at any time before you move to the Defined Contribution scheme, you should retain the link to your salary. The method for calculating your final salary pension is based on:

• Service in the scheme (whilst you were a Defined Benefit member) x Accrual rate x Final Pensionable Earnings.
• If you are moved to the Defined Contribution section, you would not build up any further service in the Defined Benefits scheme at the date of change, but you will retain the link to your salary. Your benefits would be calculated taking into account your salary at the date of leaving, rather than the date you transferred to the DC benefit structure.
• Any pension benefits already built up within the Career Average (CARE) section will continue to increase annually in line with a link to inflation. These benefits are not linked to your Final Pensionable Earnings.

If you choose to move from a DB to a DC scheme:

You will not build up any further service in the Defined Benefit scheme from the day you move to the Defined Contribution section and your final pensionable earnings will not take into account any salary changes after you move. 

Any pension benefits already built up within the Career Average (CARE) section will continue to increase annually in line with a link to inflation. These benefits are not linked to your Final Pensionable Earnings. 

Once you have left your scheme, you may be able to transfer your benefits to another provider. To do this we will provide you with a Cash Equivalent Transfer value (CETV). This transfer value is the amount that would be paid to another pension scheme, and not to a personal bank account, and represents the calculated value of your benefits.

Defined Contribution members

The transfer value is the current fund value and is not guaranteed, because your fund value can go up or down depending on market conditions. You would not need a guaranteed transfer value in order to transfer your funds to another provider if you are only transferring Defined Contribution benefits. If you have signed into your Retirement Savings Account, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits.

Defined Benefit members

The transfer value is based on a calculation of the value of your pension and factors provided by the scheme’s Actuary. A guaranteed CETV can be provided free of charge, however, if a second CETV is needed within a 12 month period, there would be an additional charge.

If you have signed into DB Online, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits. If the transfer value is over £30,000, you’ll be required to get independent financial advice before you are able to make a transfer, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise required.

The Trustee will not be able to proceed with the transfer of any value of £30,000 or over unless this has been signed off by a regulated financial adviser with the required specialisms and expertise. Search for independent financial adviser in your area.

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service whereby your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

If you want to transfer your benefits to a new scheme, there's a process to ensure our records are kept up to date and that we follow your instructions.

Part of the process is checking that you are moving your benefits to an appropriate scheme (please note that we can't pay a transfer value to you) and that all the correct documentation is completed accurately as you are transferring a valuable asset.

• The process can be summarised in the stages below, but please keep in mind this has been simplified and it could be more complex if your situation differs from a standard path.
• Request a quote of your benefits (Cash Equivalent Transfer value – CETV) from TPT Retirement Solutions.
• The CETV will be issued to you. It contains information about your benefits and needs to be given to your financial adviser or new scheme.
• They will provide you with information on what would happen to your benefits if they were transferred into a suitable and approved scheme.
• You must make a decision on whether you wish to make the transfer – if you decide to proceed with the transfer, you and your new provider will need to complete the relevant forms and return them to TPT Retirement Solutions.
• We will review the documentation (and confirm appropriate advice has been given if needed), request funds and update our records.
• Payment will then be made to your new provider and your record in your scheme will be closed. Your new provider should confirm the receipt of benefits and provide you with information on what they will do next.

Each stage of the process is necessary to ensure the security of your benefits and that you make an informed decision. The process can take some time (particularly if there is a disinvestment of Defined Contribution funds required. For example if you have been paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) into our DC Scheme) and it is important that you understand your part in ensuring the accuracy of form completion and your responsibilities in securing advice if needed.

The value of your pension rights is offset against any other financial assets when the court decides on the fair share of the divorcing couples total assets. This will only work if there are other assets of a similar size to the pension rights.

Many divorcing couples prefer this method which leaves pension rights intact. However, it can be difficult to achieve a fair share of a couple’s total assets by offsetting a pension pot against other assets. As this can be hard to achieve, there are alternatives available such as Pension Sharing and Earmarking if a fair balance cannot be agreed.

We have a number of options available for investing your Defined Contribution (DC) pension with us. To find out about the different funds you can invest in, see our DC Fund Factsheets.

If you decide to move your investments between funds you can do this by logging into your Retirement Savings Account.

If you don’t have access to your Retirement Savings Account, you can make the switches by completing a Switch Instruction form and returning it to TPT Retirement Solutions.

You are entitled to two free fund switches in a 12 month period. If you wish to make more than two switches within a 12 month period, there will be an additional processing charge.

Please contact us if you need to know how much this will cost. We recommended that you review your investment choices regularly, particularly if you have chosen to invest in a self-select fund option. Please also remember that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

You can only transfer pension benefits if you are actively contributing into one of our Defined Contribution schemes. If you are no longer paying contributions into the scheme or are a paid-up member, you won't be permitted to transfer benefits in.

If you have benefits with another pension provider, you may be able to arrange for them to be transferred so that you have all your pension savings in one place. To do this, we will need some details from you and your previous pension provider.

Transfers of benefits can only be paid into a Defined Contribution scheme. Your employer may need to offer this benefit group to allow a transfer of benefits, so it would be good to make sure this is the case before you start requesting information.

What you need to do:

• Contact your previous pension provider and request the transfer value of your benefits. You may request this information by completing the 'Transfer In Form' for your scheme to request transfer details and sending it to your previous pension provider. 
• Once you've received transfer details from your previous pension provider, send the transfer details, any forms that they need to have completed and the completed Transfer In form to us immediately. If your previous pension provider has not provided the all the information we need, we may have to contact them directly to obtain the missing information, which may delay the transfer.
• Once we've processed this information, we'll confirm what you need to do next if you want the transfer to go ahead.

You should note that we can only provide information and not advice on the options available to you. Should you need advice we recommend that you seek independent financial advice. The choice of an independent financial adviser is yours alone.

TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which independent financial adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give. If your previous provider is an overseas arrangement, there are some different requirements we will need to meet. If this is the case, please contact us before you do anything

You can't transfer in benefits from other pension providers to a Defined Benefit scheme offered by TPT. If your employer offers the Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme, benefits can be transferred into this scheme. 

A transfer of benefits from another pension provider can only be paid into a Defined Contribution scheme, providing that your employer offers this benefit group.

Please note that this type of transfer in will not provide a guaranteed level of benefits on retirement as these will depend on the fund available at the time (this may be higher or lower than the original transfer value paid in). 

You can see your details by looking at the 'Transfer In History' section in your DB Online account.

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you may be able claim continuous service under the scheme. You should let your new employer know so they can send an Internal Transfer Form to us.

Defined Contribution members

If you were in a Defined Contribution scheme, an internal transfer would be unable to take place as this is a fund and doesn’t include service in a scheme. 

Defined Benefit members

You can only claim continuous service if you are in a Defined Benefit scheme that offers this option. 

You will receive a payslip each quarter (6th January, April, July & October), or monthly should your scheme pay in this way. Payslips will normally be uploaded to DB Online for you to collect or received by the date of payment if you have them posted to you. The payslips will show the money that's paid into your account. 

It will also include your name, address, Payroll Number, National Insurance number, the period that the payment is in respect of and the tax code that has been used.

These details should be checked to ensure the information we are using is up to date. If anything needs changing, please sign in to DB Online and easily make the changes, or let us know by contacting our Payroll Department (remembering to quote your Payroll Number).

Should you have any queries regarding your personal tax code, please contact HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number and our tax reference: 120/P42099.

HMRC, Pay As You Earn, BX9 1AS    

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

General information relating to tax issues can also be found on Gov.uk.

Your payslip will detail the gross pension that is due to you, the tax deducted and the net payment. It also shows the taxable pay to date and the tax paid to date in respect of your pension in the current tax year.

If you are still working for your employer, you can continue contributing to the scheme after your Normal Pension Age (NPA). The benefits you earned to your NPA will be increased to take account of the later payment and added to the benefits earned after your NPA. 

Defined Contribution members

Twelve months before your Normal Retirement Age or your Target Retirement Date, we'll send you your current fund value.

Six months before your Normal Retirement Age or your Target Retirement Date, we will send you a retirement pack, which will have the current fund value, options and forms for you to complete and confirm what you want to do.

Defined Benefit members

Six months before your Normal Pension Age, we'll send a letter to let you know the age you can take your benefits without reductions being applied. This will include contact details so you can request a retirement pack if you want a quote of your benefits.

Career Averaged Earnings (CARE) scheme members

Benefits are calculated using your earnings for each year you were a member in the scheme under this option. Your pension is based on the accrual rate (for example 1/60th, 1/80th etc.) and your pensionable earnings in each year of pensionable service. Each yearly element of your pension will then increase up to the point where you retire.

Final salary scheme members

Your pension is based on the accrual rate (for example 1/60th, 1/80th etc.), your total service in the scheme and your final pensionable earnings.

Multiple benefit structures

If you've changed benefit structures, your pension will be calculated based on the pensionable service built up under each structure. The way your pension is calculated is dependant on if you're a member of a CARE or  Final Salary scheme, and the accrual rate applicable to your benefit structure.

Defined Benefit members

Growth Plan benefits increase on 6th October each year. For most other schemes they increase on 6th April each year. The increases depend on which scheme you are in and the years you accrued your benefits.

If you have any GMP, increases for this part of your pension will also apply on 6th April each year. Increases can include fixed increases and those based on the retail or consumer price index.

Yes - if you are over age 55 and are not retiring early due to ill health (in which case, you'd have to leave employment). 

You can ask for your pension to be paid while continuing to work, possibly on different terms with the same employer. If you wish to explore the possibility of early retirement, you can find more information in your member guide.

First payment

You'll receive your pension as soon as possible after we've received all the information we need from you and your employer - usually within seven days of your retirement date. If you are an active member, we'll need a withdrawal form from your employer, which we would request, before we can make payment. 

We are unable to make any payments before your actual retirement date.

If you are taking your Defined Contribution fund (either on its own or in conjunction with any Defined Benefits) there will be a much longer wait before benefits can be paid as we need to wait for final month's contributions to be invested before the whole fund can be disinvested. The whole process can take six to eight weeks.

The first payment covers the period from your retirement date to the next quarterly payment date and will also include your lump sum if you have chosen this option.

Quarterly payments

Pensions are paid quarterly (6 April, July, October and January) in advance. You will receive a payslip each quarter via DB Online or by post if you have chosen to receive hard copies of your payslips.

Monthly payments

Pensions are paid monthly where the scheme rules have been set out. Each month you will see a payslip in your DB Online account or by post if you have notified us that you wish to receive hard copies. Please refer to your scheme document for information on payments if your scheme uses this method.

Tax

Your first pension payment will be taxed at Basic Rate. If tax is due on quarterly pension payments then it will be deducted under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and we will be advised of your tax code by HMRC.

The way you choose to take your pension benefits is an important decision and could affect your financial wellbeing for many years to come. Because of this, we recommend you get guidance or advice before making a decision. The following services may help you:

Money Helper is a free government service for people who are approaching or over minimum pension age. It provides face-to-face or over-the-phone advice on your options, including how to make the best use of your pension savings, the tax implications of different options and tips on getting the best deal. Call them on 0800 011 3797. 

The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning. Call them on 0800 138 77 77..

You may also seek Independent Financial Advice from an IFA. The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

Pension scams

Scammers are known to operate in the pensions industry. If any discussion or offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You can find out more about how to identify and avoid scams here and on the government's Pension Regulator website. 

Any pension paid to you is normally treated as earned income for income tax purposes, although you don’t pay any National Insurance contributions on your pension income. Tax is deducted from your pension under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system.

Initially, tax is deducted at basic rate (20%).Once we have received your personal tax code from the HM Revenue and Customs, this will be used and adjustments will usually be made for any under or overpayment of tax.

If you have any queries about your personal tax code, please contact HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number and our tax reference: 120/P42099.

HMRC, Pay As You Earn, BX9 1AS   

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

General information relating to tax issues can also be found at Gov.uk. 

We're happy to pay your pension into an international bank account (there is no charge for this). However, we can't guarantee the date the payment will credit your account as it can take several days to make its way through international banking systems.

Payments will be made in Sterling (£).

In certain schemes, you can provide a higher level of pension, upon your death, for a dependent, by giving up part of your own pension. When requesting a quotation of your benefits, if this option is allowed, it will be included in the information we send to you. 

An assignment is a legal term relating to real estate or contracts and is the process whereby one person transfers their rights or benefits to another. You cannot assign your pension to another party except where permitted by law on divorce, even temporarily, for example, as security for a loan.

Getting tax relief on pensions means some of your money that would have gone to the government as tax goes into your pension instead.

You can put as much as you want into your pension, but there are annual and lifetime limits on how much tax relief you get on your pension contributions. 

TPT Retirement Solutions needs your employer’s payroll to deduct your contributions from your gross pay.

Gross pay is the amount your employer is paying you before any tax has been deducted and you will be able to see this on your payslip.

This means that your pay after the deduction of pension contributions will be lower and you will pay less tax (tax relief on your contributions). This is sometimes known as a Net Pay arrangement and for most members avoids the process of having to make a claim with HMRC.

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. Members who do not pay income tax will not get 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 total pension savings that you can have each year that benefit from tax relief. 

If you have paid into a Defined Contribution scheme you can manage and track your pension fund online through your Retirement Savings Account. You can also request a fund value update or arrange access at any time by calling us on 0113 234 5500 (choose option 1).

If you’re a member of one of our Defined Benefit or Hybrid (combined Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) schemes, you will have been given access to our secure online facility, DB Online.

Log in at any time to view your benefits, update personal information, request quotations and more. If you do not have access then please contact us and we will arrange for another secure login and password to be sent to you.

You may need to take time away from work for various reasons, including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave or sickness. The sections below explain what will happen in terms of making pension contributions during this time

Family Leave (Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave/Paternity Leave/Additional Paternity Leave)

If you take adoption leave, paternity leave or additional paternity leave, you will be treated in the same way as a woman taking maternity leave.

For the first 39 weeks of maternity leave:

• You will pay your normal rate of contributions, but only on the pay you actually receive during maternity leave, this includes Statutory Maternity Pay.
• Your employer will be expected to pay their normal contributions based on the pay you would have been receiving if you were not on maternity leave, plus any shortfall in your contribution.
• Your membership will continue as normal, based on the salary you would be receiving if you were not on maternity leave.
• If you return to work before the end of this period, contributions must start up again immediately.
• If you are receiving maternity allowance, your employer is still liable to pay pension contributions even though you are receiving pay direct from the State and not from your employer. Your employer will pay both member and employer contributions for the first 39 weeks based on the pay you would have been receiving had you not gone on maternity leave.

After the first 39 weeks

• We would not expect any contributions unless you are receiving pay. You will have a break in your service for any period where no contributions are paid.
• On your return you can choose whether to make extra contributions to cover the period that you have been away. Your employer has discretion whether to pay their share. If they decline to pay, you may, if you wish, pay the employer’s share. If you choose not to pay the contributions you will receive reduced benefits at retirement.
• If you die whilst on maternity leave, the full range of death benefits that would be payable if you were not on maternity leave would be paid. This would be based on the rate of earnings you would have been receiving if you were not on maternity leave.

Other absence

If you have any other absence, for example, sick leave, parental leave or a temporary absence and you continue to receive pay during the absence, you and your employer will continue to pay contributions based on the actual salary paid, or on the pay received prior to the absence, as agreed between you and your employer. If you are absent without pay, neither you or your employer will pay contributions for the period of unpaid leave.  

When you return to work, you will have the option to pay the contributions missed or any shortfall in contributions. If you opt to do so, your employer has discretion whether to pay their share. If they decline to pay, you may if you wish, pay the employer’s share. If you choose not to pay the missed contributions, your benefits will be adjusted accordingly.

If you are not making any payments to the scheme there is a maximum period of absence that applies before you will automatically become a leaver. This period of time will be dependent on the scheme that you are contributing to.

Income tax allowances

Income tax allowances detail the amount of income you receive before you start paying tax. Tax allowances are set by the government and you can check your own personal allowance directly with HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs). Information on general income tax allowances can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk  although your own tax allowance may be different based on your own circumstances. 

If you are an active member of the scheme and pay tax on your income you will receive tax relief on your contributions. This means no tax is paid on the contributions deducted from your total pay before any tax is deducted by your employer. This is known as a Net Pay arrangement. If you do not pay income tax, you will be unable to benefit from tax relief. If you are a pensioner you may want to look at the following information - Why has tax been deducted from my pension?

Annual Allowance

The Annual Allowance is a limit on the total amount of pension savings you can make each year without incurring a tax charge. It applies to all your pension schemes in total, not individually.

• The limit for the current tax year (2023/24) is £60,000. This includes all your contributions, tax relief and employer contributions across all the pension arrangements you have.
• If your income is over £260,000 in a tax year, your Annual Allowance for that year will reduce on a tapered basis. For every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, your Annual Allowance will reduce by £1. The maximum reduction is £30,000, meaning anyone with an income of £310,000 or above will have their Annual Allowance reduced to £10,000. 

Please see What is Tapered Annual Allowance? for further details.

if you have cashed-in a Defined Contribution (DC) pension pot i.e. taken more than the 25% tax free lump sum or you are drawing down an income from a 'flexi-access drawdown fund', the limit for future DC contributions will be reduced to £10,000, which is known as the 'Money Purchase Annual Allowance' (MPAA), for any DC contributions you make. 

This applies if you want to continue making pension savings in a DC pension arrangement. If you also have Defined Benefits (DB) with your current employer, the MPAA reduces the Annual Allowance for your DB benefits to a maximum of £50,000. The MPAA only applies to contributions to DC pensions and not to defined benefit schemes. Please consider taking independent financial or tax advice if this applies to you.

Exceeding the Annual Allowance

If you exceed the Annual Allowance in a tax year, you won't receive tax relief on any contributions that are above the limit and you will have to pay an Annual Allowance charge.

You may be able to use any leftover Annual Allowance from the previous three tax years to reduce or cancel the Annual Allowance charge if you did not use your full Annual Allowance in those years. This does not apply if you have a Money Purchase Annual Allowance.

The Annual Allowance charge will be added to the rest of your taxable income for the tax year in question, and used to work out your tax liability. If the Annual Allowance charge is more than £2,000, you can ask your pension scheme to pay the charge from your benefits. Your pension scheme benefits would be reduced accordingly to take account of the charge.

Lifetime Allowance

The Lifetime Allowance did place a tax limit on the tax-relieved pension savings you can receive during your lifetime. If you exceed this limit tax charges apply. The limit for 2021/22 was £1.073. If the total value of all your tax-relieved pension arrangements did go above the Lifetime Allowance, you will be taxed on any amount above this.

At Spring Budget 2023, the government announced that it would abolish the LTA with effect from 6 April 2024 but that there will be no lifetime allowance charge in tax year 2023/24.

Both the Annual (and previous Lifetime Allowances) will generally tend to affect those with fairly high earnings and/or significant pension benefits held elsewhere. When TPT provides you with quotes or statements, we will let you know what percentage of your Lifetime Allowance has been used up in the statements up to 6th April 2023. You should note that TPT Retirement Solutions and its representatives are not permitted to give financial advice.

If you are a member of a Defined Contribution pension scheme, the value of your pension savings (also called your Pension Input Amount) is the total of both you and/or your employer’s pension contributions made in the year.

If you are a member of a Defined Benefit pension scheme the calculation is more complicated. The increase in the value of your retirement benefits each year is your Pension Input Amount, and is used to calculate how much of your Annual Allowance is used up by the scheme that year. If you have a promotion or a significant salary increase you may be at risk of exceeding the Annual Allowance.

The Annual Allowance

Your Annual Allowance is a limit on the total amount of pension savings you can make each year without incurring a tax charge. It applies to all your pension schemes in total, not individually.

The Annual Allowance limits were updated as part of the 2023 Spring Budget and became effective on 6 April 2023 as follows:

• The limit for the current tax year (2023/24) is £60,000. This includes all your contributions, tax relief and employer contributions across all the pension arrangements you have.
• If your income is over £260,000 in a tax year, your Annual Allowance for that year will reduce on a tapered basis. For every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, your Annual Allowance will reduce by £1. The maximum reduction is £30,000, meaning anyone with an income of £310,000 or above will have their Annual Allowance reduced to £10,000. 

The Money Purchase Annual Allowance

If you’ve cashed in a Defined Contribution (DC) pension, i.e. taken more than the 25% tax free lump sum or you are drawing down an income from a 'flexi-access drawdown fund', the limit for future DC contributions will be reduced to £10,000, which is known as the ‘Money Purchase Annual Allowance’ (MPAA) for any DC contributions you make. 

This applies if you want to continue making pension savings in a DC pension arrangement. 

If you also have defined benefits (DB) with your current employer, the MPAA reduces the Annual Allowance for your DB benefits to a maximum of £50,000. The MPAA only applies to contributions to DC pensions and not to DB schemes. 

Please consider taking independent financial or tax advice if this applies to you.

What if I exceed my Annual Allowance?

If you exceed the Annual Allowance in a tax year, you won't receive tax relief on any contributions that are above the limit, and you’ll have to pay an Annual Allowance charge.

You may be able to use any leftover Annual Allowance from the previous three tax years to reduce or cancel the Annual Allowance charge if you did not use your full Annual Allowance in those years. This does not apply if you have a Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA).

The Annual Allowance charge will be added to the rest of your taxable income for the tax year in question and used to work out your tax liability. If the Annual Allowance charge is more than £2,000, you can ask your pension scheme to pay the charge from your benefits. Your pension scheme benefits would be reduced accordingly to take account of the charge.

Until 6 April 2023, the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was the total amount of retirement savings you could build up in all your pensions (except your state pension) without getting an LTA tax charge of up to 55%. 

In the 2023 Spring Budget, the government made several changes to the LTA and announced its intention to abolish it altogether from 6 April 2024. The LTA is currently set at £1,073,100 for the 2023/24 tax year and is still relevant for certain purposes. However, the impact of the LTA has changed as a result of the 2023 Spring Budget, which is explained below.

Spring Budget changes – effective from 6 April 2023

Lifetime Allowance charges

The key change is that LTA charges have been abolished. That means, if you access your pension benefits on or after 6 April 2023 and exceed the LTA, there won’t be any LTA tax charge. It is important to note that you will still be taxed under the normal tax rules on benefits that exceed your LTA, but the specific LTA charge (of up to 55%) will no longer apply. 

Taxation of lump sums The following lump sums, which would previously have been subject to an LTA charge, will now be charged as income tax at your marginal rate i.e., the highest tax rate you currently pay: 

• serious ill-health lump sum lifetime allowance excess lump sum.
• uncrystallised funds lump sum.
• death benefit defined benefits lump sum death benefit.

As for Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS)s, if you don’t have the benefit of any enhanced or fixed protections, the maximum PCLS you can take will remain at 25% of the current LTA (£268,275).

The government has announced that it intends for this amount to be frozen if the LTA is abolished altogether from 6 April 2024.

Tapered Annual Allowance largely affects higher earners.

To work out if you have a Tapered Annual Allowance, you need to assess your net income in the tax year in question, your pension savings in that year, the threshold income in the tax year (taxable income for the tax year less any taxable lump sum pension death benefits accruing in the tax year plus employment income given up for pension contributions, i.e. salary sacrifice) and your adjusted income (adds in the value of all employer pension contributions) in the tax year.

As soon as your threshold income exceeds £200,000, your allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 your adjusted income rises above £260,000. The minimum this can taper to is £10,000. So, if your adjusted income for the current tax year is £290,000 - thus exceeding the minimum limit by £30,000 - your annual allowance would drop £15,000 (£30,000/2) to £45,000.

If you have a problem or complaint in connection with your pension, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can help. 

If we cannot resolve your issue, please email, call or write to one of the managers listed below providing details of your problem:

For any Defined Contribution (DC) scheme:

TPT Administration at Mercer, Maclaren House, Talbot Road, Stretford, Manchester, M32 0FP 

Email: alison.broughton@tpt.org.uk 

For any other scheme:

Matthew Doggett, Head of Pensions Administration, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ

Email: matthew.doggett@tpt.org.uk 

If after you receive a response from the manager you are still unhappy, you may follow the formal two-stage complaints procedure which is summarised below:

Stage one

Please ensure that any correspondence is addressed to the Trustee Services Director at TPT and states clearly in the heading that you wish to exercise your right under the Trustee’s dispute resolution procedure. You should provide your name, membership number and as much detail about the reason for your complaint as possible. 

This is the first stage of the Pensions Act’s dispute procedure and is your legal right.

A decision should be given to you within two months.

You can get help with your complaint from The Pensions Ombudsman’s Early Resolution Team - see below. 

Stage two 

If you remain unhappy with the Stage 1 response, you have the right to appeal within six months to the Trustee. An appeal must be made in writing and must state the reasons for being dissatisfied with the previous decision. This is the second stage of the procedure. A decision from the Trustee should be given within two months. 

The Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Ombudsman is appointed to deal with complaints against, and disputes with, occupational and personal pension schemes. The Ombudsman is completely independent and acts as an impartial adjudicator and may investigate and determine any complaint or dispute of fact or law in relation to a scheme. The Ombudsman will not normally consider any complaint until the internal dispute procedure is completed, and may ask that you first refer your case to the Early Resolution Team (see above for details). 

The Pensions Ombudsman, 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 4PU

Tel: 0800 917 4487

enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk 

MoneyHelper  

Please note that MoneyHelper is a free resource where you can get assistance with pension matters and other choices which may affect your financial wellbeing. MoneyHelper can assist pension scheme members and other beneficiaries by answering questions and providing guidance in connection with their pension benefits, including where a person is having difficulties in relation to their pension scheme. Further information is available from the MoneyHelper website. 

Contact details: Tel: 0800 011 3797

From overseas: +44 20 7932 5780

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement 

If your employer withdraws from the scheme, you will stop contributing into the scheme at the same time and you will become a 'deferred' member.

You will normally be entitled to the same benefits as if you had left the scheme on the same day as the withdrawal, as long as TPT has received all of the necessary contributions from your employer. 

Your annual P60 will be available for you to collect in your DB Online account as soon as we've processed your return. You'll see the unread icon appear in your P60 folder when it's available for you to download.

If you need to update your personal details you can do this by logging into DB Online if you're a Defined Benefit (DB) members or your Retirement Saving Account if you're a Defined Contribution (DC) member. 

If you don't use our online facilities, you can write to us or email us with the change. Please make sure you include your reference number in your correspondence. If you are already receiving a pension from us, please also include your payroll number.

If you are an active member, you should also advise your payroll team or HR advisor of the change as soon as possible, because they will need to update the information they provide us with.

We will change your details as notified but, if you have changed your name, we need to see the original documentation or a certified certificate to validate the change before any payments can be made. If you choose to send original documentation to us, we will return it by recorded delivery.

Upon marriage and divorce, any previous nominations for death benefits that you may have made are void (unless you married your recorded nominee). We would recommend that you update your nominations by using your online account or sending us an updated nomination form (available on our website).

Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are extra pension contributions you can make to boost your pension savings. You may choose to pay AVCs to because:

• you want your pension to start before your scheme’s Normal Pension Age.
• you want to increase the pension payable at your Normal Pension Age (or earlier if you decide).
• full tax relief is given on AVCs.

You should always consider the needs and the savings options that are best suited to your circumstances.

You might want to discuss the options with a financial adviser as we are unable to offer you financial advice.

Your employer can let you know if they have set up an AVC arrangement for you to pay into and which scheme this is.

Your AVCs could be paid into one of the following 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).

If you would like more information on the funds, please go to our fund information.

How to pay Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

You can start to pay AVCs by filling in an AVC Application Form for the scheme you want to pay contributions into and handing it to your payroll department. Your employer will then complete the employer sections of the form and pass it to us so that we can update your record. You will receive confirmation from us once your form has been processed.  

AVCs which are paid monthly to TPT Retirement Solutions will be deducted from your salary in the same way as your ‘normal’ monthly pension contributions. If you prefer, you can pay your AVCs as a lump sum instead of regular monthly payments. Lump sum payments must be made through your employer's payroll so you will need to let your HR or payroll officer know in plenty of time. We are not able to accept personal cheques.

Making changes to AVCs

To make changes to the amount of AVCs you pay, or to stop paying them, you just need to let your payroll team know. They will change your monthly contributions and also tell us about the change.

Amounts you can pay as Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

You can pay up to 100% of your taxable pay/benefits in any tax year (6 April – 5 April) as pension contributions. For example, if your normal monthly contribution is 6%, you will have the choice to pay a further 94% of your earnings as tax free AVCs.

These contributions will be tax free as long as the total increase in your benefits in any one tax year does not exceed the Annual Allowance. This limit includes your ‘normal’ monthly Scheme contributions plus any AVCs that you pay to the Scheme plus any Free Standing AVCs (FSAVCs) or contributions to other pension arrangements.

If a Scheme was to start to ‘wind up’, the sponsoring employer/s would be required to pay enough money into the Scheme to enable the members’ benefits to be completely secured with an insurance company.

However, it may be that an employer would not be able to pay this full amount. Therefore, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) might be able to take over the Scheme and pay compensation to members in circumstances where the ‘wind up’ occurs with a shortfall of assets to cover the liabilities of the scheme. Further information and guidance is available on the PPF website.

You can reset your password by clicking 'Forgotten Password' on the DB Online login page and following the instructions.

A pension will be paid into the bank account you specified when we commenced payment of your benefits. If you want to change this you will need to let us know. 

If you are a Defined Benefit member and have access to DB Online, you'll be able to log into your account and make the changes online. For security purposes you won’t see your existing bank details displayed on the bank details change screen.

If you don’t have access to DB Online, you can contact us to make the change, either by letter or by telephone. If you choose to call us to make a change, we will ask you some security questions to ensure we are paying your pension into the correct account.

We can pay your pension into any bank or building society account (including international accounts), but we are unable to make pension payments by cheque or in cash. Please note that the account has to be in your name and any written request has to be signed by you. The details we will need are:

For UK accounts:

Account Holder(s)

Name(s)

Sort Code  

Account Number

Building Society Roll Number (if applicable) 

For international payments:

As requirements differ from country to country, it is important to call us if you move abroad or if you reside abroad and wish to make a change to the bank account your pension is paid into. We can then send you a form to complete which will provide us with the necessary information.

Please contact your bank or building society if you're not sure where to find the details you need, and remember to quote your name and Payroll Number in all correspondence as this will help us.

It is necessary for certain personal data to be collected in order for us to provide you with your pension benefits.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee of your pension scheme and is the data controller (where appropriate, with its subsidiary companies, TPT Retirement Solutions Limited and TPT Investment Management Limited) of any personal information for the purposes of applicable data protection law.

The Trustee (and, where applicable, the third parties it engages to assist it in the operation of your pension scheme) will use your personal data in the administration of your pension scheme. The Trustee takes appropriate measures to ensure that your personal data is held securely and processes personal data in accordance with relevant UK data protection law including the Data Protection Act 2018. 

For more information please have a look at our privacy policy.

Contributions must be paid in line with any minimum requirements set by your employer or the auto-enrolment regulations. You can decide to save more than these minimum amounts. 

Some employers choose to make membership non-contributory, meaning that you are not required to pay contributions and the employer meets the full cost.

Your contributions will be a percentage of your salary.

It’s never too soon to start saving for your future. The sooner you start, the better chance you have of saving more, and your savings growing sufficiently, to provide you with a higher income in retirement than just the State Pension.

You will automatically be enrolled into a pension scheme from the age of 22 if your employer is subject to auto enrolment rules. Prior to this, you can normally choose to opt in to a scheme from the age of 16. Please note, your employer may not be required to contribute on your behalf if your earnings are lower than the current lower earnings threshold (£6,240.00 annually, £520 monthly or £120 weekly for the 2023-24 tax year).

In April 1978, a state pension was introduced which provided:

• a flat rate state pension available for everyone regardless of their employment history.
• an additional state pension (also called the State Second Pension or SERPS).

If you were a member of a scheme that was contracted out of the additional state pension, you and your employer will have paid a lower rate of National Insurance contributions. A condition of this was that the Scheme must pay you an equivalent amount of pension that you would have received were you not contracted out. This is the Guaranteed Minimum Pension.

Only members with service from 6 April 1978 to 5 April 1997 accrued a GMP. The GMP is based on earnings and National Insurance contribution records. It is not a separate benefit but your pension must equal or exceed the GMP. The GMP is paid to you during retirement or to your spouse or civil partner after your death.

Your choices will depend on a number of things, such as your attitude to risk and how far you are from retirement. Our default option for the Defined Contribution members who want to delegate their investment decisions to an Investment Manager is a Target Date Fund (TDF). We have two TDFs: a default fund and an ethical fund.

We also have a range of Self-Select funds for our members who want to be more involved in the allocation of their money. See our DC Fund Factsheets section to view our wide range of funds we offer.

How much money you need will depend on your own personal circumstances.

The Money Advice Service website may be able to give you some information on budgeting.

You can use our Pension Savings Tool to get an idea of the amount of pension your savings might buy you at retirement, if you decide to buy an annuity.

Occupational pension schemes such as those administered by TPT are set up under a legal structure known as a trust. Each scheme has trustees appointed who are ultimately responsible for looking after their members’ pensions.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee appointed to look after your pension. The Trustee currently has nine directors – four nominated by the members, four nominated by the employers, and a professional independent trustee who is co-opted by the other directors and acts as the chair of the trustee board.

The Trustee has no shareholders and is established as a company limited by guarantee. It operates solely for, and is answerable to, the beneficiaries of its pension schemes.

The Trustee employs a number of specialist advisers and service providers to assist it in looking after your pension.

TPT Retirement Solutions Limited (the “Administrator”) carries out the day-to-day administration of your pension scheme on behalf of the Trustee (for example, collecting contributions and paying benefits). The Administrator is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trustee and employs over 200 staff who are dedicated to looking after your pension.

Neither the Trustee nor the Administrator is registered under the Financial Services and Markets Act to give financial advice. Any information that is provided to members or prospective members should therefore be taken to constitute information and not be taken to constitute advice. When providing information to members or prospective members, we take care to provide an accurate service but all decisions and choices which are made remain the responsibility of the individual, for which neither the Trustee nor the Administrator cannot be responsible.

If you're new to signing in to DB Online, you'll need to have to hand:

• two letters from TPT, one with your username and the other with your password. 
• National Insurance number.
• Date of Birth.
• Access to a phone to allow you to get an authorisation code.

As part of the sign in process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three security questions, which will enable you to use the service in future if you forget or misplace your details.

If you have Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) benefits you will have been provided with details to allow you to login to two systems.

DB benefits can be viewed on DB Online, and DC benefits are accessed via your Retirement Savings Account. As the types of benefits are distinct, these two facilities have been designed differently to allow you to see your options easily.

If you do have any questions about your benefits you should contact the administration team on 0113 234 5500 and they will be able to help you with both of your types of benefits. Please have your membership number(s) to hand.

Your information on DB Online is safe and secure. We use it for administering your pension only. We won't sell your data to any third party. Please keep us up-to-date with any changes to your personal circumstances, so we can ensure all information held is accurate.

Your payslips will appear on your DB Online account as often as you normally receive your payslip. The date it appears depends on your scheme.

You should receive your password letter within a week of receiving your username letter, subject to any postal strikes that may occur. If your password letter has not arrived, please contact us by email at enquiries@tpt.org.uk and we will reissue your letter.

The password we send to you in the post includes letters, numbers and symbols, which is necessary for security. 

Once you have completed the sign in, you can set the password to one you'll find more memorable.

If your password still doesn’t work, please contact us on 0113 234 5500 or enquiries@tpt.org.uk and we'll send you another password. 

If you have received your payslip online but have a question about the figures or information it shows, please contact our Pensions Payroll Team on 0113 234 5500.

If you'd like to opt out of using DB Online, please write to us quoting your membership number.

Once your request is received, it will take up to five working days to update the system.

You will then receive items by post, but please be aware there will be delays while you wait for the items to be delivered.

If you'd like to opt out of receiving online payslips, please write to us quoting your membership number.

Once you've opted out, your payslips will be posted to you.

Please note, it can take up to five working days upon receipt of your letter for our systems to be updated.

Starting with the Barber decision on 17 May 1990, there have been a number of legal cases in the UK and European courts which have concluded that men and women should be treated equally in relation to their pension benefits, and this has resulted in many changes to the law in the UK. Crucially, the Equality Act 2010 consolidated the position to ensure equality of pension benefits in respect of service after 17 May 1990.

In October 2018, there was yet another High Court ruling in this ongoing chain of decisions. It this case, it was decided that the Lloyds Banking Group Trustees must 'equalise' for the effect of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions for men and women. This is a decision that will have significant implications for many defined benefit pension schemes, including some within TPT – here’s what it may mean for you.

What’s happening?

Following the ruling, any member who was in contracted-out service between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997 may need their benefits adjusting. Lloyds Banking Group Trustees – and many defined benefit pension scheme trustees - will now have to provide men and women with the same historical benefit for GMPs earned between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997. 

What does this mean for me?

Scheme members whose benefits are adjusted will see an increase in benefits. However, the adjustment may result in an average increase of just a few pounds per month. No benefits will reduce as a result of the ruling.

What happens next?

The work to equalise GMPs will be complex and long term. The government has confirmed it hopes to be able to provide the pensions industry with guidance 'in the near future' and further guidance is also required from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

The DWP is also working with HMRC to establish whether the changes will need to be made to tax rules for those affected by the equalisation. Discussions between the Trustee and employers of affected TPT schemes will be taking place and members will be informed if they are affected in due course.

Income tax allowances are the amount of income you can receive before you start paying tax e.g. your Annual Allowance, Lifetime Allowance, Money Purchase Annual Allowance etc. 

Defined Benefit members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

Defined Contribution members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. We'll send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court.

We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

You need to note that your pension benefits can only be earmarked or shared once a valid court order has been issued – voluntary sharing of pension rights is not possible. Once you have the court order you will need to send this to us as soon as possible so that we can make sure your records are accurate.

When you leave your employer, or if you choose to leave the scheme while you are still employed, you will no longer pay contributions into the scheme. Your employer will let us know the date you left the scheme and send us your final contribution. We will then write to you with full details of your options.

Depending on your age and how long you were in the scheme, different options will be available to you:

Becoming a deferred member of the scheme

You can leave your benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

How long can I delay taking my pension?

Defined Benefit Scheme Members - your benefits can increase over time between leaving and retiring depending on your scheme and how long you were in this scheme.

Defined Contribution Scheme Members - your funds will be invested until you retire or transfer to another pension arrangement. If you want to see how your benefits might increase or how they're invested, check you member guide. 

Taking your benefits at retirement

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide. 

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits. If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information we'll send to you.

Leaving because of ill health

If you are leaving employment for ill health reasons, you may be able to apply to have your benefits paid early.

What if I'm too ill to work?

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme). 

If you can have a refund of contributions, it will be included in the information we send you. 

Transferring benefits

After you leave the scheme you might want to transfer your benefits to another suitable pension provider.

Internal transfer

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you might be able claim continuous service under the scheme.

Re-joining the scheme with the same employer

You can re-join the scheme with the same employer if your employer and the Pensions Committee agree. You would re-join the arrangement that your employer currently offers which can be different from the section you were in before.

Auto enrolment

When you have left a scheme that you were auto-enrolled into, your employer is required to re-enrol you. The employer will re-enrol you on anniversary of their staging date, which is every three years. If you are re-enrolled then you can opt out again. 

If you’re an active member, you’ll receive a Benefit Statement each year, which will be accessible from your online account. This will be your Retirement Savings Account if you’re a Defined Contribution pension, or DB Online if you’re a Defined Benefit member.

We aim to issue statements close to the ‘statement date’ so you can see your benefits. We will also provide you with more information (normally twice a year) including a summarised version of our Annual Report and Accounts, updates on what we are doing and important pensions news, this is usually by email as it helps to reduce costs to your scheme and fits in with our values as an organisation.

For defined benefit schemes, there is a legal requirement to conduct a full funding review of the scheme every 3 years, with an interim funding update provided between full valuations. These are completed by the scheme Actuary. To keep members informed about the scheme’s funding position, Summary Funding Statements are issued to all members. These can be collected from the documents area of DB Online, or will be issued in paper form on request.

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide.

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits.

If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information that we’ll send to you.

Active scheme members

If you are currently contributing into the scheme and want to retire, you need to let your employer know. They then send us a withdrawal form confirming your date of retirement. When we have received your withdrawal form from your employer, we send you options for your retirement.

Deferred scheme members

When you choose to retire you can contact us with the date you want to retire and we will send options to you.

Defined Contribution members

When you decide you want to retire, please contact us and we will send you details about your benefits. Please note that the process for paying benefits (especially for Active members) is involved and can take time so please give us plenty of notice if at all possible.

Advice

You may want to receive financial advice before taking your benefits, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise which is required. Visit the government's Moneyhelper site to search for financial advisers in your area. 

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service where your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

If you are a deferred member (either you have left the scheme or your employment) then Benefit Statements are no longer automatically issued to you. You can request one in your DB Online account or contact us and we can provide one free statement per year. 

If you’re an active or paid-up member, an annual benefit statement will be produced for you each year. This will be uploaded to your DB Online account for you to view. You’ll receive an email when it’s available. If you’re struggling to get into your DB Online account, please contact us so we can help you. 

If there's medical evidence you're unable to work again in any capacity, your pension may be paid immediately, no matter how old you are.

If you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme) you will be able to request information on your eligibility for ill health early retirement.

If you do not use DB Online or your Retirement Savings Account, you can contact us directly. 

Defined Benefit members

If your application is approved, a reduction won't be applied to your pension benefits for early payment and you still have the option to take a tax-free lump sum. If your application for ill health early retirement is approved, we may need to periodically request updated medical evidence to ensure that you are still able to receive this benefit. If your circumstances change we could reduce or suspend your pension.

Check your member guide to see how your pension would be calculated if you retired because of health.

Serious Ill Health (Life expectancy less than 12 months)

If your life expectancy is less than 12 months, you could take your benefits as a tax-free, one-off payment. We would need evidence from a medical professional to confirm your life expectancy.

Defined Contribution members

If your application is approved, the current fund value would be paid to you no matter how old you are.

Employees who only hold a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit

Annual Benefit Statements are provided to all DC scheme members. This includes active members who are currently employed and making contributions to the Scheme, and past members who are no longer contributing but have a deferred benefit in the Scheme. The statement will be uploaded to the member’s own personal Retirement Savings Account for them to collect when it’s convenient. Dependent on the Scheme, Benefit Statements are issued to members between January and August each year. The DC Benefit Statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• The contributions credited to the member’s savings pot by both the member and the employer during the last Scheme year. The contributions will be those that have been received and invested prior to the statement date. For example, if the statement date is 1 October, the statement would not normally include the October contributions as these would usually be received during November. Any contributions received or invested after the year-end will be included in the next year’s statement
• The value of the member's savings pot at the statement date (split between the investment funds)
• A Statutory Money Purchase Illustration (SMPI) of projected benefits. This is an illustration of the benefits that could be provided at the member's Selected Retirement Date assuming contributions continue at the current rate and uses specific assumptions for salary growth and investment return. Members should be aware that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

Employees who have a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit 

If any of your employees hold an active record which has both a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) element, they will also receive a separate annual DB Benefit Statement. This will detail the DB benefits the member is entitled to. The most recent benefit statement will be available on our DB Online system for the member to view. If the member has chosen to opt out of using the facility, the statement will be issued by post if requested by the member. The ‘Date Pensionable Service Commenced’ shown on the Defined Contribution (DC) statement will be the date the member joined the DC scheme and not the point at which they joined the scheme under the DB structure.

Employees who only hold a Defined Benefit (DB) in the scheme

The Annual Benefit Statement will be automatically uploaded to the DB Online system for active and paid up members to view when they want. Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. However, they can request one via DB Online, or contact us by telephone or email.

The dates statements are uploaded vary dependent upon the scheme that the member is in. Members will be notified that a new statement is online when they log into the system. Where members have chosen not to use the facility, they can request a copy of the statement to be sent to them.

The DB benefit statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• Yearly pension at the statement date
• Death benefits

DB Online is the easy, simple and secure online facility available to our Defined Benefit (DB) members.

When you create an account, we'll send you two separate letters in the post to keep things secure - one with your account name and the other with a unique temporary password.

To enhance the security of your information even more, we've introduced two-factor information, which means you will need access to a phone that we can message when you are logging in.

Logging in to a pensions account allows a member to:

• Review and keep your personal details up to date.
• View your scheme record.
• Submit enquiries and request quotes.
• See your benefit statements.
• See payslips and P60s without having to wait for the post to be delivered
• update your bank details if you receive a pension.

Please contact us on 0113 234 5500 or enquiries@tpt.org.uk 

Defined Benefit schemes (SHPS and SHAPS only)

If you die after your pension has started, the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

If you die within the first five years of your retirement then a lump sum would be payable because under the rules of your scheme, your pension is guaranteed to be paid for at least this number of years. The remaining balance of the five years of payments will be paid as a lump sum.

For example, if you were in receipt of a pension of £1,000 per year and you died after two years, there would be three years of the five year guarantee left to pay. The Lump Sum death benefit in this scenario would be £3,000.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your pension will be paid to your survivor if you chose not to take enhanced benefits when you retired. This will be calculated using the survivor’s pension quoted to you when you retired and any increases that have applied to your pension. If you chose to take an ‘Enhanced option’ on retirement, then no survivors pension is payable but there may still be an amount payable to your legal spouse.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

Details of who can be nominated for the Survivors Pension can be seen in the Nominees for death benefits section of your scheme Member Guide. If your survivor is more than ten years younger than you, the pension will be reduced by 2.5% for each year in excess of the ten year difference.

If you were a reduced rate member your benefits will differ. You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your pension (calculated on your full pension before you took any tax-free cash and including your increases to the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die after leaving the scheme, but before you start receiving your pension (and before you reach Normal Retirement Age) the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

A refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death will be payable unless you were a member of a salary sacrifice arrangement. If this is the case, there will be no refund of contributions for the period of time that you were in this arrangement, as all the contributions the scheme received were from your employer.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your deferred pension at the date of your death. If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your deferred pension (calculated at the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for child’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

The lump sum may be paid to one or more persons or organisations. If you choose more than one, you must state the percentage you want each person or organisation to receive. You may only nominate one person to receive the Survivors Pension. This can usually be a spouse or partner or someone who is financially dependent on you.

The Trustees reserve the right to request further information once we have been notified of your death and may need to obtain evidence before a decision is made on who benefits can be paid to. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you. To keep your nominations up to date please go to your DB Online account or complete and return a Nomination Form.

Most of our Defined Benefit schemes provide a survivor’s pension should you die, but you should have a look at your Scheme’s Member Guide for full details.

If you do not wish to provide for a full survivor’s pension when your pension starts, you may have the option of retaining the right to nominate someone in the future or take an increased pension for yourself (enhancement). Details of any enhancement option will be quoted with your retirement benefits, if this option is available under your scheme.

Please note that not all schemes administered by TPT Retirement Solutions provide this option. If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

To keep your nominations up to date please go to your DB Online account or complete and return a Nomination Form. 

If you die and have no one nominated to receive any death benefits, we will contact the person who informed us of your death requesting information to be sent to us which will allow us to pay any benefits due.

If a lump sum is payable from the scheme, we will ask for a Family Information Form to be completed and returned. A decision will then be made by the Trustee on who will receive this lump sum.

It's important that, where possible, you make a nomination for any lump sum death benefits on your DB Online record, or advise us in writing.

Anyone can be nominated for this benefit and it can be split between one or more people or organisations. If you already receive a pension and there is no one eligible to receive a Survivor’s or Child’s Pension, no further payments will be made. If your next of kin know of anyone who is eligible to receive a benefit following your death, they should contact us as soon as possible, even if we do not have updated nomination details from you.

If you are going through a divorce/ dissolution of a civil partnership, the court needs to look at the value of all pension rights when valuing assets. You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. 

We will send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court. We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

Once you have left your scheme, you may be able to transfer your benefits to another provider. To do this we will provide you with a Cash Equivalent Transfer value (CETV). This transfer value is the amount that would be paid to another pension scheme, and not to a personal bank account, and represents the calculated value of your benefits.

Defined Contribution members

The transfer value is the current fund value and is not guaranteed, because your fund value can go up or down depending on market conditions. You would not need a guaranteed transfer value in order to transfer your funds to another provider if you are only transferring Defined Contribution benefits. If you have signed into your Retirement Savings Account, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits.

Defined Benefit members

The transfer value is based on a calculation of the value of your pension and factors provided by the scheme’s Actuary. A guaranteed CETV can be provided free of charge, however, if a second CETV is needed within a 12 month period, there would be an additional charge.

If you have signed into DB Online, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits. If the transfer value is over £30,000, you’ll be required to get independent financial advice before you are able to make a transfer, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise required.

The Trustee will not be able to proceed with the transfer of any value of £30,000 or over unless this has been signed off by a regulated financial adviser with the required specialisms and expertise. Search for independent financial adviser in your area.

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service whereby your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

You can see your details by looking at the 'Transfer In History' section in your DB Online account.

You will receive a payslip each quarter (6th January, April, July & October), or monthly should your scheme pay in this way. Payslips will normally be uploaded to DB Online for you to collect or received by the date of payment if you have them posted to you. The payslips will show the money that's paid into your account. 

It will also include your name, address, Payroll Number, National Insurance number, the period that the payment is in respect of and the tax code that has been used.

These details should be checked to ensure the information we are using is up to date. If anything needs changing, please sign in to DB Online and easily make the changes, or let us know by contacting our Payroll Department (remembering to quote your Payroll Number).

Should you have any queries regarding your personal tax code, please contact HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number and our tax reference: 120/P42099.

HMRC, Pay As You Earn, BX9 1AS    

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

General information relating to tax issues can also be found on Gov.uk.

Your payslip will detail the gross pension that is due to you, the tax deducted and the net payment. It also shows the taxable pay to date and the tax paid to date in respect of your pension in the current tax year.

First payment

You'll receive your pension as soon as possible after we've received all the information we need from you and your employer - usually within seven days of your retirement date. If you are an active member, we'll need a withdrawal form from your employer, which we would request, before we can make payment. 

We are unable to make any payments before your actual retirement date.

If you are taking your Defined Contribution fund (either on its own or in conjunction with any Defined Benefits) there will be a much longer wait before benefits can be paid as we need to wait for final month's contributions to be invested before the whole fund can be disinvested. The whole process can take six to eight weeks.

The first payment covers the period from your retirement date to the next quarterly payment date and will also include your lump sum if you have chosen this option.

Quarterly payments

Pensions are paid quarterly (6 April, July, October and January) in advance. You will receive a payslip each quarter via DB Online or by post if you have chosen to receive hard copies of your payslips.

Monthly payments

Pensions are paid monthly where the scheme rules have been set out. Each month you will see a payslip in your DB Online account or by post if you have notified us that you wish to receive hard copies. Please refer to your scheme document for information on payments if your scheme uses this method.

Tax

Your first pension payment will be taxed at Basic Rate. If tax is due on quarterly pension payments then it will be deducted under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and we will be advised of your tax code by HMRC.

If you have paid into a Defined Contribution scheme you can manage and track your pension fund online through your Retirement Savings Account. You can also request a fund value update or arrange access at any time by calling us on 0113 234 5500 (choose option 1).

If you’re a member of one of our Defined Benefit or Hybrid (combined Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) schemes, you will have been given access to our secure online facility, DB Online.

Log in at any time to view your benefits, update personal information, request quotations and more. If you do not have access then please contact us and we will arrange for another secure login and password to be sent to you.

Your annual P60 will be available for you to collect in your DB Online account as soon as we've processed your return. You'll see the unread icon appear in your P60 folder when it's available for you to download.

If you need to update your personal details you can do this by logging into DB Online if you're a Defined Benefit (DB) members or your Retirement Saving Account if you're a Defined Contribution (DC) member. 

If you don't use our online facilities, you can write to us or email us with the change. Please make sure you include your reference number in your correspondence. If you are already receiving a pension from us, please also include your payroll number.

If you are an active member, you should also advise your payroll team or HR advisor of the change as soon as possible, because they will need to update the information they provide us with.

We will change your details as notified but, if you have changed your name, we need to see the original documentation or a certified certificate to validate the change before any payments can be made. If you choose to send original documentation to us, we will return it by recorded delivery.

Upon marriage and divorce, any previous nominations for death benefits that you may have made are void (unless you married your recorded nominee). We would recommend that you update your nominations by using your online account or sending us an updated nomination form (available on our website).

You can reset your password by clicking 'Forgotten Password' on the DB Online login page and following the instructions.

If you're new to signing in to DB Online, you'll need to have to hand:

• two letters from TPT, one with your username and the other with your password. 
• National Insurance number.
• Date of Birth.
• Access to a phone to allow you to get an authorisation code.

As part of the sign in process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three security questions, which will enable you to use the service in future if you forget or misplace your details.

If you have Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) benefits you will have been provided with details to allow you to login to two systems.

DB benefits can be viewed on DB Online, and DC benefits are accessed via your Retirement Savings Account. As the types of benefits are distinct, these two facilities have been designed differently to allow you to see your options easily.

If you do have any questions about your benefits you should contact the administration team on 0113 234 5500 and they will be able to help you with both of your types of benefits. Please have your membership number(s) to hand.

Your information on DB Online is safe and secure. We use it for administering your pension only. We won't sell your data to any third party. Please keep us up-to-date with any changes to your personal circumstances, so we can ensure all information held is accurate.

Your payslips will appear on your DB Online account as often as you normally receive your payslip. The date it appears depends on your scheme.

You should receive your password letter within a week of receiving your username letter, subject to any postal strikes that may occur. If your password letter has not arrived, please contact us by email at enquiries@tpt.org.uk and we will reissue your letter.

The password we send to you in the post includes letters, numbers and symbols, which is necessary for security. 

Once you have completed the sign in, you can set the password to one you'll find more memorable.

If your password still doesn’t work, please contact us on 0113 234 5500 or enquiries@tpt.org.uk and we'll send you another password. 

If you have received your payslip online but have a question about the figures or information it shows, please contact our Pensions Payroll Team on 0113 234 5500.

If you'd like to opt out of using DB Online, please write to us quoting your membership number.

Once your request is received, it will take up to five working days to update the system.

You will then receive items by post, but please be aware there will be delays while you wait for the items to be delivered.

If you'd like to opt out of receiving online payslips, please write to us quoting your membership number.

Once you've opted out, your payslips will be posted to you.

Please note, it can take up to five working days upon receipt of your letter for our systems to be updated.

Defined Benefit members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

Defined Contribution members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

When you leave your employer, or if you choose to leave the scheme while you are still employed, you will no longer pay contributions into the scheme. Your employer will let us know the date you left the scheme and send us your final contribution. We will then write to you with full details of your options.

Depending on your age and how long you were in the scheme, different options will be available to you:

Becoming a deferred member of the scheme

You can leave your benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

How long can I delay taking my pension?

Defined Benefit Scheme Members - your benefits can increase over time between leaving and retiring depending on your scheme and how long you were in this scheme.

Defined Contribution Scheme Members - your funds will be invested until you retire or transfer to another pension arrangement. If you want to see how your benefits might increase or how they're invested, check you member guide. 

Taking your benefits at retirement

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide. 

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits. If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information we'll send to you.

Leaving because of ill health

If you are leaving employment for ill health reasons, you may be able to apply to have your benefits paid early.

What if I'm too ill to work?

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme). 

If you can have a refund of contributions, it will be included in the information we send you. 

Transferring benefits

After you leave the scheme you might want to transfer your benefits to another suitable pension provider.

Internal transfer

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you might be able claim continuous service under the scheme.

Re-joining the scheme with the same employer

You can re-join the scheme with the same employer if your employer and the Pensions Committee agree. You would re-join the arrangement that your employer currently offers which can be different from the section you were in before.

Auto enrolment

When you have left a scheme that you were auto-enrolled into, your employer is required to re-enrol you. The employer will re-enrol you on anniversary of their staging date, which is every three years. If you are re-enrolled then you can opt out again. 

If you’re an active member, you’ll receive a Benefit Statement each year, which will be accessible from your online account. This will be your Retirement Savings Account if you’re a Defined Contribution pension, or DB Online if you’re a Defined Benefit member.

We aim to issue statements close to the ‘statement date’ so you can see your benefits. We will also provide you with more information (normally twice a year) including a summarised version of our Annual Report and Accounts, updates on what we are doing and important pensions news, this is usually by email as it helps to reduce costs to your scheme and fits in with our values as an organisation.

For defined benefit schemes, there is a legal requirement to conduct a full funding review of the scheme every 3 years, with an interim funding update provided between full valuations. These are completed by the scheme Actuary. To keep members informed about the scheme’s funding position, Summary Funding Statements are issued to all members. These can be collected from the documents area of DB Online, or will be issued in paper form on request.

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide.

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits.

If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information that we’ll send to you.

Active scheme members

If you are currently contributing into the scheme and want to retire, you need to let your employer know. They then send us a withdrawal form confirming your date of retirement. When we have received your withdrawal form from your employer, we send you options for your retirement.

Deferred scheme members

When you choose to retire you can contact us with the date you want to retire and we will send options to you.

Defined Contribution members

When you decide you want to retire, please contact us and we will send you details about your benefits. Please note that the process for paying benefits (especially for Active members) is involved and can take time so please give us plenty of notice if at all possible.

Advice

You may want to receive financial advice before taking your benefits, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise which is required. Visit the government's Moneyhelper site to search for financial advisers in your area. 

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service where your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

If there's medical evidence you're unable to work again in any capacity, your pension may be paid immediately, no matter how old you are.

If you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme) you will be able to request information on your eligibility for ill health early retirement.

If you do not use DB Online or your Retirement Savings Account, you can contact us directly. 

Defined Benefit members

If your application is approved, a reduction won't be applied to your pension benefits for early payment and you still have the option to take a tax-free lump sum. If your application for ill health early retirement is approved, we may need to periodically request updated medical evidence to ensure that you are still able to receive this benefit. If your circumstances change we could reduce or suspend your pension.

Check your member guide to see how your pension would be calculated if you retired because of health.

Serious Ill Health (Life expectancy less than 12 months)

If your life expectancy is less than 12 months, you could take your benefits as a tax-free, one-off payment. We would need evidence from a medical professional to confirm your life expectancy.

Defined Contribution members

If your application is approved, the current fund value would be paid to you no matter how old you are.

Employees who only hold a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit

Annual Benefit Statements are provided to all DC scheme members. This includes active members who are currently employed and making contributions to the Scheme, and past members who are no longer contributing but have a deferred benefit in the Scheme. The statement will be uploaded to the member’s own personal Retirement Savings Account for them to collect when it’s convenient. Dependent on the Scheme, Benefit Statements are issued to members between January and August each year. The DC Benefit Statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• The contributions credited to the member’s savings pot by both the member and the employer during the last Scheme year. The contributions will be those that have been received and invested prior to the statement date. For example, if the statement date is 1 October, the statement would not normally include the October contributions as these would usually be received during November. Any contributions received or invested after the year-end will be included in the next year’s statement
• The value of the member's savings pot at the statement date (split between the investment funds)
• A Statutory Money Purchase Illustration (SMPI) of projected benefits. This is an illustration of the benefits that could be provided at the member's Selected Retirement Date assuming contributions continue at the current rate and uses specific assumptions for salary growth and investment return. Members should be aware that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

Employees who have a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit 

If any of your employees hold an active record which has both a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) element, they will also receive a separate annual DB Benefit Statement. This will detail the DB benefits the member is entitled to. The most recent benefit statement will be available on our DB Online system for the member to view. If the member has chosen to opt out of using the facility, the statement will be issued by post if requested by the member. The ‘Date Pensionable Service Commenced’ shown on the Defined Contribution (DC) statement will be the date the member joined the DC scheme and not the point at which they joined the scheme under the DB structure.

Employees who only hold a Defined Benefit (DB) in the scheme

The Annual Benefit Statement will be automatically uploaded to the DB Online system for active and paid up members to view when they want. Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. However, they can request one via DB Online, or contact us by telephone or email.

The dates statements are uploaded vary dependent upon the scheme that the member is in. Members will be notified that a new statement is online when they log into the system. Where members have chosen not to use the facility, they can request a copy of the statement to be sent to them.

The DB benefit statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• Yearly pension at the statement date
• Death benefits

Defined Contribution schemes

The scheme you are in will determine any payments should you die before taking any benefits. Please have a look at your scheme guide for further details of the death benefits that would be paid. Payments usually consist of a return of your fund value.

If your employer offers life cover, you are in employment and paying contributions at the date of death, an additional lump sum may be payable. You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. Under current legislation this means that they do not form part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

Once you have left your scheme, you may be able to transfer your benefits to another provider. To do this we will provide you with a Cash Equivalent Transfer value (CETV). This transfer value is the amount that would be paid to another pension scheme, and not to a personal bank account, and represents the calculated value of your benefits.

Defined Contribution members

The transfer value is the current fund value and is not guaranteed, because your fund value can go up or down depending on market conditions. You would not need a guaranteed transfer value in order to transfer your funds to another provider if you are only transferring Defined Contribution benefits. If you have signed into your Retirement Savings Account, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits.

Defined Benefit members

The transfer value is based on a calculation of the value of your pension and factors provided by the scheme’s Actuary. A guaranteed CETV can be provided free of charge, however, if a second CETV is needed within a 12 month period, there would be an additional charge.

If you have signed into DB Online, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits. If the transfer value is over £30,000, you’ll be required to get independent financial advice before you are able to make a transfer, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise required.

The Trustee will not be able to proceed with the transfer of any value of £30,000 or over unless this has been signed off by a regulated financial adviser with the required specialisms and expertise. Search for independent financial adviser in your area.

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service whereby your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

We have a number of options available for investing your Defined Contribution (DC) pension with us. To find out about the different funds you can invest in, see our DC Fund Factsheets.

If you decide to move your investments between funds you can do this by logging into your Retirement Savings Account.

If you don’t have access to your Retirement Savings Account, you can make the switches by completing a Switch Instruction form and returning it to TPT Retirement Solutions.

You are entitled to two free fund switches in a 12 month period. If you wish to make more than two switches within a 12 month period, there will be an additional processing charge.

Please contact us if you need to know how much this will cost. We recommended that you review your investment choices regularly, particularly if you have chosen to invest in a self-select fund option. Please also remember that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

If you have paid into a Defined Contribution scheme you can manage and track your pension fund online through your Retirement Savings Account. You can also request a fund value update or arrange access at any time by calling us on 0113 234 5500 (choose option 1).

If you’re a member of one of our Defined Benefit or Hybrid (combined Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) schemes, you will have been given access to our secure online facility, DB Online.

Log in at any time to view your benefits, update personal information, request quotations and more. If you do not have access then please contact us and we will arrange for another secure login and password to be sent to you.

If you need to update your personal details you can do this by logging into DB Online if you're a Defined Benefit (DB) members or your Retirement Saving Account if you're a Defined Contribution (DC) member. 

If you don't use our online facilities, you can write to us or email us with the change. Please make sure you include your reference number in your correspondence. If you are already receiving a pension from us, please also include your payroll number.

If you are an active member, you should also advise your payroll team or HR advisor of the change as soon as possible, because they will need to update the information they provide us with.

We will change your details as notified but, if you have changed your name, we need to see the original documentation or a certified certificate to validate the change before any payments can be made. If you choose to send original documentation to us, we will return it by recorded delivery.

Upon marriage and divorce, any previous nominations for death benefits that you may have made are void (unless you married your recorded nominee). We would recommend that you update your nominations by using your online account or sending us an updated nomination form (available on our website).

If you have Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) benefits you will have been provided with details to allow you to login to two systems.

DB benefits can be viewed on DB Online, and DC benefits are accessed via your Retirement Savings Account. As the types of benefits are distinct, these two facilities have been designed differently to allow you to see your options easily.

If you do have any questions about your benefits you should contact the administration team on 0113 234 5500 and they will be able to help you with both of your types of benefits. Please have your membership number(s) to hand.

Defined Benefit members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

Defined Contribution members

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. We'll send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court.

We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

You need to note that your pension benefits can only be earmarked or shared once a valid court order has been issued – voluntary sharing of pension rights is not possible. Once you have the court order you will need to send this to us as soon as possible so that we can make sure your records are accurate.

Defined Contribution members

A charge will be deducted from your fund to cover the administration of the fund you are invested in.

Fund charges

Each of our funds has a differing charge so you may want to look at the detail on each of the DC fund factsheets, which share information about the charge alongside features. The charges are shown in the section named Total Expense Ratio (TER).

Transaction charges may also be payable in addition to the above, for example broker commission, stamp duty or the costs of buying and selling investments. These charges vary depending on a variety of factors including, the amount of money being switched on any one day.

Further details of the charges deducted from your fund are available on request. 

Our funds are listed on the fund factsheets page.

Setting up a pension from a Defined Contributions fund

When you draw your benefits, there may be charges for setting up a pension (or ‘annuity’) with another provider, as we do not pay pensions direct to members of Defined Contribution schemes.

Advice

You may want financial advice before taking your benefits and below are links to the government service (Moneyhelper) and a site which allows you to search for financial advisors in your area.

We can also pass your details to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who may be able to help you. There is a charge for this service.

Defined Benefit members - Quotations

A charge would be applicable for additional quotations where a number of quotations have been provided over the previous 12 month period in certain circumstances. Outlined below are the numbers of each quote you are allowed free of charge in a 12 month period and the fee applicable for a further quote. Please note that the charges outlined below will also have VAT at 20% applied on top of the fee stated:

• 2 Retirement quotes – each additional quote fee £150
• 1 Benefit statement – each additional quote fee £150
• 1 Transfer quote – each additional quote fee £200 *
• 1 Divorce quote - each additional quote fee £200 *
• Application of a court order in a Divorce case - £2,200 to £3,000.

*Additional charges may apply if the transfer value is over £300,000. Fixed charges that cover our administration will apply if you divorce or end your civil partnership and your pension is shared with your former spouse or civil partner.

When you leave your employer, or if you choose to leave the scheme while you are still employed, you will no longer pay contributions into the scheme. Your employer will let us know the date you left the scheme and send us your final contribution. We will then write to you with full details of your options.

Depending on your age and how long you were in the scheme, different options will be available to you:

Becoming a deferred member of the scheme

You can leave your benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

How long can I delay taking my pension?

Defined Benefit Scheme Members - your benefits can increase over time between leaving and retiring depending on your scheme and how long you were in this scheme.

Defined Contribution Scheme Members - your funds will be invested until you retire or transfer to another pension arrangement. If you want to see how your benefits might increase or how they're invested, check you member guide. 

Taking your benefits at retirement

If you are old enough, you could take a pension and/or a cash lump sum. The options that your scheme provides on retirement can be found in your member guide. 

When you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) or your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme), you will be able to request a quote of your benefits. If you can retire, the options open to you will be included in the information we'll send to you.

Leaving because of ill health

If you are leaving employment for ill health reasons, you may be able to apply to have your benefits paid early.

What if I'm too ill to work?

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme). 

If you can have a refund of contributions, it will be included in the information we send you. 

Transferring benefits

After you leave the scheme you might want to transfer your benefits to another suitable pension provider.

Internal transfer

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you might be able claim continuous service under the scheme.

Re-joining the scheme with the same employer

You can re-join the scheme with the same employer if your employer and the Pensions Committee agree. You would re-join the arrangement that your employer currently offers which can be different from the section you were in before.

Auto enrolment

When you have left a scheme that you were auto-enrolled into, your employer is required to re-enrol you. The employer will re-enrol you on anniversary of their staging date, which is every three years. If you are re-enrolled then you can opt out again. 

If you’re an active member, you’ll receive a Benefit Statement each year, which will be accessible from your online account. This will be your Retirement Savings Account if you’re a Defined Contribution pension, or DB Online if you’re a Defined Benefit member.

We aim to issue statements close to the ‘statement date’ so you can see your benefits. We will also provide you with more information (normally twice a year) including a summarised version of our Annual Report and Accounts, updates on what we are doing and important pensions news, this is usually by email as it helps to reduce costs to your scheme and fits in with our values as an organisation.

For defined benefit schemes, there is a legal requirement to conduct a full funding review of the scheme every 3 years, with an interim funding update provided between full valuations. These are completed by the scheme Actuary. To keep members informed about the scheme’s funding position, Summary Funding Statements are issued to all members. These can be collected from the documents area of DB Online, or will be issued in paper form on request.

To provide any information about an individual’s membership, we need to have a valid ‘Letter of Authority’ (LOA) signed and dated by the member, which explains what the third party is authorised to gather necessary information about them. It will need to contain the following member details to allow us to have confidence that we are able to release the relevant information:

• their full name,
• their full address including their postcode,
• date of birth, and
• National Insurance number

Please scan and email the letter to: enquiries@tpt.org.uk or post it to: TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ so that we can hold it on our records and start the process of getting you the information you request. Please could you also note the members reference number(s) as this will help us when we set up our case(s).

You may be able to take a refund of your contributions if you were not in a salary sacrifice scheme or have less than two years’ service in the scheme (service includes any service from other memberships you have with us and any transferred service from another pension into the scheme).

Defined Benefit members

The refund is the value of your contributions with interest (but not the employer's contributions). The refund that you take will be taxed. If you have transferred benefits from a Personal Pension plan, or if you have transferred in service from another pension scheme which takes your qualifying service over two years, you can't take a refund of your contributions.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, deductions from the refund include an amount that will buy you back into the Additional State Pension.

Defined Contribution members

You can have a refund of your contributions (but not any contributions made by your employer) if you have less than two years’ service and joined before 1 October 2015. However, if you joined on or after 1 October 2015, you would only receive a refund of your contributions if you left the scheme within 30 days of joining.

The refund is the value of the units purchased with your contributions (but not with employer's contributions). The refund that you take will have tax applied.

If there's medical evidence you're unable to work again in any capacity, your pension may be paid immediately, no matter how old you are.

If you sign into DB Online (if you are a member of a Defined Benefit scheme) your Retirement Savings Account (if you are a member of a Defined Contribution scheme) you will be able to request information on your eligibility for ill health early retirement.

If you do not use DB Online or your Retirement Savings Account, you can contact us directly. 

Defined Benefit members

If your application is approved, a reduction won't be applied to your pension benefits for early payment and you still have the option to take a tax-free lump sum. If your application for ill health early retirement is approved, we may need to periodically request updated medical evidence to ensure that you are still able to receive this benefit. If your circumstances change we could reduce or suspend your pension.

Check your member guide to see how your pension would be calculated if you retired because of health.

Serious Ill Health (Life expectancy less than 12 months)

If your life expectancy is less than 12 months, you could take your benefits as a tax-free, one-off payment. We would need evidence from a medical professional to confirm your life expectancy.

Defined Contribution members

If your application is approved, the current fund value would be paid to you no matter how old you are.

In the event of your death there will be a return of the value of your fund to your beneficiaries. Your employer sets the rate of life cover (if any) as a multiple of your salary and they can confirm this. If you are already an active member in the Scheme, your most recent benefit statement will confirm the level of cover provided. 

The cost of Life Cover is paid by your employer and is paid on a monthly basis along with your normal pension contributions.

If your employer chooses to move you from a DB scheme to a DC scheme:

If you were previously in the Defined Benefit scheme at any time before you move to the Defined Contribution scheme, you should retain the link to your salary. The method for calculating your final salary pension is based on:

• Service in the scheme (whilst you were a Defined Benefit member) x Accrual rate x Final Pensionable Earnings.
• If you are moved to the Defined Contribution section, you would not build up any further service in the Defined Benefits scheme at the date of change, but you will retain the link to your salary. Your benefits would be calculated taking into account your salary at the date of leaving, rather than the date you transferred to the DC benefit structure.
• Any pension benefits already built up within the Career Average (CARE) section will continue to increase annually in line with a link to inflation. These benefits are not linked to your Final Pensionable Earnings.

If you choose to move from a DB to a DC scheme:

You will not build up any further service in the Defined Benefit scheme from the day you move to the Defined Contribution section and your final pensionable earnings will not take into account any salary changes after you move. 

Any pension benefits already built up within the Career Average (CARE) section will continue to increase annually in line with a link to inflation. These benefits are not linked to your Final Pensionable Earnings. 

Once you have left your scheme, you may be able to transfer your benefits to another provider. To do this we will provide you with a Cash Equivalent Transfer value (CETV). This transfer value is the amount that would be paid to another pension scheme, and not to a personal bank account, and represents the calculated value of your benefits.

Defined Contribution members

The transfer value is the current fund value and is not guaranteed, because your fund value can go up or down depending on market conditions. You would not need a guaranteed transfer value in order to transfer your funds to another provider if you are only transferring Defined Contribution benefits. If you have signed into your Retirement Savings Account, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits.

Defined Benefit members

The transfer value is based on a calculation of the value of your pension and factors provided by the scheme’s Actuary. A guaranteed CETV can be provided free of charge, however, if a second CETV is needed within a 12 month period, there would be an additional charge.

If you have signed into DB Online, you will be able to request a transfer quote of your benefits. If the transfer value is over £30,000, you’ll be required to get independent financial advice before you are able to make a transfer, but be aware that there may be a charge for the time and expertise required.

The Trustee will not be able to proceed with the transfer of any value of £30,000 or over unless this has been signed off by a regulated financial adviser with the required specialisms and expertise. Search for independent financial adviser in your area.

The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

We offer a service whereby your details can be given to the Mercer Retirement Relationship Managers who can help you. This service is not free and may not necessarily meet your needs, but if you would like details please let us know as soon as possible.

If you want to transfer your benefits to a new scheme, there's a process to ensure our records are kept up to date and that we follow your instructions.

Part of the process is checking that you are moving your benefits to an appropriate scheme (please note that we can't pay a transfer value to you) and that all the correct documentation is completed accurately as you are transferring a valuable asset.

• The process can be summarised in the stages below, but please keep in mind this has been simplified and it could be more complex if your situation differs from a standard path.
• Request a quote of your benefits (Cash Equivalent Transfer value – CETV) from TPT Retirement Solutions.
• The CETV will be issued to you. It contains information about your benefits and needs to be given to your financial adviser or new scheme.
• They will provide you with information on what would happen to your benefits if they were transferred into a suitable and approved scheme.
• You must make a decision on whether you wish to make the transfer – if you decide to proceed with the transfer, you and your new provider will need to complete the relevant forms and return them to TPT Retirement Solutions.
• We will review the documentation (and confirm appropriate advice has been given if needed), request funds and update our records.
• Payment will then be made to your new provider and your record in your scheme will be closed. Your new provider should confirm the receipt of benefits and provide you with information on what they will do next.

Each stage of the process is necessary to ensure the security of your benefits and that you make an informed decision. The process can take some time (particularly if there is a disinvestment of Defined Contribution funds required. For example if you have been paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) into our DC Scheme) and it is important that you understand your part in ensuring the accuracy of form completion and your responsibilities in securing advice if needed.

You can only transfer pension benefits if you are actively contributing into one of our Defined Contribution schemes. If you are no longer paying contributions into the scheme or are a paid-up member, you won't be permitted to transfer benefits in.

If you have benefits with another pension provider, you may be able to arrange for them to be transferred so that you have all your pension savings in one place. To do this, we will need some details from you and your previous pension provider.

Transfers of benefits can only be paid into a Defined Contribution scheme. Your employer may need to offer this benefit group to allow a transfer of benefits, so it would be good to make sure this is the case before you start requesting information.

What you need to do:

• Contact your previous pension provider and request the transfer value of your benefits. You may request this information by completing the 'Transfer In Form' for your scheme to request transfer details and sending it to your previous pension provider. 
• Once you've received transfer details from your previous pension provider, send the transfer details, any forms that they need to have completed and the completed Transfer In form to us immediately. If your previous pension provider has not provided the all the information we need, we may have to contact them directly to obtain the missing information, which may delay the transfer.
• Once we've processed this information, we'll confirm what you need to do next if you want the transfer to go ahead.

You should note that we can only provide information and not advice on the options available to you. Should you need advice we recommend that you seek independent financial advice. The choice of an independent financial adviser is yours alone.

TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which independent financial adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give. If your previous provider is an overseas arrangement, there are some different requirements we will need to meet. If this is the case, please contact us before you do anything

You can't transfer in benefits from other pension providers to a Defined Benefit scheme offered by TPT. If your employer offers the Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme, benefits can be transferred into this scheme. 

You can see your details by looking at the 'Transfer In History' section in your DB Online account.

It is important that we keep our records up to date to ensure benefits are paid correctly. You need to let us know as soon as possible if an employee has left the pension scheme.

To do this you should:

• add a date of leaving in your monthly contribution submission
• pay across your last contribution as normal. If an employee leaves part way through the month, this should be for the portion of the month they are still employed
• not deduct contributions from holiday pay or a payment in lieu of notice as this is not pensionable.

Once we have received the final contribution and the leaving information, we will update the member’s record and issue them with details of their benefits and options.

Please refer to our resources for employers for more information on how to add the date of leaving to your submission.

When a member leaves the scheme, we'll write to them and let them know what their benefits are in the scheme. The member may have the option to:

• leave their benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

For Defined Benefit members, the pension remains in the scheme and may increase each year. Further details on the rate of increases can be found in your scheme information. 

For Defined Contribution Scheme members, the employee’s fund will remain invested until we receive further instructions, for example when the member retires.

• transfer their benefits to another pension arrangement.

This transfer may be to another Occupational Pension Scheme, Personal Pension Plan, Stakeholder arrangement or Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme. If the member wants to look into this option, they should ask their new pension provider to write to us.  

• Take a refund of contributions.

To take a refund of contributions employees must:

• have less than two years' total pensionable service. This includes any service in other memberships with TPT Retirement Solutions and from any previous scheme that has been transferred in.
• not be part of a salary sacrifice scheme.
• not have transferred in benefits from a personal pension plan.

In addition for Defined Contribution (DC) members:

• they must have joined before 1 October 2015 to be eligible for a refund
• DC members joining on or after 1 October 2015 will only receive a refund if they leave the scheme within 30 days of joining.

Refund payable to the member

For Defined Benefit members, this will be a refund of the employee contributions to the scheme (but not the employer’s) plus interest and less deductions including tax.

For Defined Contribution members, this will be the value of the units purchased with the employee contributions (but not their employer's), less deductions including tax.

If you join a new employer within 30 days of leaving your previous employer and your new employer offers a scheme we administer, you may be able claim continuous service under the scheme. You should let your new employer know so they can send an Internal Transfer Form to us.

Defined Contribution members

If you were in a Defined Contribution scheme, an internal transfer would be unable to take place as this is a fund and doesn’t include service in a scheme. 

Defined Benefit members

You can only claim continuous service if you are in a Defined Benefit scheme that offers this option. 

The way you choose to take your pension benefits is an important decision and could affect your financial wellbeing for many years to come. Because of this, we recommend you get guidance or advice before making a decision. The following services may help you:

Money Helper is a free government service for people who are approaching or over minimum pension age. It provides face-to-face or over-the-phone advice on your options, including how to make the best use of your pension savings, the tax implications of different options and tips on getting the best deal. Call them on 0800 011 3797. 

The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning. Call them on 0800 138 77 77..

You may also seek Independent Financial Advice from an IFA. The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

Pension scams

Scammers are known to operate in the pensions industry. If any discussion or offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You can find out more about how to identify and avoid scams here and on the government's Pension Regulator website. 

If you have paid into a Defined Contribution scheme you can manage and track your pension fund online through your Retirement Savings Account. You can also request a fund value update or arrange access at any time by calling us on 0113 234 5500 (choose option 1).

If you’re a member of one of our Defined Benefit or Hybrid (combined Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution) schemes, you will have been given access to our secure online facility, DB Online.

Log in at any time to view your benefits, update personal information, request quotations and more. If you do not have access then please contact us and we will arrange for another secure login and password to be sent to you.

You may need to take time away from work for various reasons, including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental leave or sickness. The sections below explain what will happen in terms of making pension contributions during this time

Family Leave (Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave/Paternity Leave/Additional Paternity Leave)

If you take adoption leave, paternity leave or additional paternity leave, you will be treated in the same way as a woman taking maternity leave.

For the first 39 weeks of maternity leave:

• You will pay your normal rate of contributions, but only on the pay you actually receive during maternity leave, this includes Statutory Maternity Pay.
• Your employer will be expected to pay their normal contributions based on the pay you would have been receiving if you were not on maternity leave, plus any shortfall in your contribution.
• Your membership will continue as normal, based on the salary you would be receiving if you were not on maternity leave.
• If you return to work before the end of this period, contributions must start up again immediately.
• If you are receiving maternity allowance, your employer is still liable to pay pension contributions even though you are receiving pay direct from the State and not from your employer. Your employer will pay both member and employer contributions for the first 39 weeks based on the pay you would have been receiving had you not gone on maternity leave.

After the first 39 weeks

• We would not expect any contributions unless you are receiving pay. You will have a break in your service for any period where no contributions are paid.
• On your return you can choose whether to make extra contributions to cover the period that you have been away. Your employer has discretion whether to pay their share. If they decline to pay, you may, if you wish, pay the employer’s share. If you choose not to pay the contributions you will receive reduced benefits at retirement.
• If you die whilst on maternity leave, the full range of death benefits that would be payable if you were not on maternity leave would be paid. This would be based on the rate of earnings you would have been receiving if you were not on maternity leave.

Other absence

If you have any other absence, for example, sick leave, parental leave or a temporary absence and you continue to receive pay during the absence, you and your employer will continue to pay contributions based on the actual salary paid, or on the pay received prior to the absence, as agreed between you and your employer. If you are absent without pay, neither you or your employer will pay contributions for the period of unpaid leave.  

When you return to work, you will have the option to pay the contributions missed or any shortfall in contributions. If you opt to do so, your employer has discretion whether to pay their share. If they decline to pay, you may if you wish, pay the employer’s share. If you choose not to pay the missed contributions, your benefits will be adjusted accordingly.

If you are not making any payments to the scheme there is a maximum period of absence that applies before you will automatically become a leaver. This period of time will be dependent on the scheme that you are contributing to.

If you need to update your personal details you can do this by logging into DB Online if you're a Defined Benefit (DB) members or your Retirement Saving Account if you're a Defined Contribution (DC) member. 

If you don't use our online facilities, you can write to us or email us with the change. Please make sure you include your reference number in your correspondence. If you are already receiving a pension from us, please also include your payroll number.

If you are an active member, you should also advise your payroll team or HR advisor of the change as soon as possible, because they will need to update the information they provide us with.

We will change your details as notified but, if you have changed your name, we need to see the original documentation or a certified certificate to validate the change before any payments can be made. If you choose to send original documentation to us, we will return it by recorded delivery.

Upon marriage and divorce, any previous nominations for death benefits that you may have made are void (unless you married your recorded nominee). We would recommend that you update your nominations by using your online account or sending us an updated nomination form (available on our website).

Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are extra pension contributions you can make to boost your pension savings. You may choose to pay AVCs to because:

• you want your pension to start before your scheme’s Normal Pension Age.
• you want to increase the pension payable at your Normal Pension Age (or earlier if you decide).
• full tax relief is given on AVCs.

You should always consider the needs and the savings options that are best suited to your circumstances.

You might want to discuss the options with a financial adviser as we are unable to offer you financial advice.

Your employer can let you know if they have set up an AVC arrangement for you to pay into and which scheme this is.

Your AVCs could be paid into one of the following 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).

If you would like more information on the funds, please go to our fund information.

How to pay Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

You can start to pay AVCs by filling in an AVC Application Form for the scheme you want to pay contributions into and handing it to your payroll department. Your employer will then complete the employer sections of the form and pass it to us so that we can update your record. You will receive confirmation from us once your form has been processed.  

AVCs which are paid monthly to TPT Retirement Solutions will be deducted from your salary in the same way as your ‘normal’ monthly pension contributions. If you prefer, you can pay your AVCs as a lump sum instead of regular monthly payments. Lump sum payments must be made through your employer's payroll so you will need to let your HR or payroll officer know in plenty of time. We are not able to accept personal cheques.

Making changes to AVCs

To make changes to the amount of AVCs you pay, or to stop paying them, you just need to let your payroll team know. They will change your monthly contributions and also tell us about the change.

Amounts you can pay as Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)

You can pay up to 100% of your taxable pay/benefits in any tax year (6 April – 5 April) as pension contributions. For example, if your normal monthly contribution is 6%, you will have the choice to pay a further 94% of your earnings as tax free AVCs.

These contributions will be tax free as long as the total increase in your benefits in any one tax year does not exceed the Annual Allowance. This limit includes your ‘normal’ monthly Scheme contributions plus any AVCs that you pay to the Scheme plus any Free Standing AVCs (FSAVCs) or contributions to other pension arrangements.

If a Scheme was to start to ‘wind up’, the sponsoring employer/s would be required to pay enough money into the Scheme to enable the members’ benefits to be completely secured with an insurance company.

However, it may be that an employer would not be able to pay this full amount. Therefore, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) might be able to take over the Scheme and pay compensation to members in circumstances where the ‘wind up’ occurs with a shortfall of assets to cover the liabilities of the scheme. Further information and guidance is available on the PPF website.

Contribution rates for members and employers may change for various reasons. This could be either for all of your employees or for an individual. Where the change in contribution rate is enforced by TPT, for example, in respect of a scheme valuation, we will write to you allowing time for you to consult with your employees. This will also ensure that you have time to update your payroll systems with the new contribution rates.

Alternatively, when you selected the contribution rates for your employees, you may have chosen for them to pay age-banded contributions. This means that the employee rate for the respective members will be increased on 1 April following their 30th or 40th birthday. It is important that you have internal systems in place to identify these members and deduct the correct contributions from your employees.

If your employee is in a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme, you may have chosen to offer them a range of contribution rates. These members may then choose to change their individual contribution rate within the range allowed. To make the change, the member should log in to their Retirement Saving Account and change their contribution rate online.  

Any changes that are made by your employees will then be listed in the 'Payroll Centre' section of your HR data application.

We will automatically update our systems with the new rates at the time of changes and our eBusiness system will notify you when you upload your contributions file if the contributions made are different to those we expected. This will allow you to check the contributions paid against our records.

If you believe our records are incorrect, please contact the Employer Support Team soon as possible on 0113 394 2770 or at employersupport@tpt.org.uk.

A pension will be paid into the bank account you specified when we commenced payment of your benefits. If you want to change this you will need to let us know. 

If you are a Defined Benefit member and have access to DB Online, you'll be able to log into your account and make the changes online. For security purposes you won’t see your existing bank details displayed on the bank details change screen.

If you don’t have access to DB Online, you can contact us to make the change, either by letter or by telephone. If you choose to call us to make a change, we will ask you some security questions to ensure we are paying your pension into the correct account.

We can pay your pension into any bank or building society account (including international accounts), but we are unable to make pension payments by cheque or in cash. Please note that the account has to be in your name and any written request has to be signed by you. The details we will need are:

For UK accounts:

Account Holder(s)

Name(s)

Sort Code  

Account Number

Building Society Roll Number (if applicable) 

For international payments:

As requirements differ from country to country, it is important to call us if you move abroad or if you reside abroad and wish to make a change to the bank account your pension is paid into. We can then send you a form to complete which will provide us with the necessary information.

Please contact your bank or building society if you're not sure where to find the details you need, and remember to quote your name and Payroll Number in all correspondence as this will help us.

Any changes to member details should be completed in a HR data file submission on the HR data section of the Employer Portal. The data changes that can be amended via the HR data file are:

• name changes
• address changes
• email address changes
• salary changes

You can also get in touch with the Employer Support Team on 0113 394 2770 or at employersupport@tpt.org.uk

If your organisation does not provide members with access to online Retirement Savings Accounts, please notify us in writing, email or telephone of these changes as soon as possible.

Any changes to salary or hours should also be updated on your monthly contributions submission. For changes in name, we will need to receive the relevant evidence before any benefits can be paid. The administration team will accept copies of certificates that have been certified by you, otherwise the originals will be required. All original certificates will be returned by tracked post.

If your employee is a deferred or pensioner Defined Benefit member, they can update their name and address details using DB Online. 

An employee may need to be absent from work for various reasons, including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental  leave or sickness. The sections below explain what will happen in terms of making pension contributions during this time.

Family Leave (Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave/Paternity Leave/Additional Paternity Leave)

Adoption leave, paternity leave or additional paternity leave will be treated in the same way as a woman taking maternity leave.

For the first 39 weeks of maternity leave:

• your employee will pay their normal rate of contributions but only on the pay they actually receive during maternity leave, this includes Statutory Maternity Pay.
• you will be expected to pay your normal employer contributions based on the pay they would have been receiving if they were not on maternity leave, plus any shortfall in their employee contributions.
• their membership will continue as normal, based on the salary they would have been receiving if they were not on maternity leave.
• If the member returns to work before the end of this period, contributions must start up again immediately.
• If the member is receiving maternity allowance, as their employer you are still liable to pay pension contributions even though they are receiving pay direct from the State and not from you. Member and employer contributions should be paid by you for the first 39 weeks based on the pay the member would have been receiving if they had not gone on maternity leave.

After the first 39 weeks:

• we would not expect any contributions unless the member is receiving pay.
• on the member’s return, they can choose whether to make extra contributions to cover the period that they have been absent. It is then at your discretion whether to pay the employer’s share. If you decline to pay, the member can choose to also pay the employer’s share. You would need to ensure that any additional contributions are paid across in your normal monthly contribution submission. 

Other absence

If the member is absent for any other reason, for example, sick leave, parental leave or a temporary absence and pay continues during the absence, contributions can be based on the actual salary paid, or on the pay received prior to the absence, as agreed between the member and employer. If the absence is without pay, contributions should not be paid for the period of unpaid leave.  

When the member returns to work they will have the option to pay the contributions missed or any shortfall in contributions. It is then at your discretion whether to pay the employer’s share. If you decline to pay, the member can choose to also pay the employer’s share. You would need to ensure that any additional contributions are paid across in your normal monthly contribution submission. Where no contributions are being made to the scheme, there will be a maximum period of absence that will apply before the member becomes a leaver in the scheme. This period of time varies dependent on the scheme that the member is contributing to. 

The Trustee takes out insurance against inadvertent regulatory failures or where the Trustee is challenged for actions it has taken related to its responsibilities to and governance of the Schemes. Some of this insurance premium cost forms part of the ongoing annual scheme costs that every participating employer is required to pay.

Contributions must be paid in line with any minimum requirements set by your employer or the auto-enrolment regulations. You can decide to save more than these minimum amounts. 

Some employers choose to make membership non-contributory, meaning that you are not required to pay contributions and the employer meets the full cost.

Your contributions will be a percentage of your salary.

It’s never too soon to start saving for your future. The sooner you start, the better chance you have of saving more, and your savings growing sufficiently, to provide you with a higher income in retirement than just the State Pension.

You will automatically be enrolled into a pension scheme from the age of 22 if your employer is subject to auto enrolment rules. Prior to this, you can normally choose to opt in to a scheme from the age of 16. Please note, your employer may not be required to contribute on your behalf if your earnings are lower than the current lower earnings threshold (£6,240.00 annually, £520 monthly or £120 weekly for the 2023-24 tax year).

In April 1978, a state pension was introduced which provided:

• a flat rate state pension available for everyone regardless of their employment history.
• an additional state pension (also called the State Second Pension or SERPS).

If you were a member of a scheme that was contracted out of the additional state pension, you and your employer will have paid a lower rate of National Insurance contributions. A condition of this was that the Scheme must pay you an equivalent amount of pension that you would have received were you not contracted out. This is the Guaranteed Minimum Pension.

Only members with service from 6 April 1978 to 5 April 1997 accrued a GMP. The GMP is based on earnings and National Insurance contribution records. It is not a separate benefit but your pension must equal or exceed the GMP. The GMP is paid to you during retirement or to your spouse or civil partner after your death.

Your choices will depend on a number of things, such as your attitude to risk and how far you are from retirement. Our default option for the Defined Contribution members who want to delegate their investment decisions to an Investment Manager is a Target Date Fund (TDF). We have two TDFs: a default fund and an ethical fund.

We also have a range of Self-Select funds for our members who want to be more involved in the allocation of their money. See our DC Fund Factsheets section to view our wide range of funds we offer.

How much money you need will depend on your own personal circumstances.

The Money Advice Service website may be able to give you some information on budgeting.

You can use our Pension Savings Tool to get an idea of the amount of pension your savings might buy you at retirement, if you decide to buy an annuity.

Occupational pension schemes such as those administered by TPT are set up under a legal structure known as a trust. Each scheme has trustees appointed who are ultimately responsible for looking after their members’ pensions.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee appointed to look after your pension. The Trustee currently has nine directors – four nominated by the members, four nominated by the employers, and a professional independent trustee who is co-opted by the other directors and acts as the chair of the trustee board.

The Trustee has no shareholders and is established as a company limited by guarantee. It operates solely for, and is answerable to, the beneficiaries of its pension schemes.

The Trustee employs a number of specialist advisers and service providers to assist it in looking after your pension.

TPT Retirement Solutions Limited (the “Administrator”) carries out the day-to-day administration of your pension scheme on behalf of the Trustee (for example, collecting contributions and paying benefits). The Administrator is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trustee and employs over 200 staff who are dedicated to looking after your pension.

Neither the Trustee nor the Administrator is registered under the Financial Services and Markets Act to give financial advice. Any information that is provided to members or prospective members should therefore be taken to constitute information and not be taken to constitute advice. When providing information to members or prospective members, we take care to provide an accurate service but all decisions and choices which are made remain the responsibility of the individual, for which neither the Trustee nor the Administrator cannot be responsible.

Starting with the Barber decision on 17 May 1990, there have been a number of legal cases in the UK and European courts which have concluded that men and women should be treated equally in relation to their pension benefits, and this has resulted in many changes to the law in the UK. Crucially, the Equality Act 2010 consolidated the position to ensure equality of pension benefits in respect of service after 17 May 1990.

In October 2018, there was yet another High Court ruling in this ongoing chain of decisions. It this case, it was decided that the Lloyds Banking Group Trustees must 'equalise' for the effect of Guaranteed Minimum Pensions for men and women. This is a decision that will have significant implications for many defined benefit pension schemes, including some within TPT – here’s what it may mean for you.

What’s happening?

Following the ruling, any member who was in contracted-out service between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997 may need their benefits adjusting. Lloyds Banking Group Trustees – and many defined benefit pension scheme trustees - will now have to provide men and women with the same historical benefit for GMPs earned between 17 May 1990 and 5 April 1997. 

What does this mean for me?

Scheme members whose benefits are adjusted will see an increase in benefits. However, the adjustment may result in an average increase of just a few pounds per month. No benefits will reduce as a result of the ruling.

What happens next?

The work to equalise GMPs will be complex and long term. The government has confirmed it hopes to be able to provide the pensions industry with guidance 'in the near future' and further guidance is also required from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

The DWP is also working with HMRC to establish whether the changes will need to be made to tax rules for those affected by the equalisation. Discussions between the Trustee and employers of affected TPT schemes will be taking place and members will be informed if they are affected in due course.

The Employer Portal is a hub that allows our employers to access the following systems in one place:

• eBusiness
• HR Data
• Financial assessment questionnaire
• FRS 102 (DB accounting)
• FRS 102 (present value).

Depending on the type of scheme you have and the permissions set by your organisation, you may not need access to all of the above applications.

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or email  employerportal@tpt.org.uk.

You can ask us to provide you with a divorce cash equivalent transfer value by contacting us using your DB Online account, sending us an email or giving us a call. We'll send you all the information you need, which should be passed to the professional adviser who is dealing with your divorce, or direct to the Court.

We only provide one free divorce transfer value to active or deferred members in a 12 month period, so you may wish to consider this before requesting the quotation.

You need to note that your pension benefits can only be earmarked or shared once a valid court order has been issued – voluntary sharing of pension rights is not possible. Once you have the court order you will need to send this to us as soon as possible so that we can make sure your records are accurate.

Defined Benefit members

If you take your benefits before Normal Pension Age they will be reduced because:

• You will have been a member of the Scheme for a shorter time.
• Pensions paid early are expected to be paid for longer.

Defined Benefit members who joined their scheme after April 2006

• can take their benefits at any time from age 55 subject to the scheme rules.

Defined Benefit members who joined their scheme before April 2006

• can take their benefits from age 50, subject to the scheme rules, but also have to have left the employment the benefits relate to.

Defined Contribution members

• can take their fund any time after the age of 55.

If you are a deferred member (either you have left the scheme or your employment) then Benefit Statements are no longer automatically issued to you. You can request one in your DB Online account or contact us and we can provide one free statement per year. 

If you’re an active or paid-up member, an annual benefit statement will be produced for you each year. This will be uploaded to your DB Online account for you to view. You’ll receive an email when it’s available. If you’re struggling to get into your DB Online account, please contact us so we can help you. 

The figure shown is based on the pension you have built up at the date shown on the statement and is payable from your Normal Retirement Date. These figures do not include reduction for early payment.

The pension at statement date shows the pension you have built up to this date using the information we hold at that point, and is based on the assumption that you commence taking your benefits at your Normal Retirement Date.

Annual Benefit Statements are issued to all active and paid-up members of the scheme. They will have this benefit statement uploaded to their personal DB Online account. When a new Benefit Statement is available they will be emailed to notify them of this. If a member is having issues accessing DB online, they need to contact the administration team who will be able to assist.

Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. They can request one in their DB Online account or contact us and we can provide one free statement per year. 

Employees who only hold a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit

Annual Benefit Statements are provided to all DC scheme members. This includes active members who are currently employed and making contributions to the Scheme, and past members who are no longer contributing but have a deferred benefit in the Scheme. The statement will be uploaded to the member’s own personal Retirement Savings Account for them to collect when it’s convenient. Dependent on the Scheme, Benefit Statements are issued to members between January and August each year. The DC Benefit Statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• The contributions credited to the member’s savings pot by both the member and the employer during the last Scheme year. The contributions will be those that have been received and invested prior to the statement date. For example, if the statement date is 1 October, the statement would not normally include the October contributions as these would usually be received during November. Any contributions received or invested after the year-end will be included in the next year’s statement
• The value of the member's savings pot at the statement date (split between the investment funds)
• A Statutory Money Purchase Illustration (SMPI) of projected benefits. This is an illustration of the benefits that could be provided at the member's Selected Retirement Date assuming contributions continue at the current rate and uses specific assumptions for salary growth and investment return. Members should be aware that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

Employees who have a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit 

If any of your employees hold an active record which has both a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) element, they will also receive a separate annual DB Benefit Statement. This will detail the DB benefits the member is entitled to. The most recent benefit statement will be available on our DB Online system for the member to view. If the member has chosen to opt out of using the facility, the statement will be issued by post if requested by the member. The ‘Date Pensionable Service Commenced’ shown on the Defined Contribution (DC) statement will be the date the member joined the DC scheme and not the point at which they joined the scheme under the DB structure.

Employees who only hold a Defined Benefit (DB) in the scheme

The Annual Benefit Statement will be automatically uploaded to the DB Online system for active and paid up members to view when they want. Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. However, they can request one via DB Online, or contact us by telephone or email.

The dates statements are uploaded vary dependent upon the scheme that the member is in. Members will be notified that a new statement is online when they log into the system. Where members have chosen not to use the facility, they can request a copy of the statement to be sent to them.

The DB benefit statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• Yearly pension at the statement date
• Death benefits

Defined Contribution schemes

The scheme you are in will determine any payments should you die before taking any benefits. Please have a look at your scheme guide for further details of the death benefits that would be paid. Payments usually consist of a return of your fund value.

If your employer offers life cover, you are in employment and paying contributions at the date of death, an additional lump sum may be payable. You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. Under current legislation this means that they do not form part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in your Retirement Savings Account or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

Defined Contribution schemes

Any payments your nominees may receive after you have taken benefits depends on the choices you made when you retired. For example, if you bought an annuity with another company, any death benefits would be payable by this company and would be determined by the contract you have with them.

If you opted to take all your benefits in cash, nothing further will be payable on your death.

If you opted to take part of your benefits, a residual element may be pain to your beneficiaries at the discretion of the Trustee.

Defined Benefit schemes (SHPS and SHAPS only)

If you die after your pension has started, the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

If you die within the first five years of your retirement then a lump sum would be payable because under the rules of your scheme, your pension is guaranteed to be paid for at least this number of years. The remaining balance of the five years of payments will be paid as a lump sum.

For example, if you were in receipt of a pension of £1,000 per year and you died after two years, there would be three years of the five year guarantee left to pay. The Lump Sum death benefit in this scenario would be £3,000.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your pension will be paid to your survivor if you chose not to take enhanced benefits when you retired. This will be calculated using the survivor’s pension quoted to you when you retired and any increases that have applied to your pension. If you chose to take an ‘Enhanced option’ on retirement, then no survivors pension is payable but there may still be an amount payable to your legal spouse.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

Details of who can be nominated for the Survivors Pension can be seen in the Nominees for death benefits section of your scheme Member Guide. If your survivor is more than ten years younger than you, the pension will be reduced by 2.5% for each year in excess of the ten year difference.

If you were a reduced rate member your benefits will differ. You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your pension (calculated on your full pension before you took any tax-free cash and including your increases to the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

Defined Benefit schemes except SHPS and SHAPS

If you die after your pension has started, the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

If you die within the first five years of your retirement then a lump sum would be payable because under the rules of your scheme your pension is guaranteed to be paid for at least this number of years. The remaining balance of the five years of payments will be paid as a lump sum.

For example, if you were in receipt of a pension of £1,000 per year and you died after two years, there would be three years of the five year guarantee left to pay. The Lump Sum death benefit in this scenario would be £3,000.

Survivor’s pension and children’s pension

A survivor’s pension and/or a child’s pension may also be payable. This depends upon the rules of your scheme and also on the options you took at retirement. Please have a look at your schemes guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die after leaving the scheme, but before you start receiving your pension (and before you reach Normal Retirement Age) the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

A refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death will be payable unless you were a member of a salary sacrifice arrangement. If this is the case, there will be no refund of contributions for the period of time that you were in this arrangement, as all the contributions the scheme received were from your employer.

Survivor’s pension

50% of your deferred pension at the date of your death. If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of your deferred pension (calculated at the date of your death) would be paid to each of up to four eligible dependent children. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for child’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die after leaving the scheme but before you start receiving your pension (and before you reach Normal Retirement Age) the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

There may be a refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death but you will need to look at your scheme’s member guide to confirm exactly what will be paid.

Survivor’s pension

There may be a survivor’s pension payable, which is usually a percentage of your deferred pension at the date you die. You should refer to your scheme’s member guide for details of any survivor’s pension payable, and who may be eligible to receive it. Some schemes also provide children’s pensions details of these can also be found in your member guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die whilst you are member of the scheme and before you reach Normal Retirement Age the benefits payable are:

Lump sum

There may be a lump sum payable from the scheme, which usually consists of a refund of your contributions plus any interest, and a lump sum payable from any life cover that your employer may have chosen for you should you die in service. You can contact your employer to confirm the life cover being provided for you or you can give us a call and we can check this for you.

Survivors pension and children’s pensions

There may be a survivor’s pension which is usually based on a percentage of your benefits at the date you die. You should refer to your scheme’s member guide for details of any survivor’s pension payable. Some schemes also provide children’s pensions details of these can also be found in your member guide.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form.

If you die whilst you are member of the scheme and before you reach Normal Retirement Age the benefits payable are:

Lump sum 

Three times your pensionable earnings at the date you die; and a refund of your own contributions with interest to the date of death. If you have been in a salary sacrifice arrangement there will be no refund of contributions for the period of time that you were in this arrangement as all the contributions the scheme received were from the employer.

Survivor’s pension 

50% of the pension you would have received, calculated based on the pension earned up to your death, plus the prospective pension from that date to your normal retirement date will be paid to your Survivor from the day after you died. Please have a look at your scheme guide for members as this will provide more information to you.

If you were in the scheme before 6 April 2016, you may have been ‘Contracted-out’ of the Additional State Pension. If you were Contracted-out for service before 6 April 1997, there will be a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) which will be paid to your legal spouse, if you have one.

Children’s pensions

12.5% of the pension you would have received, based on the pension earned up to your death, plus the prospective pension from that date your normal retirement date will be paid to each of up to four dependent children from the day after you died. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that, except for legal spouses, it will be necessary for the Trustee to get confirmation that the nominee for a survivor’s pension is eligible at the date of a member’s death. For further information regarding the eligibility criteria for survivor’s pensions, please refer to your scheme guide for members.

You should note that the payment of death benefits is at the discretion of the Trustee. To help them understand your wishes it is important that your nominees are kept up to date by updating your details in DB Online or completing and returning a Nomination Form. 

A Reduced Rate member is someone who paid lower pension contributions on the condition that by doing so, a survivor’s pension would not be paid.

For Reduced Rate members there will only be a statutory pension payable in relation to benefits accrued whilst being contracted out of the Additional State Second Pension before 6 April 2016. This is payable to your legal spouse only.

If you joined the Scheme before 1 October 1997 you had the choice of paying:

• Full contributions to provide for a full survivor’s pension, or
• Reduced contributions and not providing for a full survivor’s pension. 

For Reduced Rate members there will only be a statutory pension payable in relation to benefits accrued whilst being contracted out of the Additional State Second Pension before 6 April 2016. This is payable to your legal spouse only.

The reduced contribution rate is a set percentage lower than the full contribution rate. The level of this reduction depends upon the benefit section which you are a member of. 

You may have delayed paying the full contribution rate for a survivor’s pension until later in your membership. If you did this, the pension for your nominated survivor will be calculated from the date on which you started to pay the full rate of contributions. Once you decide to pay the additional contribution, you will not be able to change your decision.

If you have paid the full contribution, you may have the option at retirement not to provide for a survivor’s pension and take an increased pension for yourself. Details of the options available to you will be provided at retirement. These options do not apply to deferred members who left before 6 April 1992.

Please telephone your normal contact at TPT Retirement Solutions as soon as you find out that a member has died. We will then talk you through what to do next.

For members who were in your employment when they died, we will need you to:

• Send the original death certificate (or a certified copy) to us as soon as it is available. It is not possible to pay any benefits until the death certificate has been received.
• Inform us if you are aware of any of the member's personal circumstances which may help us to determine the beneficiaries of any death benefit.
• For actively contributing members, we will need you to confirm when the member’s final contribution will be paid. When you submit the final contribution on our eBusiness system, you should also complete the Date of Leaving column. However, please don’t provide this until you have informed us of the member’s death. For Defined Benefit members we will also request that you complete and send a withdrawal form.

For members who have left your employment, we will request the contact details of the person who informed you of the member’s death. This will allow us to request the original death certificate (or a certified copy).

Once we receive the death certificate we will:

• Calculate the benefits payable. This will differ depending upon the scheme that your employee was a member of and also whether you provide life cover.
• Determine the beneficiaries for payment. The benefit is payable at the discretion of the Trustee and, as a result, under current legislation is excluded from a member's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. The Trustee will consider any nomination(s) held on record along with any further information obtained regarding the member's personal circumstances.
• For pensioners we will stop any further payments. If the member has purchased an annuity, any benefits payable would be settled directly by their annuity provider. In this circumstance, if a retired member's family contact you they should be advised to contact the annuity provider directly. If they do not have the relevant details we will be able to advise them who the annuity provider is. 

Dependent on the scheme and also the life cover that's in place, a children’s pension may payable on a member’s death. As each scheme has different rules in relation to the payment of children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme information.

If you die and have no one nominated to receive any death benefits, we will contact the person who informed us of your death requesting information to be sent to us which will allow us to pay any benefits due.

If a lump sum is payable from the scheme, we will ask for a Family Information Form to be completed and returned. A decision will then be made by the Trustee on who will receive this lump sum.

It's important that, where possible, you make a nomination for any lump sum death benefits on your DB Online record, or advise us in writing.

Anyone can be nominated for this benefit and it can be split between one or more people or organisations. If you already receive a pension and there is no one eligible to receive a Survivor’s or Child’s Pension, no further payments will be made. If your next of kin know of anyone who is eligible to receive a benefit following your death, they should contact us as soon as possible, even if we do not have updated nomination details from you.

In the event of a member’s death, benefits are paid at the discretion of the Trustee. This means they are excluded from the member’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. To assist the Trustees and ensure that benefits are settled quickly, members of the Scheme should be encouraged to provide details of their nominations.

If your employee is a Defined Benefit member they can use the DB Online facility to nominate or amend their beneficiaries online, if they are Defined Contribution member, they will need to update their record in their Retirement Savings Account.

Employees who do not have access to either facility can complete a nomination form or notify us in writing of any changes. The changes must be provided in writing as the member's signature is needed. 

You may wish to seek advice from a solicitor, and possibly a financial adviser, when going through a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. It is important to make sure you understand all the options available to you.

You will receive a payslip each quarter (6th January, April, July & October), or monthly should your scheme pay in this way. Payslips will normally be uploaded to DB Online for you to collect or received by the date of payment if you have them posted to you. The payslips will show the money that's paid into your account. 

It will also include your name, address, Payroll Number, National Insurance number, the period that the payment is in respect of and the tax code that has been used.

These details should be checked to ensure the information we are using is up to date. If anything needs changing, please sign in to DB Online and easily make the changes, or let us know by contacting our Payroll Department (remembering to quote your Payroll Number).

Should you have any queries regarding your personal tax code, please contact HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number and our tax reference: 120/P42099.

HMRC, Pay As You Earn, BX9 1AS    

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

General information relating to tax issues can also be found on Gov.uk.

Your payslip will detail the gross pension that is due to you, the tax deducted and the net payment. It also shows the taxable pay to date and the tax paid to date in respect of your pension in the current tax year.

First payment

You'll receive your pension as soon as possible after we've received all the information we need from you and your employer - usually within seven days of your retirement date. If you are an active member, we'll need a withdrawal form from your employer, which we would request, before we can make payment. 

We are unable to make any payments before your actual retirement date.

If you are taking your Defined Contribution fund (either on its own or in conjunction with any Defined Benefits) there will be a much longer wait before benefits can be paid as we need to wait for final month's contributions to be invested before the whole fund can be disinvested. The whole process can take six to eight weeks.

The first payment covers the period from your retirement date to the next quarterly payment date and will also include your lump sum if you have chosen this option.

Quarterly payments

Pensions are paid quarterly (6 April, July, October and January) in advance. You will receive a payslip each quarter via DB Online or by post if you have chosen to receive hard copies of your payslips.

Monthly payments

Pensions are paid monthly where the scheme rules have been set out. Each month you will see a payslip in your DB Online account or by post if you have notified us that you wish to receive hard copies. Please refer to your scheme document for information on payments if your scheme uses this method.

Tax

Your first pension payment will be taxed at Basic Rate. If tax is due on quarterly pension payments then it will be deducted under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and we will be advised of your tax code by HMRC.

Any pension paid to you is normally treated as earned income for income tax purposes, although you don’t pay any National Insurance contributions on your pension income. Tax is deducted from your pension under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system.

Initially, tax is deducted at basic rate (20%).Once we have received your personal tax code from the HM Revenue and Customs, this will be used and adjustments will usually be made for any under or overpayment of tax.

If you have any queries about your personal tax code, please contact HMRC, quoting your National Insurance number and our tax reference: 120/P42099.

HMRC, Pay As You Earn, BX9 1AS   

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

General information relating to tax issues can also be found at Gov.uk. 

We're happy to pay your pension into an international bank account (there is no charge for this). However, we can't guarantee the date the payment will credit your account as it can take several days to make its way through international banking systems.

Payments will be made in Sterling (£).

A pension will be paid into the bank account you specified when we commenced payment of your benefits. If you want to change this you will need to let us know. 

If you are a Defined Benefit member and have access to DB Online, you'll be able to log into your account and make the changes online. For security purposes you won’t see your existing bank details displayed on the bank details change screen.

If you don’t have access to DB Online, you can contact us to make the change, either by letter or by telephone. If you choose to call us to make a change, we will ask you some security questions to ensure we are paying your pension into the correct account.

We can pay your pension into any bank or building society account (including international accounts), but we are unable to make pension payments by cheque or in cash. Please note that the account has to be in your name and any written request has to be signed by you. The details we will need are:

For UK accounts:

Account Holder(s)

Name(s)

Sort Code  

Account Number

Building Society Roll Number (if applicable) 

For international payments:

As requirements differ from country to country, it is important to call us if you move abroad or if you reside abroad and wish to make a change to the bank account your pension is paid into. We can then send you a form to complete which will provide us with the necessary information.

Please contact your bank or building society if you're not sure where to find the details you need, and remember to quote your name and Payroll Number in all correspondence as this will help us.

Your payslips will appear on your DB Online account as often as you normally receive your payslip. The date it appears depends on your scheme.

Annual Benefit Statements are issued to all active and paid-up members of the scheme. They will have this benefit statement uploaded to their personal DB Online account. When a new Benefit Statement is available they will be emailed to notify them of this. If a member is having issues accessing DB online, they need to contact the administration team who will be able to assist.

Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. They can request one in their DB Online account or contact us and we can provide one free statement per year. 

Employees who only hold a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit

Annual Benefit Statements are provided to all DC scheme members. This includes active members who are currently employed and making contributions to the Scheme, and past members who are no longer contributing but have a deferred benefit in the Scheme. The statement will be uploaded to the member’s own personal Retirement Savings Account for them to collect when it’s convenient. Dependent on the Scheme, Benefit Statements are issued to members between January and August each year. The DC Benefit Statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• The contributions credited to the member’s savings pot by both the member and the employer during the last Scheme year. The contributions will be those that have been received and invested prior to the statement date. For example, if the statement date is 1 October, the statement would not normally include the October contributions as these would usually be received during November. Any contributions received or invested after the year-end will be included in the next year’s statement
• The value of the member's savings pot at the statement date (split between the investment funds)
• A Statutory Money Purchase Illustration (SMPI) of projected benefits. This is an illustration of the benefits that could be provided at the member's Selected Retirement Date assuming contributions continue at the current rate and uses specific assumptions for salary growth and investment return. Members should be aware that the value of investments may fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed.

Employees who have a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) benefit 

If any of your employees hold an active record which has both a Defined Benefit (DB) and a Defined Contribution (DC) element, they will also receive a separate annual DB Benefit Statement. This will detail the DB benefits the member is entitled to. The most recent benefit statement will be available on our DB Online system for the member to view. If the member has chosen to opt out of using the facility, the statement will be issued by post if requested by the member. The ‘Date Pensionable Service Commenced’ shown on the Defined Contribution (DC) statement will be the date the member joined the DC scheme and not the point at which they joined the scheme under the DB structure.

Employees who only hold a Defined Benefit (DB) in the scheme

The Annual Benefit Statement will be automatically uploaded to the DB Online system for active and paid up members to view when they want. Deferred members (either because they have left the scheme or your employment) are no longer automatically issued with a benefit statement. However, they can request one via DB Online, or contact us by telephone or email.

The dates statements are uploaded vary dependent upon the scheme that the member is in. Members will be notified that a new statement is online when they log into the system. Where members have chosen not to use the facility, they can request a copy of the statement to be sent to them.

The DB benefit statement contains the following information:

• The member’s personal details and membership dates
• Yearly pension at the statement date
• Death benefits

Please telephone your normal contact at TPT Retirement Solutions as soon as you find out that a member has died. We will then talk you through what to do next.

For members who were in your employment when they died, we will need you to:

• Send the original death certificate (or a certified copy) to us as soon as it is available. It is not possible to pay any benefits until the death certificate has been received.
• Inform us if you are aware of any of the member's personal circumstances which may help us to determine the beneficiaries of any death benefit.
• For actively contributing members, we will need you to confirm when the member’s final contribution will be paid. When you submit the final contribution on our eBusiness system, you should also complete the Date of Leaving column. However, please don’t provide this until you have informed us of the member’s death. For Defined Benefit members we will also request that you complete and send a withdrawal form.

For members who have left your employment, we will request the contact details of the person who informed you of the member’s death. This will allow us to request the original death certificate (or a certified copy).

Once we receive the death certificate we will:

• Calculate the benefits payable. This will differ depending upon the scheme that your employee was a member of and also whether you provide life cover.
• Determine the beneficiaries for payment. The benefit is payable at the discretion of the Trustee and, as a result, under current legislation is excluded from a member's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. The Trustee will consider any nomination(s) held on record along with any further information obtained regarding the member's personal circumstances.
• For pensioners we will stop any further payments. If the member has purchased an annuity, any benefits payable would be settled directly by their annuity provider. In this circumstance, if a retired member's family contact you they should be advised to contact the annuity provider directly. If they do not have the relevant details we will be able to advise them who the annuity provider is. 

Dependent on the scheme and also the life cover that's in place, a children’s pension may payable on a member’s death. As each scheme has different rules in relation to the payment of children’s pensions, please refer to your scheme information.

In the event of a member’s death, benefits are paid at the discretion of the Trustee. This means they are excluded from the member’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. To assist the Trustees and ensure that benefits are settled quickly, members of the Scheme should be encouraged to provide details of their nominations.

If your employee is a Defined Benefit member they can use the DB Online facility to nominate or amend their beneficiaries online, if they are Defined Contribution member, they will need to update their record in their Retirement Savings Account.

Employees who do not have access to either facility can complete a nomination form or notify us in writing of any changes. The changes must be provided in writing as the member's signature is needed. 

It is important that we keep our records up to date to ensure benefits are paid correctly. You need to let us know as soon as possible if an employee has left the pension scheme.

To do this you should:

• add a date of leaving in your monthly contribution submission
• pay across your last contribution as normal. If an employee leaves part way through the month, this should be for the portion of the month they are still employed
• not deduct contributions from holiday pay or a payment in lieu of notice as this is not pensionable.

Once we have received the final contribution and the leaving information, we will update the member’s record and issue them with details of their benefits and options.

Please refer to our resources for employers for more information on how to add the date of leaving to your submission.

When a member leaves the scheme, we'll write to them and let them know what their benefits are in the scheme. The member may have the option to:

• leave their benefits in the scheme and become a deferred member.

For Defined Benefit members, the pension remains in the scheme and may increase each year. Further details on the rate of increases can be found in your scheme information. 

For Defined Contribution Scheme members, the employee’s fund will remain invested until we receive further instructions, for example when the member retires.

• transfer their benefits to another pension arrangement.

This transfer may be to another Occupational Pension Scheme, Personal Pension Plan, Stakeholder arrangement or Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme. If the member wants to look into this option, they should ask their new pension provider to write to us.  

• Take a refund of contributions.

To take a refund of contributions employees must:

• have less than two years' total pensionable service. This includes any service in other memberships with TPT Retirement Solutions and from any previous scheme that has been transferred in.
• not be part of a salary sacrifice scheme.
• not have transferred in benefits from a personal pension plan.

In addition for Defined Contribution (DC) members:

• they must have joined before 1 October 2015 to be eligible for a refund
• DC members joining on or after 1 October 2015 will only receive a refund if they leave the scheme within 30 days of joining.

Refund payable to the member

For Defined Benefit members, this will be a refund of the employee contributions to the scheme (but not the employer’s) plus interest and less deductions including tax.

For Defined Contribution members, this will be the value of the units purchased with the employee contributions (but not their employer's), less deductions including tax.

If one of your employee’s needs to stop working because of ill-health, you should contact us as they might be eligible to have their pension paid early. 

We will:

• let you know the eligibility criteria that the member needs to meet
• for some schemes ill health retirement may be subject to the approval of the relevant scheme committee
• advise what medical evidence will be required from the member
• send a questionnaire for you to complete and return to us
• send a form for the member to complete and return giving us consent to obtain medical reports. Only members who are under age 55 (or under age 50 if they have a Protected Pension Age), may need to provide a medical report.

You should:

• Pay across the final month’s contribution in your normal monthly contribution submission. This should be adjusted if the member leaves part way through a month.
• Submit the date of leaving on your submission. See Benpal for guidance.

The benefits that are payable will depend on the scheme the member is in:

Defined Contribution member (including Hybrid members)

If the member satisfies the eligibility criteria they will have their current fund value paid to them. Depending on their medical condition, there may be an option for the member to purchase an 'enhanced' annuity (pension). Please advise your employee that it is unlikely that benefits will be paid out on the actual retirement date. This is because if a member remains in the Scheme right up until the retirement date, their final contribution will not be paid into the Scheme until after this date.

The final value of the fund payable will include the final contribution, which needs to be invested in the relevant fund. If members are making financial decisions around their retirement date, they need to bear in mind that there may be a delay of two to three months before benefits are paid.

If the early payment of benefits is approved, the process will follow the normal retirement process. Once the benefits have been paid, the member's record will be closed, as no benefits will remain in the Scheme.

Defined Benefit member

If the member satisfies the eligibility criteria they will have their pension calculated differently depending on the scheme they are in. To determine the benefits payable in respect of ill health retirement, please see your relevant scheme information.

For Defined Benefit members, the committee has the right to request updated medical evidence and could reduce or suspend the member’s pension if their eligibility changes in the future.

Serious ill health

Where there is medical evidence that the life expectancy of a member is less than a year, a cash lump sum may be paid instead of a pension. We would need evidence from a medical professional to confirm the employee’s life expectancy.

Cash lump sum benefits paid on serious ill-health grounds are tax-free, providing they don't exceed the member's available Lifetime Allowance.

If it seems likely that a member may qualify, you should inform the Administration Team as soon as possible who will provide guidance on how to proceed.

Retirement for Defined Contribution (DC) members

When your employee joined the Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme, they will have had the option to choose the date they want to retire. This is known as a Selected Retirement Date (SRD). The member will have been able to choose from the age from 55. If they didn't choose a date, a retirement of age 65 will automatically have been selected for them.

Members who joined the scheme before 6 April 2006 may be able to take their benefits from age 50, subject to certain conditions. Contributions can continue to be paid into the scheme at any age, as long as the member is still working.  

Members aged 75 or above don't get tax relief on contributions. Benefits can be taken any time on or after the members chosen retirement date.

When a member is approaching their selected retirement date, we will trigger the retirement process automatically. Approximately 12 months before the member's retirement date, we'll send your employee a current fund value and also access to our “At Retirement” tool.  

This will let the member begin to look at the potential benefits they will receive at retirement. Three months before the member’s date of retirement, we'll send them a retirement pack. As an employer, you'll need to:

• advise us if the member decides to retire at short notice, so a retirement pack can be issued.
• submit the final contribution, as part of the normal monthly submission process.
• enter the date of leaving within your monthly submission.

Please refer to the Employer Help Guides for help on submitting the information online.

• complete a withdrawal form if the member has a Defined Benefit section as part of their membership. If possible, please complete this three months before the member’s retirement date.

We will:

• contact the member and advise them of their benefits and the options available to them.
• send them the relevant forms for completion.
• advise the likely timescales for settlement of benefits.
• provide information about where to get financial advice.

This information will be issued either on receipt of the withdrawal form or three months prior to the member's normal retirement date. Once the fund value has been paid, the member's record will be closed as no benefits will remain in the Scheme.

If the member leaves the Scheme and starts to receive benefits, but remains employed, you may be required to re-enrol them into a scheme at a future date if they meet the auto-enrolment conditions.

Payment of benefits

The benefits payable are determined by the final value of the fund including the final contribution. This means that if a member remains in the scheme until their retirement date, there will be a delay in receiving their benefits. The reason for this is that the final contribution may not be paid into the Scheme until several weeks after the retirement date. 

That final contribution would then need to be invested into the member’s fund before the retirement benefits could be paid. You will need to make sure that your employee understands that there will be a delay.

Change of retirement date

Should the member decide not to retire at their Selected Retirement Date, they'll need to let us know as soon as possible. If the member has selected the default Target Date Fund investment option, their investments would be switched to a new Target Date fund.

Retirement for Defined Benefit (DB) members

When a member is approaching their normal retirement date age, we will trigger the retirement process automatically. We will do this by issuing a retirement pack three months before the member’s date of retirement. Please see your scheme booklet for your scheme’s normal retirement age and whether employer consent to take early retirement is required.

Your employee may choose to retire earlier than the scheme’s normal retirement age. They can do this from age 55. For members who joined the scheme before 6 April 2006, they may be able to take their benefits from age 50, subject to certain conditions.

If a member chooses to retire early, their pension will be reduced to reflect the early payment. This would be because the member would be paid for a longer period. As an employer you will need to:

• complete a withdrawal form which includes the member’s date of leaving and salary information, if possible, please complete this three months before the member’s retirement date
• advise us if the member decides to retire at short notice, so that a retirement pack can be issued
• submit the final contribution as part of the normal monthly submission process
• enter the date of leaving within your monthly submission
• please refer to the Employer Help Guides for help on submitting the information online.

We will:

• contact the member and advise them of their benefits and the options available to them
• send them the relevant forms for completion
• advise the likely timescales for settlement of benefits
• provide information regarding where to obtain financial advice
• set up the members new pensioner record. 

If the member leaves the Scheme and starts to receive benefits but remains employed, you may be required to re-enrol them into a scheme at a future date if they meet the auto-enrolment conditions.

If you have a problem or complaint in connection with the pension scheme or its administration, we would ask that you speak to your regular contact at TPT as soon as possible so we can look to resolve the matter with you. If we are unable to resolve your issue you will need to write to the Head of Employer Relationships at TPT providing details:   

Fran Marsden, Head of Employer Relationships, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ

Email: fran.marsden@tpt.org.uk

If you feel that the Head of Employer Relationships has not resolved your problem and you remain dissatisfied, you may follow the formal two-stage complaints procedure.

Stage one

You can write to (making sure your correspondence is headed ‘Formal Complaint’):

Karen Parry, Trustee Services Director, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ   

Email: karen.parry@tpt.org.uk

Please provide your name, employer number and as much detail about the reason for your complaint as possible. A decision should be given to you within two months.

Stage two

If you remain unhappy with the formal resolution of the Trustee Services Director, you have the right to appeal within six months to the Trustee. An appeal must be made in writing and must state the reasons for being dissatisfied with the previous decision. A decision from the Trustee should be given within two months.

Every month, you need to upload full details of the pension contributions applicable to each individual member though our eBusiness application, which is available within the online Employer Portal.

We have lots of helpful resources to assist you with submitting this information, including:

• a contributions File Upload Checklist, which is a step-by-step guide to submitting your monthly contributions.
• A blank Contributions File template which includes all the headings of the information we need to process the members’ contributions. If you are just making a few changes from last month’s submission it may be easier to download a copy of your most recent submission, which is available within the eBusiness application under the Manage Contributions section.

Once you upload this information, eBusiness will ensure the data is validated and any queries are resolved before it is loaded onto the members’ records. Validating the data during the submission process helps to reduce any potential delays arising when settling members’ benefits and improves the accuracy of the data recorded.

Timescales/deadlines

We must receive your monthly contribution file by the 10th of the calendar month following the month in which the contributions were deducted from the members' salaries. For example, the January contributions file must be submitted by the 10th of February. This allows enough time for you to send us payment, or for us to collect contributions by Direct Debit (if you’re set up to pay this way), by the 19th of the month, which is the legal deadline.  

Any late payments can also have a detrimental impact on the performance of your members’ investments. Due to the additional cost of administration for late payments, TPT applies a late payment charge for contributions received after the 19th. 

Please note: you are legally obliged to submit contributions deducted from members' pay on time. If you don't, The Pensions Regulator may ultimately fine your organisation. TPT Retirement Solutions will not be responsible for any penalty imposed for late payment of contributions.

If you need any further information please contact the Employer Support Team on 0113 394 2770 or by e-mail to employersupport@tpt.org.uk.

If the wrong contributions have been sent across to us, it can be complicated to correct the member’s record. This is because money may have already been invested for the member or a pension benefit calculated based on the contribution we have received.

If you do need to correct a member’s contribution, please contact us as soon as possible and we can guide you through what you need to do to ensure that the correct contributions are paid and any benefits we would pay will be accurate.

The Employer Support Team can be contacted on 0113 394 2770 or  employersupport@tpt.org.uk.

Contribution rates for members and employers may change for various reasons. This could be either for all of your employees or for an individual. Where the change in contribution rate is enforced by TPT, for example, in respect of a scheme valuation, we will write to you allowing time for you to consult with your employees. This will also ensure that you have time to update your payroll systems with the new contribution rates.

Alternatively, when you selected the contribution rates for your employees, you may have chosen for them to pay age-banded contributions. This means that the employee rate for the respective members will be increased on 1 April following their 30th or 40th birthday. It is important that you have internal systems in place to identify these members and deduct the correct contributions from your employees.

If your employee is in a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme, you may have chosen to offer them a range of contribution rates. These members may then choose to change their individual contribution rate within the range allowed. To make the change, the member should log in to their Retirement Saving Account and change their contribution rate online.  

Any changes that are made by your employees will then be listed in the 'Payroll Centre' section of your HR data application.

We will automatically update our systems with the new rates at the time of changes and our eBusiness system will notify you when you upload your contributions file if the contributions made are different to those we expected. This will allow you to check the contributions paid against our records.

If you believe our records are incorrect, please contact the Employer Support Team soon as possible on 0113 394 2770 or at employersupport@tpt.org.uk.

Any changes to member details should be completed in a HR data file submission on the HR data section of the Employer Portal. The data changes that can be amended via the HR data file are:

• name changes
• address changes
• email address changes
• salary changes

You can also get in touch with the Employer Support Team on 0113 394 2770 or at employersupport@tpt.org.uk

If your organisation does not provide members with access to online Retirement Savings Accounts, please notify us in writing, email or telephone of these changes as soon as possible.

Any changes to salary or hours should also be updated on your monthly contributions submission. For changes in name, we will need to receive the relevant evidence before any benefits can be paid. The administration team will accept copies of certificates that have been certified by you, otherwise the originals will be required. All original certificates will be returned by tracked post.

If your employee is a deferred or pensioner Defined Benefit member, they can update their name and address details using DB Online. 

An employee may need to be absent from work for various reasons, including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, parental  leave or sickness. The sections below explain what will happen in terms of making pension contributions during this time.

Family Leave (Maternity Leave/Adoption Leave/Paternity Leave/Additional Paternity Leave)

Adoption leave, paternity leave or additional paternity leave will be treated in the same way as a woman taking maternity leave.

For the first 39 weeks of maternity leave:

• your employee will pay their normal rate of contributions but only on the pay they actually receive during maternity leave, this includes Statutory Maternity Pay.
• you will be expected to pay your normal employer contributions based on the pay they would have been receiving if they were not on maternity leave, plus any shortfall in their employee contributions.
• their membership will continue as normal, based on the salary they would have been receiving if they were not on maternity leave.
• If the member returns to work before the end of this period, contributions must start up again immediately.
• If the member is receiving maternity allowance, as their employer you are still liable to pay pension contributions even though they are receiving pay direct from the State and not from you. Member and employer contributions should be paid by you for the first 39 weeks based on the pay the member would have been receiving if they had not gone on maternity leave.

After the first 39 weeks:

• we would not expect any contributions unless the member is receiving pay.
• on the member’s return, they can choose whether to make extra contributions to cover the period that they have been absent. It is then at your discretion whether to pay the employer’s share. If you decline to pay, the member can choose to also pay the employer’s share. You would need to ensure that any additional contributions are paid across in your normal monthly contribution submission. 

Other absence

If the member is absent for any other reason, for example, sick leave, parental leave or a temporary absence and pay continues during the absence, contributions can be based on the actual salary paid, or on the pay received prior to the absence, as agreed between the member and employer. If the absence is without pay, contributions should not be paid for the period of unpaid leave.  

When the member returns to work they will have the option to pay the contributions missed or any shortfall in contributions. It is then at your discretion whether to pay the employer’s share. If you decline to pay, the member can choose to also pay the employer’s share. You would need to ensure that any additional contributions are paid across in your normal monthly contribution submission. Where no contributions are being made to the scheme, there will be a maximum period of absence that will apply before the member becomes a leaver in the scheme. This period of time varies dependent on the scheme that the member is contributing to. 

The Trustee takes out insurance against inadvertent regulatory failures or where the Trustee is challenged for actions it has taken related to its responsibilities to and governance of the Schemes. Some of this insurance premium cost forms part of the ongoing annual scheme costs that every participating employer is required to pay.

If one or more of the following ‘employer-related’ events occurs, please notify The Pensions Regulator, copying in TPT Retirement Solutions, immediately.  

The Pensions Regulator requires that employers alert us immediately if either of the following employer-related events occurs:

(i)     Notifiable event – these are events which provide an early warning of possible insolvency. Some examples of a notifiable event are as follows:

• a)   Any decision to take action which will, or is intended to, result in a debt which is, or may become due, to the scheme not being paid in full.
• b)   A decision by the employer to cease to carry on business in the United Kingdom.
• c)   Advice is received by the employer that it is trading wrongfully within the meaning of section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986(a), or that there is no reasonable prospect that the organisation will avoid insolvency.
• d)   Any breach of a covenant in an agreement with a bank or institution providing banking services, other than where it is agreed that the covenant will not be enforced. A decision by a controlling company (if applicable) to relinquish control of the employer company.
• e)   The conviction of any individual for an offence, involving dishonesty, if the offence was committed while an individual was a director or partner of the employer.

(ii) Type A event – These are transactions which are materially detrimental to a defined benefit pension scheme and its members. Some examples of a Type A event are as follows:

• Change in control
• Change in creditor priority
• Significant increase in debt
• Distribution to other stakeholders.

In addition, an employer is required to notify us in the event that it is unable (or anticipates being unable) to meet its ongoing obligations to the scheme, such as the payment of deficit recovery contributions.

Further guidance on Type A events is available from The Pensions Regulator.

The Employer Portal is a hub that allows our employers to access the following systems in one place:

• eBusiness
• HR Data
• Financial assessment questionnaire
• FRS 102 (DB accounting)
• FRS 102 (present value).

Depending on the type of scheme you have and the permissions set by your organisation, you may not need access to all of the above applications.

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or email  employerportal@tpt.org.uk.

Please email employercontactdata@tpt.org.uk confirming the details of the person you want to add to the employer portal, as follows:

• name
• job title
• direct telephone number
• email address that only they have access to
• the applications they need access.

We will set up the new user and issue login details to them by email within 10 working days.

If you need any assistance, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

To change the applications that users have access to on the Employer Portal, please email employercontactdata@tpt.org.uk confirming the user’s full name, e-mail address and the changes you wish to make.

We will update the user account as soon as possible.

If you need any assistance, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

The way you choose to take your pension benefits is an important decision and could affect your financial wellbeing for many years to come. Because of this, we recommend you get guidance or advice before making a decision. The following services may help you:

Money Helper is a free government service for people who are approaching or over minimum pension age. It provides face-to-face or over-the-phone advice on your options, including how to make the best use of your pension savings, the tax implications of different options and tips on getting the best deal. Call them on 0800 011 3797. 

The Money Advice Service is a free and impartial government service that provides money advice, tools and calculators for financial planning. Call them on 0800 138 77 77..

You may also seek Independent Financial Advice from an IFA. The choice of an Independent Financial Adviser is yours alone. TPT Retirement Solutions does not make recommendations about which Independent Financial Adviser you should use, and can accept no responsibility or liability for any advice which they may give.

Pension scams

Scammers are known to operate in the pensions industry. If any discussion or offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You can find out more about how to identify and avoid scams here and on the government's Pension Regulator website. 

If a Scheme was to start to ‘wind up’, the sponsoring employer/s would be required to pay enough money into the Scheme to enable the members’ benefits to be completely secured with an insurance company.

However, it may be that an employer would not be able to pay this full amount. Therefore, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) might be able to take over the Scheme and pay compensation to members in circumstances where the ‘wind up’ occurs with a shortfall of assets to cover the liabilities of the scheme. Further information and guidance is available on the PPF website.

It is necessary for certain personal data to be collected in order for us to provide you with your pension benefits.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee of your pension scheme and is the data controller (where appropriate, with its subsidiary companies, TPT Retirement Solutions Limited and TPT Investment Management Limited) of any personal information for the purposes of applicable data protection law.

The Trustee (and, where applicable, the third parties it engages to assist it in the operation of your pension scheme) will use your personal data in the administration of your pension scheme. The Trustee takes appropriate measures to ensure that your personal data is held securely and processes personal data in accordance with relevant UK data protection law including the Data Protection Act 2018. 

For more information please have a look at our privacy policy.

Your information on DB Online is safe and secure. We use it for administering your pension only. We won't sell your data to any third party. Please keep us up-to-date with any changes to your personal circumstances, so we can ensure all information held is accurate.

An assignment is a legal term relating to real estate or contracts and is the process whereby one person transfers their rights or benefits to another. You cannot assign your pension to another party except where permitted by law on divorce, even temporarily, for example, as security for a loan.

Getting tax relief on pensions means some of your money that would have gone to the government as tax goes into your pension instead.

You can put as much as you want into your pension, but there are annual and lifetime limits on how much tax relief you get on your pension contributions. 

TPT Retirement Solutions needs your employer’s payroll to deduct your contributions from your gross pay.

Gross pay is the amount your employer is paying you before any tax has been deducted and you will be able to see this on your payslip.

This means that your pay after the deduction of pension contributions will be lower and you will pay less tax (tax relief on your contributions). This is sometimes known as a Net Pay arrangement and for most members avoids the process of having to make a claim with HMRC.

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. Members who do not pay income tax will not get 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 total pension savings that you can have each year that benefit from tax relief. 

Income tax allowances

Income tax allowances detail the amount of income you receive before you start paying tax. Tax allowances are set by the government and you can check your own personal allowance directly with HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs). Information on general income tax allowances can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk  although your own tax allowance may be different based on your own circumstances. 

If you are an active member of the scheme and pay tax on your income you will receive tax relief on your contributions. This means no tax is paid on the contributions deducted from your total pay before any tax is deducted by your employer. This is known as a Net Pay arrangement. If you do not pay income tax, you will be unable to benefit from tax relief. If you are a pensioner you may want to look at the following information - Why has tax been deducted from my pension?

Annual Allowance

The Annual Allowance is a limit on the total amount of pension savings you can make each year without incurring a tax charge. It applies to all your pension schemes in total, not individually.

• The limit for the current tax year (2023/24) is £60,000. This includes all your contributions, tax relief and employer contributions across all the pension arrangements you have.
• If your income is over £260,000 in a tax year, your Annual Allowance for that year will reduce on a tapered basis. For every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, your Annual Allowance will reduce by £1. The maximum reduction is £30,000, meaning anyone with an income of £310,000 or above will have their Annual Allowance reduced to £10,000. 

Please see What is Tapered Annual Allowance? for further details.

if you have cashed-in a Defined Contribution (DC) pension pot i.e. taken more than the 25% tax free lump sum or you are drawing down an income from a 'flexi-access drawdown fund', the limit for future DC contributions will be reduced to £10,000, which is known as the 'Money Purchase Annual Allowance' (MPAA), for any DC contributions you make. 

This applies if you want to continue making pension savings in a DC pension arrangement. If you also have Defined Benefits (DB) with your current employer, the MPAA reduces the Annual Allowance for your DB benefits to a maximum of £50,000. The MPAA only applies to contributions to DC pensions and not to defined benefit schemes. Please consider taking independent financial or tax advice if this applies to you.

Exceeding the Annual Allowance

If you exceed the Annual Allowance in a tax year, you won't receive tax relief on any contributions that are above the limit and you will have to pay an Annual Allowance charge.

You may be able to use any leftover Annual Allowance from the previous three tax years to reduce or cancel the Annual Allowance charge if you did not use your full Annual Allowance in those years. This does not apply if you have a Money Purchase Annual Allowance.

The Annual Allowance charge will be added to the rest of your taxable income for the tax year in question, and used to work out your tax liability. If the Annual Allowance charge is more than £2,000, you can ask your pension scheme to pay the charge from your benefits. Your pension scheme benefits would be reduced accordingly to take account of the charge.

Lifetime Allowance

The Lifetime Allowance did place a tax limit on the tax-relieved pension savings you can receive during your lifetime. If you exceed this limit tax charges apply. The limit for 2021/22 was £1.073. If the total value of all your tax-relieved pension arrangements did go above the Lifetime Allowance, you will be taxed on any amount above this.

At Spring Budget 2023, the government announced that it would abolish the LTA with effect from 6 April 2024 but that there will be no lifetime allowance charge in tax year 2023/24.

Both the Annual (and previous Lifetime Allowances) will generally tend to affect those with fairly high earnings and/or significant pension benefits held elsewhere. When TPT provides you with quotes or statements, we will let you know what percentage of your Lifetime Allowance has been used up in the statements up to 6th April 2023. You should note that TPT Retirement Solutions and its representatives are not permitted to give financial advice.

If you are a member of a Defined Contribution pension scheme, the value of your pension savings (also called your Pension Input Amount) is the total of both you and/or your employer’s pension contributions made in the year.

If you are a member of a Defined Benefit pension scheme the calculation is more complicated. The increase in the value of your retirement benefits each year is your Pension Input Amount, and is used to calculate how much of your Annual Allowance is used up by the scheme that year. If you have a promotion or a significant salary increase you may be at risk of exceeding the Annual Allowance.

The Annual Allowance

Your Annual Allowance is a limit on the total amount of pension savings you can make each year without incurring a tax charge. It applies to all your pension schemes in total, not individually.

The Annual Allowance limits were updated as part of the 2023 Spring Budget and became effective on 6 April 2023 as follows:

• The limit for the current tax year (2023/24) is £60,000. This includes all your contributions, tax relief and employer contributions across all the pension arrangements you have.
• If your income is over £260,000 in a tax year, your Annual Allowance for that year will reduce on a tapered basis. For every £2 of adjusted income above £260,000, your Annual Allowance will reduce by £1. The maximum reduction is £30,000, meaning anyone with an income of £310,000 or above will have their Annual Allowance reduced to £10,000. 

The Money Purchase Annual Allowance

If you’ve cashed in a Defined Contribution (DC) pension, i.e. taken more than the 25% tax free lump sum or you are drawing down an income from a 'flexi-access drawdown fund', the limit for future DC contributions will be reduced to £10,000, which is known as the ‘Money Purchase Annual Allowance’ (MPAA) for any DC contributions you make. 

This applies if you want to continue making pension savings in a DC pension arrangement. 

If you also have defined benefits (DB) with your current employer, the MPAA reduces the Annual Allowance for your DB benefits to a maximum of £50,000. The MPAA only applies to contributions to DC pensions and not to DB schemes. 

Please consider taking independent financial or tax advice if this applies to you.

What if I exceed my Annual Allowance?

If you exceed the Annual Allowance in a tax year, you won't receive tax relief on any contributions that are above the limit, and you’ll have to pay an Annual Allowance charge.

You may be able to use any leftover Annual Allowance from the previous three tax years to reduce or cancel the Annual Allowance charge if you did not use your full Annual Allowance in those years. This does not apply if you have a Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA).

The Annual Allowance charge will be added to the rest of your taxable income for the tax year in question and used to work out your tax liability. If the Annual Allowance charge is more than £2,000, you can ask your pension scheme to pay the charge from your benefits. Your pension scheme benefits would be reduced accordingly to take account of the charge.

Until 6 April 2023, the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) was the total amount of retirement savings you could build up in all your pensions (except your state pension) without getting an LTA tax charge of up to 55%. 

In the 2023 Spring Budget, the government made several changes to the LTA and announced its intention to abolish it altogether from 6 April 2024. The LTA is currently set at £1,073,100 for the 2023/24 tax year and is still relevant for certain purposes. However, the impact of the LTA has changed as a result of the 2023 Spring Budget, which is explained below.

Spring Budget changes – effective from 6 April 2023

Lifetime Allowance charges

The key change is that LTA charges have been abolished. That means, if you access your pension benefits on or after 6 April 2023 and exceed the LTA, there won’t be any LTA tax charge. It is important to note that you will still be taxed under the normal tax rules on benefits that exceed your LTA, but the specific LTA charge (of up to 55%) will no longer apply. 

Taxation of lump sums The following lump sums, which would previously have been subject to an LTA charge, will now be charged as income tax at your marginal rate i.e., the highest tax rate you currently pay: 

• serious ill-health lump sum lifetime allowance excess lump sum.
• uncrystallised funds lump sum.
• death benefit defined benefits lump sum death benefit.

As for Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS)s, if you don’t have the benefit of any enhanced or fixed protections, the maximum PCLS you can take will remain at 25% of the current LTA (£268,275).

The government has announced that it intends for this amount to be frozen if the LTA is abolished altogether from 6 April 2024.

Tapered Annual Allowance largely affects higher earners.

To work out if you have a Tapered Annual Allowance, you need to assess your net income in the tax year in question, your pension savings in that year, the threshold income in the tax year (taxable income for the tax year less any taxable lump sum pension death benefits accruing in the tax year plus employment income given up for pension contributions, i.e. salary sacrifice) and your adjusted income (adds in the value of all employer pension contributions) in the tax year.

As soon as your threshold income exceeds £200,000, your allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 your adjusted income rises above £260,000. The minimum this can taper to is £10,000. So, if your adjusted income for the current tax year is £290,000 - thus exceeding the minimum limit by £30,000 - your annual allowance would drop £15,000 (£30,000/2) to £45,000.

If your employer withdraws from the scheme, you will stop contributing into the scheme at the same time and you will become a 'deferred' member.

You will normally be entitled to the same benefits as if you had left the scheme on the same day as the withdrawal, as long as TPT has received all of the necessary contributions from your employer. 

It is necessary for certain personal data to be collected in order for us to provide you with your pension benefits.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee of your pension scheme and is the data controller (where appropriate, with its subsidiary companies, TPT Retirement Solutions Limited and TPT Investment Management Limited) of any personal information for the purposes of applicable data protection law.

The Trustee (and, where applicable, the third parties it engages to assist it in the operation of your pension scheme) will use your personal data in the administration of your pension scheme. The Trustee takes appropriate measures to ensure that your personal data is held securely and processes personal data in accordance with relevant UK data protection law including the Data Protection Act 2018. 

For more information please have a look at our privacy policy.

If one or more of the following ‘employer-related’ events occurs, please notify The Pensions Regulator, copying in TPT Retirement Solutions, immediately.  

The Pensions Regulator requires that employers alert us immediately if either of the following employer-related events occurs:

(i)     Notifiable event – these are events which provide an early warning of possible insolvency. Some examples of a notifiable event are as follows:

• a)   Any decision to take action which will, or is intended to, result in a debt which is, or may become due, to the scheme not being paid in full.
• b)   A decision by the employer to cease to carry on business in the United Kingdom.
• c)   Advice is received by the employer that it is trading wrongfully within the meaning of section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986(a), or that there is no reasonable prospect that the organisation will avoid insolvency.
• d)   Any breach of a covenant in an agreement with a bank or institution providing banking services, other than where it is agreed that the covenant will not be enforced. A decision by a controlling company (if applicable) to relinquish control of the employer company.
• e)   The conviction of any individual for an offence, involving dishonesty, if the offence was committed while an individual was a director or partner of the employer.

(ii) Type A event – These are transactions which are materially detrimental to a defined benefit pension scheme and its members. Some examples of a Type A event are as follows:

• Change in control
• Change in creditor priority
• Significant increase in debt
• Distribution to other stakeholders.

In addition, an employer is required to notify us in the event that it is unable (or anticipates being unable) to meet its ongoing obligations to the scheme, such as the payment of deficit recovery contributions.

Further guidance on Type A events is available from The Pensions Regulator.

Income tax allowances are the amount of income you can receive before you start paying tax e.g. your Annual Allowance, Lifetime Allowance, Money Purchase Annual Allowance etc. 

If you have a problem or complaint in connection with your pension, please contact us as soon as possible so that we can help. 

If we cannot resolve your issue, please email, call or write to one of the managers listed below providing details of your problem:

For any Defined Contribution (DC) scheme:

TPT Administration at Mercer, Maclaren House, Talbot Road, Stretford, Manchester, M32 0FP 

Email: alison.broughton@tpt.org.uk 

For any other scheme:

Matthew Doggett, Head of Pensions Administration, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ

Email: matthew.doggett@tpt.org.uk 

If after you receive a response from the manager you are still unhappy, you may follow the formal two-stage complaints procedure which is summarised below:

Stage one

Please ensure that any correspondence is addressed to the Trustee Services Director at TPT and states clearly in the heading that you wish to exercise your right under the Trustee’s dispute resolution procedure. You should provide your name, membership number and as much detail about the reason for your complaint as possible. 

This is the first stage of the Pensions Act’s dispute procedure and is your legal right.

A decision should be given to you within two months.

You can get help with your complaint from The Pensions Ombudsman’s Early Resolution Team - see below. 

Stage two 

If you remain unhappy with the Stage 1 response, you have the right to appeal within six months to the Trustee. An appeal must be made in writing and must state the reasons for being dissatisfied with the previous decision. This is the second stage of the procedure. A decision from the Trustee should be given within two months. 

The Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Ombudsman is appointed to deal with complaints against, and disputes with, occupational and personal pension schemes. The Ombudsman is completely independent and acts as an impartial adjudicator and may investigate and determine any complaint or dispute of fact or law in relation to a scheme. The Ombudsman will not normally consider any complaint until the internal dispute procedure is completed, and may ask that you first refer your case to the Early Resolution Team (see above for details). 

The Pensions Ombudsman, 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 4PU

Tel: 0800 917 4487

enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk 

MoneyHelper  

Please note that MoneyHelper is a free resource where you can get assistance with pension matters and other choices which may affect your financial wellbeing. MoneyHelper can assist pension scheme members and other beneficiaries by answering questions and providing guidance in connection with their pension benefits, including where a person is having difficulties in relation to their pension scheme. Further information is available from the MoneyHelper website. 

Contact details: Tel: 0800 011 3797

From overseas: +44 20 7932 5780

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement 

If you have a problem or complaint in connection with the pension scheme or its administration, we would ask that you speak to your regular contact at TPT as soon as possible so we can look to resolve the matter with you. If we are unable to resolve your issue you will need to write to the Head of Employer Relationships at TPT providing details:   

Fran Marsden, Head of Employer Relationships, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ

Email: fran.marsden@tpt.org.uk

If you feel that the Head of Employer Relationships has not resolved your problem and you remain dissatisfied, you may follow the formal two-stage complaints procedure.

Stage one

You can write to (making sure your correspondence is headed ‘Formal Complaint’):

Karen Parry, Trustee Services Director, TPT Retirement Solutions, Verity House, 6 Canal Wharf, Leeds, LS11 5BQ   

Email: karen.parry@tpt.org.uk

Please provide your name, employer number and as much detail about the reason for your complaint as possible. A decision should be given to you within two months.

Stage two

If you remain unhappy with the formal resolution of the Trustee Services Director, you have the right to appeal within six months to the Trustee. An appeal must be made in writing and must state the reasons for being dissatisfied with the previous decision. A decision from the Trustee should be given within two months.

Occupational pension schemes such as those administered by TPT are set up under a legal structure known as a trust. Each scheme has trustees appointed who are ultimately responsible for looking after their members’ pensions.

Verity Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”) is the trustee appointed to look after your pension. The Trustee currently has nine directors – four nominated by the members, four nominated by the employers, and a professional independent trustee who is co-opted by the other directors and acts as the chair of the trustee board.

The Trustee has no shareholders and is established as a company limited by guarantee. It operates solely for, and is answerable to, the beneficiaries of its pension schemes.

The Trustee employs a number of specialist advisers and service providers to assist it in looking after your pension.

TPT Retirement Solutions Limited (the “Administrator”) carries out the day-to-day administration of your pension scheme on behalf of the Trustee (for example, collecting contributions and paying benefits). The Administrator is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trustee and employs over 200 staff who are dedicated to looking after your pension.

Neither the Trustee nor the Administrator is registered under the Financial Services and Markets Act to give financial advice. Any information that is provided to members or prospective members should therefore be taken to constitute information and not be taken to constitute advice. When providing information to members or prospective members, we take care to provide an accurate service but all decisions and choices which are made remain the responsibility of the individual, for which neither the Trustee nor the Administrator cannot be responsible.

The Employer Portal is a hub that allows our employers to access the following systems in one place:

• eBusiness
• HR Data
• Financial assessment questionnaire
• FRS 102 (DB accounting)
• FRS 102 (present value).

Depending on the type of scheme you have and the permissions set by your organisation, you may not need access to all of the above applications.

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

If you need any assistance logging in, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or email  employerportal@tpt.org.uk.

Please email employercontactdata@tpt.org.uk confirming the details of the person you want to add to the employer portal, as follows:

• name
• job title
• direct telephone number
• email address that only they have access to
• the applications they need access.

We will set up the new user and issue login details to them by email within 10 working days.

If you need any assistance, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk 

To change the applications that users have access to on the Employer Portal, please email employercontactdata@tpt.org.uk confirming the user’s full name, e-mail address and the changes you wish to make.

We will update the user account as soon as possible.

If you need any assistance, please contact the Employer Support team on 0113 394 2770 or employerportal@tpt.org.uk