What happens if you die
Should anything happen to you prior or after you taking your money, the benefits due will vary depending on a number of things.
Before retirement
If you haven’t started taking your pension savings yet, how your loved ones are affected if you die depends on whether you are still employed by the Company or not.
Still employed?
If you’re still employed by the Company, your loved ones would be entitled to the savings in your pension account plus the death in service cover.
If you’re still paying into the Scheme, the death in service cover is made up of 4 X your contractual Salary. This benefit is also payable to non-members or those who no longer paying into the Scheme but this benefit is not at the same rate.
- For employees who joined the Company on or before 30 June 2012, it is 2 x their contractual Salary as at their date of death.
- For employees who joined the Company from 1 July 2012, it is 1 x their contractual Salary as at their date of death.
No longer employed?
If you have left the Company and haven’t started taking your pension savings yet, your loved ones would be entitled to the savings in your pension account.
Keep the Trustee informed
A key part of your retirement planning should be to make sure we have an up-to-date Nomination of beneficiary form, you can do that by simply logging in to Manage Your Account and click on Nominate Beneficiaries. This is so the Trustee knows who you would like benefits paid to. The Trustee will take into account those you put on the form, but is not obliged to follow your wishes.
After retiring
Once you’ve started to take your pension savings, how your loved ones are affected if you die depends on the option you chose at the point you accessed your money and the exact options available will be determined by the terms of your plan.
If you’ve chosen to take your pension savings as cash:
If you’ve taken your entire pension savings as cash, then all your benefits will have been paid from the scheme already. Your loved ones won’t receive anything more from the plan.
If you’ve chosen a flexible retirement income:
Your chosen beneficiary would be entitled to the savings left in your pension savings. They may have options as to how they are able to take the money, depending on the rules of the scheme you have decided to take your retirement options with.
If you’ve chosen to buy an annuity:
It depends entirely on the options you choose when you buy the annuity. Annuities can be paid as income after you die to your chosen beneficiary. However, this is determined by the type of annuity you’ve purchased.
