Frequently asked questions.

Upon leaving your company you’ll have some options available to you with regard to your pension and/or ISA:

ISA

• When you leave your employment your ISA is no longer tied to your employer. If you make regular payments through your employer, these will stop unless your new employer offers the WorkSave ISA.
• If you wish to make future payments into your ISA, you can do this by topping up with a minimum of £200 per payment.
• You will continue to keep the same charging basis.

Pension

• You can keep the plan with us for as long as you want and not pay into it. Everything that’s in the plan will still be invested for you and annual management charges will continue to be deducted. At any time in the future you can start making payments into the pension again. Please note, if annual management charges are greater than any fund growth, the value of your investments will reduce.
• At any time in the future you can transfer the pension you hold with us to another provider. We won’t charge you to do this.
• As soon as we receive the last payment from your old employer, we’ll send you a leaver’s pack which explains all your options in more detail.

You can change your contact details now by logging into Manage Your Account.

You can also call our Employee Support Team on 0845 070 8686 or send us your new details in writing.  Please make sure you quote your arrangement number on the letter. We may record and monitor calls.  Call charges will vary.

If you have an existing stocks and shares ISA with Legal & General and have contributed in previous years or this tax year, you can contribute to both that ISA and a new WorkSave ISA, as long as you remain within the current tax year ISA limits.

If you have an existing cash ISA you can keep it and contribute to a new WorkSave ISA.

You can transfer from a cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA, but not from a stocks and shares ISA to a cash ISA. If you start a cash ISA and then transfer it to a stocks and shares ISA in the same tax year, any amount you have contributed will count towards your stocks and shares allowance.

If you have an ISA with another provider from a previous tax year you can transfer it to us. You can transfer as many of your existing ISAs as you wish.

If you have a stocks and shares ISA taken out in the current tax year with another provider, you have to transfer the whole investment to us within the current year before you can make a contribution into our WorkSave ISA. If your current stocks and shares ISA consists wholly or in part of direct share holdings, you can transfer the shares to us without having to sell them first.

You can cancel your ISA with us within 14 days of receiving your cancellation notice.  Upon cancellation of your WorkSave ISA we will sell your investments and you will receive the proceeds of sale, less any charges that we have incurred on your behalf.

If your contributions go over the Annual Allowance (including employer contributions) you will suffer a tax charge at your marginal rate.  For the tax year 2011/12 the Annual Allowance is £50,000.

It may be possible to carry forward unused Annual Allowances from the three previous tax years.

You should seek financial advice if you require more information.

You can stop contributions at any time without penalty.  Think about why you’ve decided to stop contributions, as it will have an effect on your retirement income. We’ll still take charges from your fund even if you stop contributions.

You can restart contributions at any time, again without penalty. If your employer is deducting the contribution from your salary they may restrict when you can restart.

It’s worth bearing in mind that saving regularly can be easy to stop but difficult to start up again. After a month or so you may not notice the contribution going from your salary, but if you decide to stop, starting again can be hard.

Use our retirement planner tool to help you plan ahead and see if you’re on track to fund the retirement you want.

From 2012, you will be automatically enrolled into your employer’s pension scheme. You can choose to opt out, but you may be missing out on benefits, such as contributions from your employer and tax relief.

Find out more about auto enrolment and how it will affect you.

A money purchase scheme is also known as a defined contribution scheme. It means you’re not guaranteed a set level of pension income when you take your benefits. Instead, the benefits you receive are based on a number of factors including:

• the amount of money paid into your pension fund
• the performance of the assets in which you invest
• the annuity rates available when you take your benefits

The most common type of defined benefit scheme is a final salary scheme. The benefits depend on:

• your number of years of service
• your final salary at the time benefits are taken
• the accrual rates of the scheme (determined by your employer)

Defined benefit schemes can be:

• contributory – both the employer and employee pay contributions to provide benefits
• non-contributory –  only the employer pays contributions

For further information on defined benefit schemes please speak to a financial adviser.

You will need to check your policy documents to find out whether you have a Stakeholder Pension, Group Personal Pension, WorkSave Buy Out Plan or a WorkSave Pension Plan. You can find the relevant funds guide for your plan detailing all the funds available to you in the document library.

If you would like advice on what funds to invest in you should speak to a financial adviser.

The value of your pension fund may fall as well as rise, and is not guaranteed. You should choose your funds carefully and review them regularly, particularly if you are close to retirement.

A lifestyle profile is an investment option. Your contributions initially go into a fund that’s typically invested mainly in shares. This offers you the potential for long-term growth. In the years before your selected retirement date, we steadily switch your investment into funds with lower risk.

You can stop a switch, or switch into other funds, by telling us in writing. It means you stop the lifestyle profile approach, but you can rejoin it later.

The value of your pension fund may fall as well as rise, and is not guaranteed. You should choose your funds carefully and review them regularly, particularly if you are close to retirement.

You can make changes to your investments by logging in to Manage Your Account.

You can also make changes by sending us the request in writing. Please make sure you quote your arrangement number on the letter.

Please note - you can’t combine a lifestyle profile with any other fund. If you’re already invested in a lifestyle profile and want to change your investment, you’ll have to switch all existing payments and redirect any future payments to your new fund choice. Likewise, if you’d like to start investing in a lifestyle profile, you’ll have to switch all existing payments and redirect all future payments into the lifestyle profile.

The value of your pension fund may fall as well as rise, and is not guaranteed. You should choose your funds carefully and review them regularly, particularly if you are close to retirement.

Although your pension with Legal & General may accept transfers, we would always recommend you speak to a financial adviser before transferring any other pensions you have to us just to make sure that you won’t lose out financially. Your other pension providers may charge you if you transfer out of their policy and there may be other benefits attached to your pension that you might forfeit if you decide to transfer it.

You can visit www.unbiased.co.uk to help you find a financial adviser in your local area. If you decide not to speak to a financial adviser, you can contact our Employee Support Team on 0845 070 8686 to discuss transfer options that may be open to you. We may record and monitor calls. Call charges will vary.

All you need to do is inform us of the request in writing. Simply send us a letter, quote your policy number and give us the full name and address of the person you want added to your plan.

If you want any beneficiaries removed, likewise simply inform us of the change in writing (although please note, once you’ve nominated a beneficiary you can’t go back to having no beneficiary at all).

If your pension or ISA payments come straight from your salary then you need to tell your payroll department about any changes you wish to make to your payments.

If you pay by your own direct debit simply send us a letter, quote your arrangement number and tell us what you’d like to change your payments to.

Once you’ve joined a pension plan with us, you’ll have 30 days from our receipt of your first contribution to cancel your plan. We’ll refund any contribution paid.

After this period HMRC rules state that your money will be tied up in a pension scheme until you take benefits, any time after you reach age 55.

You can request a retirement quote from our Claims team by ringing them on 0370 165 9406. Please note, the annuity rate used to calculate any retirement quotes will only be guaranteed for 18 days.  We may record and monitor calls. Call charges will vary.