Your workplace pension member guide

If you leave Tesco, you can:

Leave your savings where they are

Your savings will remain invested until you choose to take them. You can continue to choose which funds to invest in, but you can’t pay any more contributions into the Plan. If you choose this option, you can transfer your savings to another pension arrangement at a later date if you want to.

Transfer the value of your savings to another pension arrangement

You can choose to transfer your savings into a new employer’s pension scheme or to a personal pension plan if you have one. You should contact the scheme to which you wish to transfer to arrange this. Before transferring, you should check the charges in the new arrangement, as they may be higher than the charges you pay in the Plan.

If you’re off work due to sickness, contributions will continue to the Plan*, as long as you’re receiving pay from Tesco. Both your own and Tesco’s contributions will be based on the pay you actually receive during this period.

If you’re in poor health and do not expect to be able to return to work in the future, it may be possible to access your retirement savings early.

If you’re seriously ill (certified by a registered medical practitioner that life expectancy is less than a year) you can take your retirement savings when you reach your chosen retirement age, or any time from the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA), whether or not you’ve stopped working, the current NMPA is 55. Benefits are subject to the Lump Sum Allowance. Other conditions may apply.

*If you’re off sick or on family leave, a drop in pay may mean you temporarily come out of SMART, as salary sacrifice can’t reduce pay below minimum thresholds. 

Your pension contributions will still continue, but they may be taken outside SMART, meaning you won’t get the usual National Insurance savings for that period.

If you die while still employed by Tesco, a lump sum will be paid, usually to your nominated beneficiary. The amount payable will normally be:

• Cash worth five times your annual pay if you’re still contributing to the Plan or one times your annual pay if you have stopped contributing before you die plus;
• The value of your Tesco retirement savings at the date of your death.

You should complete an Expression of Wish Form to nominate beneficiaries and make sure it’s kept up to date. The Trustees don’t have to follow your wishes, but they’ll always use it to guide their decision.

You can complete or update your Expression of Wish Form at any time at ourtesco.com/reward-and-benefits/retirement-savings/life-cover/expression-of-wish or by calling the Tesco Retirement Savings Plan helpline on 0345 070 0090.

Benefits are usually paid as a lump sum. However, your beneficiaries will be able to choose how they receive their benefits.

The Trustees are responsible for deciding who the benefits are paid to and will take all relevant circumstances into account when doing so. If a beneficiary is not able to make this choice themselves (for example, if they are under 18 or unable to act due to ill health), the Trustees may instead arrange for the benefits to be managed on their behalf, for example through a trust.

The tax that applies to any money paid from your pension after your death will depend on your individual circumstances and the tax rules in place at the time.

In some cases, tax may be due if the total value of certain lump sum payments from pension arrangements exceeds the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA). This is currently only likely to affect people with larger pension savings or death benefits.

From 6 April 2027 most unused pension savings and some pension death benefits are due to be included when calculating the value of a person's estate for Inheritance Tax. Death in service benefits paid from a registered pension scheme are currently expected to remain outside these rules.

Tax rules can change and depend on individual circumstances. If your beneficiaries are unsure how these rules may affect them, they may wish to seek guidance or financial advice

If you get divorced, the pension savings you’ve built up are generally taken into account by the court when deciding on a divorce settlement or dissolution of a registered civil partnership.

There are three ways that the court can deal with your pension entitlement: 

• The value of your savings can be ‘offset’ against other financial assets, like the marital home.
• Your savings can be subject to a ‘pension sharing’ order, where a proportion of your pension is given to your ex-spouse or registered civil partner. Your savings are then reduced as a result.
• Part of your savings can be ‘earmarked’ through a court order for your ex-spouse or registered civil partner to receive when you retire.

To find out more call the Tesco Retirement Savings Plan Helpline on 0345 070 0090.

You can stop contributing to the Plan at any time, by completing the Stop Contributions Form, which you can find on ourtesco.com/reward-and-benefits/retirement-saving

Alternatively you can call the Tesco Retirement Savings Plan Helpline on 0345 070 0090.

However, you should give serious consideration to the consequences of not saving enough for your retirement.

You should also be aware that if you stop contributing, Tesco will stop contributing to your savings and you’ll no longer receive the higher life cover you receive when you’re contributing to the Plan.

The options available to you if you stop saving are the same as described above under ‘What happens if I leave Tesco?’

If you stop saving while still working for Tesco you can rejoin the Plan at any time. In certain circumstances Tesco may automatically re-enrol you into the Plan to comply with the law.

While you receive statutory payments for these types of leave, Tesco will continue to pay its matching contributions, as though you were still working and receiving your normal levels of pay*. These contributions will continue while you’re entitled to statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay or statutory adoption pay. The life cover you receive as a member of the Plan will also continue. Your own contributions will be calculated based on the pay you actually receive while on maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

*If you’re off sick or on family leave, a drop in pay may mean you temporarily come out of SMART, as salary sacrifice can’t reduce pay below minimum thresholds. 

Your pension contributions will still continue, but they may be taken outside SMART, meaning you won’t get the usual National Insurance savings for that period.

You can pay into as many retirement savings plans as you like but Tesco will only contribute into this Plan on your behalf and the Annual Allowance will apply to the total of all your retirement savings.

Visit gov.uk for information on pensions – including the State Pension, Pension Credit, taxation, pension allowances and a lot more.