General | Help and support

What if I have any issues accessing my member rewards?

Alex Marshall — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 08:39:25 +0000

If you’re having issues redeeming your reward, you’ll need to contact the brand partner directly. You can do this through their website by navigating to the bottom of the page and clicking on the ‘Help’, ‘FAQs’, or ‘Contact’ buttons.

How do I access my member rewards?

Alex Marshall — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 08:39:21 +0000

You can access your rewards through your online account.

Simply log in to your online account and click on the ‘Rewards’ tab.

Why has my tax-free cash disappeared from my statement and why has my income projection changed from monthly to yearly?

Alex Marshall — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:05:25 +0000

Rules around pension projections are heavily regulated and all providers (like People’s Partnership) must follow these rules. In October 2023, new rules came into place to make it easier for members to compare their pension savings and projections across providers in a consistent way. That’s why the tax-free cash has been removed from your statement and the projections have changed from monthly to yearly. All providers’ annual statements will show pension values this way and use the same annuity assumptions.
This does not change the pension options you have when you decide to take your pension benefits, and you will still be entitled to take any tax-free cash available to you.

How were employers supported during the coronavirus pandemic?

Alex Marshall — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:39:08 +0000

Financial support during coronavirus

The government implemented a number of schemes to support businesses. You can find out what these schemes were through the government’s website.

Find out what financial support was available for businesses during coronavirus on the government’s website

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) offered grants to cover a portion of the wage costs if you put staff on furlough because of coronavirus.

The scheme ended on 30 September 2021.

Since the beginning of August 2020, employers were no longer able to claim back their pension contributions and National Insurance contributions for staff through the scheme.

After CJRS ended on 30 September 2021

When the scheme ended, you needed to decide to either:

bring your employees back to work on their normal hours
reduce your employees’ hours
terminate their employment (normal redundancy rules apply to furloughed employees).

If you decided to choose the third option, your employees’ pension pots remain invested with us until they decide to take their money from their normal minimum pension age or transfer their savings to another pension provider.

Your employer auto-enrolment duties

If you chose the first or second option above, you needed to continue to make the minimum employer pension contributions.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) expects you to meet your auto-enrolment duties and to contribute in full, and on time at all times.

Find out more about guidance on payments on the TPR website

Kickstart Scheme

The Kickstart government scheme offered financial support – including pension costs – for employers who provided work placements for young people.

Eligible employers could apply for grants through the scheme to cover the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week for eligible 16-24-year-olds, as well as the associated National Insurance contributions and employer minimum pension contributions.

Applications to the scheme closed 17 December 2021 at 12pm. If you applied before then, you may still be given the grant.

Find out more about this and the Kickstart Scheme’s closure on gov.uk

What is a power of attorney and when should I make one?

Alex Marshall — Mon, 23 May 2022 15:37:44 +0000

A power of attorney is a legal document which allows someone you trust to make decisions for you or on your behalf. This can last for any length of time, before or during a period of vulnerability. Depending on the type of power of attorney you want to set up, you may need to register it with the Office of the Public Guardian (a government body) first.

Read more about making a power of attorney and the different types.

What types of pensions are there?

archie.homer — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:22 +0000

There are three basic types of pension: the State Pension, a defined benefit (DB) pension or a defined contribution (DC) pension.

The basic State Pension is provided by the government and will supply you with a basic income for the rest of your life once you reach State Pension age. You build up your State Pension entitlement by making National Insurance contributions.

A defined benefit pension scheme pays an amount at retirement based on your earnings and how long you’ve been a member of the scheme. These pensions are also known as a final salary scheme. Some of these schemes base the amount you receive on a career average salary whereas others may use the salary you were on immediately before retirement.

A defined contribution scheme is more like a savings plan. This type of pension builds up a pension pot to pay you a retirement income based on contributions from you and/or your employer. Your pot is put into various types of investments, including shares (shares are a stake in a company).

The amount in your pension pot when you come to access it is based on how much has been paid in and how well the investments have performed. You may also hear these referred to as money purchase schemes.

What’s an occupational pension?

archie.homer — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:21 +0000

Nowadays this is called a workplace pension – though sometimes also known as employer, company, works or work-based pensions.

You might still see ‘occupational pensions’ mentioned as a broader term to describe older pensions that were offered in the workplace before the automatic enrolment regulations came in.
Previously, many employers offered stakeholder pensions, defined benefit pensions and other solutions. Since the auto-enrolment laws came in all employers are gradually having to offer a workplace pension.

What type of pension scheme is The People’s Pension?

Alex Marshall — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:21 +0000

The People’s Pension is a defined contribution, workplace pension scheme that has master trust status. A master trust is a multi-employer, occupational pension scheme, established by a trust deed and managed by a board of Trustees. The Trustee is responsible for running the Scheme and making wide ranging decisions, which include the control of investments and monitoring the performance of its service providers. This ensures the Scheme is well run for the benefit of the members.

How much will I get when I retire?

archie.homer — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:20 +0000

It’s possible to get an estimate of how much you’ll get from a workplace pension. You may hear this referred to as a ‘pension projection’. You can get this from your pension scheme provider and with The People’s Pension, you can see this in your account online or within our app. This will give you the opportunity to check that your pension savings still meet your needs. Remember, it’s not a promise or guarantee that your benefits will be paid at the value shown in the projection statement. Lots of things affect what you might get back such as how long your money is invested, how much you pay in, how the investment performs, and what age you choose to take your money etc. The value is also based on a number of general assumptions.

Your projected pension pot at retirement is also affected by inflation – find out more

Our retirement planner can help you to work out if you’re on track to live the retirement you want. It shows you how much money you’re likely to need and could have in retirement. Find the planner in your account.

Or you can use the MoneyHelper’s pension calculator. It gives you an estimate of the income you’ll get when you retire by including income from defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, plus your basic State Pension.

What’s the difference between guidance and advice?

archie.homer — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:03:19 +0000

Guidance – this type of service won’t recommend any products or tell you what to do with your money. It’ll only give you the information to help you make a decision.

If you want general guidance on the options available and the next steps you could take, you need to contact Pension Wise which is the government’s free and impartial service.

Advice – an in-depth analysis by a regulated and qualified adviser giving you a detailed recommendation of the best options to suit your personal and financial circumstances.

Maybe you’ve done your own research, but you still have some unanswered questions? Or maybe you’ve realised your pension pot is worth more than you thought, and you think a financial adviser could help you make the right decision?

Expert financial advice can also help make clear how much tax you’ll pay when accessing your pension pot.

Types of advice:

Independent advice is completely unbiased and covers the whole range of financial products from all the different companies available.
Restricted advice is provided on a limited range of products specialising in one area, for example, pensions, or on products offered by a limited number of companies.
Simplified advice is a streamlined advice process, limited to one or more of a customer’s specific needs.

Find out more about your guidance and advice options