Once a member reaches age 75, they won’t get tax relief on their contributions. Should they continue to contribute, they need to be aware that no tax relief will apply.

Employer contributions will continue to benefit from relief from corporation tax.

Transferring your pension savings is a big decision and could have a significant impact on your financial future.

A few things to think about before moving your pension

Investment returns

We offer a range of investment options to best suit your needs, giving you a better chance of your pension being worth more in the long run. Our returns have been strong, and our most popular fund has grown on average by 4.05% per year for the last 5 years (to August 2023). Find out more about our investment performance.

Saving for life

It’s your money and you’re in control. Even if you move jobs, you can keep paying into your pension with us.

We help you save more

We offer great value to our members. Our annual management charge rebate gives back a total of over £1m to members every month.

Putting people first

We’re trusted by over 6 million savers to grow and protect over £17bn of their money, helping them to a better retirement.

Our profit for people approach means we use profits to help people build better lives, not to reward shareholders. We put people – our customers – first, focusing time and effort on making things easier and fairer for them.  Read the key facts you need to know about your pension.

What if I have several pension pots?

If you’ve worked in several jobs, you’ve likely picked up a number of pension pots along the way. You can keep these separate while continuing to pay into your pot with The People’s Pension – even if you’ve changed jobs.

You can contribute to your pension monthly via Direct Debit or through a lump sum payment. And you’ll still benefit from tax relief (subject to current HMRC limits). You can find out more about making additional contributions on our webpage.

You can also combine all your pension pots into one. This can bring several benefits, such as helping you keep better track of your savings for later life.

We help 1,000s of people who transfer and combine their pensions with us every month. It’s quick and easy to do – you just need to fill in a quick online form and we’ll do the rest.

Don’t get stung on charges

Many companies can look appealing on paper but could end up costing you thousands of pounds in extra charges. Not all pension schemes are the same, and some providers may charge you more than others.

It’s always a good idea to compare any charges and benefits before deciding to switch pension providers. Our charges are competitive to give your savings the best chance of growing. And remember, we also offer a rebate on the management charge on pots over £3,000, rewarding you for saving more with us.

Impact on your normal minimum pension age

The normal minimum pension age is the earliest age that you can usually access your pension savings and is set by the government. This is currently set at age 55 and is rising to age 57 from 6 April 2028.

Some schemes, such as The People’s Pension, provide automatic protections that allow you to continue taking your pension money at age 55 after 6 April 2028. However, due to a change in government regulations, these protections aren’t available if you joined the scheme on or after 4 November 2021.

If you joined The People’s Pension before 4 November 2021, this protection is automatically provided to you but may be lost on transferring to a different pension provider. You should consider if the new pension provider will allow you to take your money from age 55 after 6 April 2028 (as other providers may not offer this option).

If you reach age 57 before 6 April 2028, this doesn’t affect you and you can still take your pension savings from age 55.

Find out more

Watch out for scammers

If you’ve received a pension offer that looks too good to be true, more often than not, it is. Visit our pension scams webpage for more information.

Get guidance before making the next step

Before deciding to move your pension to another provider, you should consider seeking guidance or advice. Our guidance team are on hand to answer any questions you may have. You can call them on 0300 2000 555 or use our online contact form.

You can also speak to the following for further guidance:

• MoneyHelper is a free service, backed by the government, offering impartial money and pension guidance.
• Pension Wise is a free and impartial service for the over 50s, backed by the government and provided by MoneyHelper, offering guidance about what to do with your pension savings.
• If you already have a financial adviser, you may wish to speak to them about your retirement needs.
• If you require professional advice, visit Unbiased for help with finding an independent financial adviser. Please note that they may charge you for this service.

If you do want to transfer to another provider

1. Talk to us first. This can often be one of the most important financial decisions you can make, so it’s a good idea to understand what to look out for if you move your savings out of The People’s Pension. Call our guidance team on 0300 2000 555 or contact us online.
2. Find out how much your new provider will charge you and what their investment returns are like (though note past performances should not be relied on.) Here’s our ratings on investment performance, charges and service.
3. Find your account number – it’s alongside your pension balance in your Online Account. Get started by setting up or logging in to your Online Account.
4. Get in touch with the pension scheme provider you want to transfer to and check if they use Origo Options. This is an electronic system which makes transferring quicker and easier for you. If they don’t use Origo Options, you’ll need to contact us to request a paper transfer-out form.
5. The provider you’re transferring to will tell you what to do next.
6. While your transfer is progressing, we may need you to complete ID checks with us – but we’ll let you know. Sometimes we may need to ask you some extra questions about the scheme and/or provider you want to transfer to. This is part of our commitment to The Pensions Regulator’s Scams Pledge to protect our members from falling victim to pension scams.

Please note: When you transfer your money away from The People’s Pension, you usually have to move all of your pension pot in one go. If you have a defined benefit scheme, you can transfer some of your money, (if scheme rules permit this), known as a partial transfer.

If you’ve requested to opt out of your workplace pension scheme within 1 calendar month of being enrolled, you’ll be entitled to a refund of your contributions.

If you request to cease active membership after this time, you won’t be entitled to a refund. Any contributions that you and your employer have paid into your pension pot will remain invested in The People’s Pension until you decide to access your benefits; or you can transfer your savings to another provider. Under HM Revenue & Customs rules, you can normally access your pot from your normal minimum pension age.

How will I receive my refund?

After we receive your opt-out request, we let your employer know the date they should stop taking pension contributions from you. As they’re responsible for deducting these directly from your salary, it’s also their responsibility to stop taking contributions from you.

It’ll usually take your employer around 3-6 weeks to process your refund. This is a refund of your own contributions and doesn’t include tax relief or contributions from your employer.

Find out more about how your employer refunds you.

Please speak to your employer directly to see when they’ll action your request and issue you with a refund.

What if your employee wants to stay in the pension scheme, but doesn’t want to pay the balance to meet the legal minimum contribution?

An employee can decide that they’d like to reduce their pension contributions so as they’re not meeting the legal minimum contributions. This means the employee will no longer be classed as ‘eligible’ for auto-enrolment’.

It should be their choice to pay below the minimum levels, and their employer is legally not allowed to suggest, encourage or induce them to do so.

Employers can choose to support the employee’s decision to reduce their pension contributions by following our guide,’Paying below the minimum contribution levels’.

Reducing their pension contributions means:

• the employee should remain in the pension scheme as an active member.
• you don’t have to continue paying pension contributions for them – but you can if you want to and can choose how much you’ll pay.
• you may need to re-enrol your employee into the pension scheme every 3 years (sometimes sooner). They’ll then have the opportunity again to see if they’d like to contribute to meet the total legal minimum contributions.
• the employee can decide to join the pension scheme and pay towards the total minimum contributions at any point in the future. They’ll just need to let their employer know in writing. This can be a signed letter or email, if it includes a statement to say it has come from them.

If you choose not to enable your employees to pay below the legal minimum contributions, they can opt out and pay pension contributions directly into their pension pot by Direct Debit. They’ll still benefit from the tax relief on their payments, and you won’t need to contribute. Your employee should be directed to our website if they’d like to set this up.

Remember – it should be your choice to pay below the minimum levels. Your employer is legally not allowed to suggest, encourage or induce you to do so.

Reducing your pension contributions means:

• your contribution could be reduced, but only if you decide this is what you want.
• you’ll no longer be classed as ‘eligible’ for auto-enrolment, so the amount you’d like to pay should be discussed with your employer.
• your employer would no longer have a legal obligation to pay anything into your pension pot. So you risk losing ‘free’ money from them.
• your employer may need to re-enrol you into the pension scheme every 3 years (sometimes sooner). You’ll have the opportunity again to see if you’d like to contribute to meet the total legal minimum contributions.
• you’ll still receive tax relief from the government (if you’re entitled to).

While it’s your decision to pay below the minimum legal contribution levels, your employer may not be able to facilitate this through their payroll.  Speak to your employer first to see if they can help with this.

If your employer can’t help you reduce your contributions

Then you could instead choose to make payments directly into your pension pot by Direct Debit. Visit our website for more information on how to set this up.

Important

Your pension savings are separate from the State Pension. This is currently at £230.25 a week, so it’s likely you’ll need to top it up to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

You can decide to opt back into the pension scheme and pay towards the legal total minimum contributions at any point in the future. You won’t need to wait until you’re re-enrolled by your employer. You’ll just need to let your employer know in writing. This can be a signed letter or email, if it includes a statement to say it has come from you.

Remember, if you reduce your own contributions your employer will no longer have to continue contributing to your pension pot, although they can choose to. Also, as you wouldn’t be paying in as much, you wouldn’t receive as much tax relief from the government on your contributions.

For the first 42 days, we hold your pension contributions for you but don’t invest them. This is so we can give you a refund if you opt out of the pension scheme in the first calendar month.

After this time period has passed (and providing your employer has paid in your contributions) we’ll begin to invest your money. You’ll see this reflected on your Online Account transactions page.

How does tax relief show on my Online Account?

This depends on how your employer deducts your contributions from your pay – whether before or after tax has been deducted. You can find more information on this here.

What if your pension contributions on your Online Account don’t match your payslip?

Your pension contributions will show alongside the date your employer has sent them to us. This doesn’t always match the date they deducted contributions from your pay. Many employers work in arrears, ie linked to the previous pay period rather than the current pay period – so it’s worth checking if your contributions match your payslip from the month before.

If you have any questions about what you’re paying into the scheme, your payroll department should be able to assist. As your employer is responsible for working out your contributions and sending them to us, we wouldn’t be able to adjust this for you if you feel it’s incorrect.

Check your contributions are correct

You can check what contributions you should be making under qualifying earnings by using MoneyHelper’s workplace pension contribution calculator.

If you have any questions about what you’re paying into the scheme, your payroll department should be able to assist.

If your employer is using the ‘relief at source’ tax arrangement where your contributions are deducted after tax, we’ll automatically claim tax relief for you, adding the basic tax rate of 20% to your pension contributions. We can receive this payment for tax relief from HMRC up to 12 weeks after your contributions are made into your pension pot.

If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, we can’t comment on how long it takes to receive the extra tax relief – you’ll need to contact HMRC.

If an earnings basis other than qualifying earnings is selected, self-certification is required at least every 18 months to confirm that the chosen basis meets the minimum requirements. You can find a template for this on the government’s website (Annexe E).

These tables are based on the relief at source method of claiming tax relief. Read more about tax relief on our website.

Set 1: pensionable earnings (basic) – worked out using at least basic pay. Contributions from first £1 earned – no thresholds.

Set 2: pensionable earnings (85%) – worked out using at least basic pay. When combining all employees using this set (including all employees you’re certifying for), the average basic pay must always make up at least 85% of the average total pay. Contributions from first £1 earned – no thresholds.

Set 3: total earnings – worked out using everything an employee is paid. Basic pay, plus all other earnings. Contributions from first £1 earned – no thresholds.

Regular Direct Debit payment (monthly or annual)

To make personal contributions by Direct Debit you need to:

1. Complete the ‘Making personal contributions to your pension’ form
2. Complete the Direct Debit mandate
3. Return your completed forms – we recommend you post these to us at ‘Freepost THE PEOPLES PENSION’.

We need you to return the completed ‘Making personal contributions to your pension’ form and the Direct Debit mandate to us before we can carry out our checks. We won’t be able to begin taking payments from you until we’ve completed our checks.

If we’re unable to check your identity and bank account electronically, we may need to contact you again to ask for more information. It’ll take us up to 10 working days to arrange your Direct Debit with your bank. We’ll write to you once it’s set up.

Lump sum payment through your online banking (sometimes known as BACS)

To make personal contributions through your online banking (sometimes known as BACS), you’ll need to:

1. Complete the ‘Making personal contributions to your pension’ form
2. Return your completed forms – we recommend you post these to us at ‘Freepost THE PEOPLES PENSION’.

For more information about tax relief, and the amount you can save into your pension and receive tax relief on, take a look at our other knowledge base Q&As:

• What’s tax relief?
• What’s the annual allowance?

If you make direct payments to us or your employer deducts your contributions after tax (this is known as relief at source), then we’ll automatically claim tax relief for you, adding the basic tax rate of 20% to your contributions. If you pay the Scottish starter rate of Income Tax at 19%, we’ll still give you tax relief at 20% and HMRC won’t ask you to repay the difference – so you won’t need to take any action. If you pay more than 20% tax, then you’ll need to complete a tax return to claim back the extra tax relief from HMRC.