Your Questions

A pension is a tax-efficient way of saving money that you can use to live on when you’re no longer working. In a workplace pension, like the Unipart schemes, both you and your employer pay into the plan.

What are the different types of pension?

There are lots of different types of pension schemes. Workplace pension schemes are set up by employers to help their employees save for retirement. Both you and your employer pay into this type of pension. With workplace pensions, you can get defined contribution schemes and defined benefit schemes. The current open Unipart schemes are all defined contribution schemes.

You can also join a personal pension, where you pay into the pension but your employer doesn’t.

What is the difference between a defined contribution and a defined benefit pension?

In a defined contribution pension scheme, you build up a pot of money that you can take at retirement. The amount of money you get depends on how much you paid in and the fund’s investment performance. You can choose how to take your pot of money including an option to take 25% as tax-free cash. It doesn’t have to be a monthly income.

A defined benefit pension scheme is one where the amount you get at retirement is worked out using a formula, based on how many years you paid into the scheme and your salary. You get a monthly pension and can take part of it as tax-free cash.

Why should I join my workplace pension?

There are a lot of good reasons to join your workplace pension. Firstly, your employer helps you save for retirement by paying money into your pension (on top of the money you pay in yourself). If you didn’t join the workplace pension, you wouldn’t get this extra contribution.

Another reason for joining is that the government wants to help people save for the future, so you don’t pay tax on your pension contributions, which means it costs you less that you think. If you’re a basic rate taxpayer, every £1 you pay into your pension actually only costs you 80p. Your employer may also allow you to pay through something called Salary Sacrifice, which reduces the cost for every £1 to 68p.

In addition to this ‘free money’, joining a workplace pension is easy. Your employer sets it all up for you, so you don’t have to think about setting up direct debits or any of the other hassles you might have in taking out a personal pension.

Will I get a State Pension?

Your entitlement to a State Pension depends on the number of qualifying years of National Insurance (NI) contributions you have. To receive any State Pension at all, you must have a minimum of 10 qualifying years. To get the full State Pension, you will need to have 35 qualifying years. If you have between 10 and 35 years of NI contributions, you will get a proportionate amount of State Pension.

What is automatic enrolment?

In 2012, it became compulsory for employers to automatically enrol eligible employees into a workplace pension and for both the employer and employee to make contributions towards it. Once enrolled, employees have the option to leave the pension scheme (opt out).

If you don’t join the Unipart Scheme when you are first invited to, or you opt out, the Company will have to automatically re-enrol you every three years or when you reach certain age or salary levels.

While you are a member, you build up a pot of money during your employment, made up of contributions from you and the Company. These contributions are invested with the aim of increasing your retirement account over time.

Who should I contact if I have a question about my pension?

This will depend on which pension you have.

If you have one of the legacy DB (UGPS, RBS, JVPS), you will need to contact the Scheme administrator, Capita on 0344 391 2421 or at Unipart@pensions.com

If you are in Nest, you will need to contact the Scheme Administrator, Nest, on 0300 020 0393 or by logging into your account and sending a secure message (or starting a live chat).

If you are in the MasterTrust (UGPP or UGMT), you will need to contact the Scheme Administrator, Legal & General,  on  0345 070 8686 or employerdedicatedteam@Landg.com, or by logging into your account and sending a secure message (or starting a live chat).

Who runs the Unipart schemes?

A board of Trustees is responsible for the administration of each of the Unipart schemes in accordance with legislation and their Scheme Rules.

How do I know how much my retirement account is worth?

Your annual benefit statement will summarise the contributions paid into your pension pot by you and the Company, how your investments have performed, your prospective pension at retirement (if you buy an annuity).  Your benefit statements are held on your online accounts.  You can also log in at any time to see the current value of them.

If you need an update of your legacy DB benefits (UGPS, RBS, JVPS) you will need to contact Capita, the Scheme Administrator, at the contact details above.

Can I view my pension account online?

Yes, you will need to log into your account at the relevant Scheme Website.

If you have not already done so, you will need to register to access your account online in the first instance. You can request a personal activation code, which will be posted to you. When you have this, you will be able to register. You will also need to provide your pension number, your date of birth, your National Insurance number and your email address.  Please contact the your Scheme’s Administrator to arrange this.

Can I opt out of the Scheme?

New employees are automatically enrolled into the Scheme, but it is not a condition of your employment to be or remain a member. To opt out, you would need to complete and return an opt-out form.

Please refer to your relevant Scheme literature (Member Guide, Member Website etc…) for further details on how to opt out.

How can I make a complaint?

If you have a complaint about the Scheme, you should contact the Head of Group Pensions, who will try to settle the complaint on an informal basis. You can contact the Group Pensions team at Group.Pensions@unipart.com.

If you are unhappy with the response you receive, there is a formal complaints procedure in place to help you resolve the problem.

What you pay in is up to you. Up to certain levels, the Company will match your contributions.

Your contribution is also eligible for tax relief so each £1 you save, if you are a basic rate taxpayer, only costs you 80p.

What happens to my contributions?

The money paid in by you and the Company is invested according to your selections with the aim of achieving long-term growth for your retirement account.

What is Salary Sacrifice?

Salary sacrifice is an arrangement which reduces the cost of your pension contributions to you by making National Insurance (NI) savings.

Do I have to pay contributions using Salary Sacrifice?

No, you can pay via deduction from salary instead but you would then pay National Insurance on the value of your contributions.

How much of my earnings can I pay into the Scheme?

You can pay up to 100% of your salary in any month if you wish but the Company will only match up to a certain level. You should also be aware that the Annual Allowance puts a limit of £40,000 on tax-free pension contributions.

What is the Annual Allowance?

The government places a limit on the tax-free amount of money that can be saved into a pension each year. This is currently £40,000 a year. You can save more than this into all your retirement accounts in a year, if you wish, but any contributions above this amount would not receive tax relief. Your Annual Allowance may be reduced if you earn more than £150,000 p.a. It would also be reduced if you have flexibly accessed any other pension arrangements.

What is the Lifetime Allowance?

This is a limit that the government places on the total value of tax-efficient pension savings you can build up over the course of your working life from ALL sources including your Unipart Scheme (but excluding the State Pension). It is currently set at £1,073,000 (2022/2023).

Can I pay more?

Yes, but how you do so depends on your pension scheme.

If you are in Nest, you will need to log into your Account and set up a payment via direct debit.

If you are in the MasterTrust, you can change your contribution rate on an annual basis every April.  You should receive a form from Group Pensions to complete and return in order to make this change.  You can change your contribution rate at other times if you have a Life change event, such as you get married, divorced, have a child, etc.

In addition, members of the MasterTrust can make one off payments to their pension.  You will need to complete a form for this.  Please contact Group Pensions at Group.Pension@unipart.com in order to investigate this.

The contributions from you and the Company are invested in the funds that you select, from a range which has been made available by the Trustees. The value of your  retirement account could go up or down, depending on investment returns.

For more details on your investments and available funds, you should log into your pension account.

What are my investment choices?

You can choose one of the default Lifestyle investment strategies, or you can self select investment funds.

Full details are available from your relevant Scheme’s Administrator.

Can I change my investment choices?

Yes, you can make changes to the way your retirement account is invested at any time by logging into your account.

Isn’t investment risky?

Yes, investment involves taking risk in the expectation that this will be rewarded over the long-term time frame that applies to a pension.

You are able to take different levels of risk (using the different funds in the self-select range) and using a low-risk fund would make it less likely that your fund would go down in value. However, it also reduces the chances of investment markets helping your retirement account to grow and it is important to remember the impact inflation can have on the real, long-term value of your savings.

If you don’t feel confident with self-select investments, you have the option of using the default Lifestyle strategy, which is designed to be suitable for the needs of most members.  Please contact your relevant Scheme for further details.

What is ‘lifestyling’?

Lifestyling is the automatic process of switching your retirement account from higher-risk funds into lower-risk funds and then finally into funds which provide a platform for the retirement options available to you. It takes place gradually through your career as you progress towards your Normal Retirement Age.

What is my Target Retirement Age?

This is any age you select between the Minimum Pension Age (age 55 at 2022/2023) and the Maximum Pension Age (age 75 2022/2023).  If you do not make a selection for your Target Retirement Age, the system will default to your State Pension Age.   It’s really important to select your Target Retirement Age is it coincides with when you plan to retire, so that the gradual de-risking of your pension pot matches when you want to retire.

If you do not choose a different Retirement Age, we will assume that you wish to retire at State Pension Age.

Where can I get investment advice?

Neither Unipart nor the Trustees are permitted under UK law to give you advice.

You should speak to Pension Wise in the first instance for free guidance run by the Government on your Pension Options.  If you would like regulated advice, you can find an independent financial adviser local to you at unbiased.com.  Please ensure that your adviser is registered with the FCA to provide retirement and pensions advice.

Your Unipart pension is a defined contribution pension scheme, which means that you won’t know exactly how much your pension will be until you retire. It depends on the amount of money that is paid into your retirement account as contributions along with how your investments have performed.

Your annual benefit statement will give you an estimate of your prospective pension at retirement.

When can I take my pension?

The earliest you can currently take your benefits from the Scheme is 55.  This is known as the Minimum Retirement Age.  The government is planning to raise this minimum retirement age to 57 by 2028, and then 58 thereafter.

If you leave the Scheme before age 55, no further contributions will be payable into your retirement account and your benefits will be ‘deferred’.

Can I transfer my pension?

Yes, you can take the value of your retirement account with you to a new employer’s plan or another registered pension arrangement, provided you have not started to receive your benefits.

You can take the money that has built up in your retirement account at any time from the age of 55. The government is planning to raise this minimum retirement age to 57 by 2028.

What are my retirement options?

You can take up to 25% of your retirement account as a tax-free cash lump sum. You can then use the rest in the way that suits you best. You can choose to purchase an annuity (a guaranteed income), or take income drawdown or take it as taxable cash.

What help will I get with my retirement options?

When you reach retirement, we will send you more information about your retirement options to help you in making your decisions.

What is an annuity?

An annuity is a pension for life that you can buy from an insurance company. There are several options for how the annuity may work, which influence how much it would cost. For example, you could have a flat-rate annuity or one that increases each year with inflation. Unipart offer the services of a retirement broker to help you to find an annuity. 

What is income drawdown?

Income drawdown is a way of getting pension income when you retire while allowing your pension fund to keep on growing. Instead of using all the money in your pension fund to buy an annuity, you leave your money invested and take a regular income direct from the fund. It is more flexible but more risky than buying an annuity.

If you are too ill to return to work, you may receive a lump sum as your employment ends plus the value of your retirement account on ill health retirement.

If you die in service as a member of the Scheme, you are covered by a death-in-service benefit. A lump sum equal to certain multiples of your annual salary would be payable to your dependants and beneficiaries.

What happens to my Retirement Account if I die?

The value of your retirement account at the date of your death is paid to your beneficiaries as a lump sum.