Getting Information

Examples of basic information that should be provided automatically to members of personal pension plans and stakeholders schemes include the following:

• Annual Statement of projected benefits and contributions paid.
• The address to which enquiries about the scheme should be sent.
• The names and addresses of the scheme's trustees or managers.
• Membership conditions.
• Contracting out status.
• Effect of tax relief.
• A summary of the scheme's investment policy.
• Illustrative estimates of the transfer value of protected rights at the end of the first 5 years of membership.
• Description of how charges have been applied.
• A statement that TPAS is available at any time to assist members and beneficiaries of the scheme.

Contributions

If you are making contributions via your employer, they must pass your contributions over to the provider by the 19th day of the month following the deduction from your wages. If your employer fails to do this, the provider must report the matter to the Pensions Regulator.

In the case of a stakeholder or personal pension, if any payment is late by 60 days or more the provider must write to inform you of this. The provider must do this within 90 days of the date when the payment was due.

If your employer is contributing to the arrangement, their contributions must be paid over by a date specified by the employer. If, having specified a due date, the contributions are paid late, the same reporting requirements apply as specified above for your own contributions.

Your employer must give you written particulars of how any payment deduction arrangement operates. They must provide this information within 2 weeks of receiving your request to commence payments to the scheme.

Annual Statements

Members of personal and stakeholder pension schemes should automatically receive an annual statement. For personal pension this means once in every 12-month period since joining, and for stakeholder schemes, within 3 months of the end of the scheme year. The following should be contained in this statement:

• The value of your fund on the day before the first day of the statement year.
• The value of your fund on the last day of the statement year and the amount of any investment gain/loss arising from that year.
• Details of member contributions.
• Details of employer contributions.
• Details of tax relief paid by HM Revenue & Customs.
• Details of any contracted out rebate made on your behalf, (this is a rebate due to being contracted out of the State Second Pension).
• Date of birth and any age-related rebate details.
• The value of any benefits transferred from a previous scheme, including the date it was received and the name of the scheme.
• The amount deducted from contributions towards payment of the scheme charge.
• Any other deductions.
• Projected pensions given in today's value, taking into account how inflation between the date of the statement and your expected retirement date could reduce the buying power of your pension income.

Transfers

Where a member of a personal or stakeholder pension scheme makes an application for their benefits to be transferred, the provider has up to 6 months in which to pay your transfer value.

Retirement

A member of a personal or stakeholder pension scheme must automatically be provided with details of the options available to them upon retirement at least 4 months before their expected date of retirement. Most personal pension schemes will require you to nominate your expected retirement date at the time you join.

The earliest possible retirement date (except in the event of ill health or special occupations) is your 50th (55th from 6 April 2010) birthday and the latest is your 75th birthday. You do not need to actually retire from your employment to receive your pension early.

If you have specified a retirement age in excess of 50 but decide to retire earlier, you will need to inform the scheme manager of this. If you give them notice within 5 months of your selected retirement age, they have to provide your options within 1 month of receiving your notice.

Death

Upon the death of a member any rights and options due to any person as a consequence must be quoted as soon as practicable and not more than 2 months after notification of the death.

Ceasing to Contract out

Members of stakeholder and personal pension schemes who wish to cease being contracted out, should receive from the trustees or managers of the scheme information about their protected rights fund within 3 months of notice being given to them. This information should include the value of their protected rights and the options available to them.

Changes

Members of personal and stakeholder pension schemes must be notified in writing of:

• Any change in the scheme's rules or policy regarding changes. This must occur within 1 month of the change.
• Any loss of approval as a stakeholder scheme. This notification must be issued within 2 weeks of the manager or trustees of the scheme being given details of its removal from the stakeholder scheme register.
• Any change in relation to the scheme that will result in a significant alteration in basic scheme information. The notification must be made at least 3 months before the alteration is intended to take effect.

Report & Accounts

Schemes that are established under trust (most personal and stakeholder schemes will not be) must produce an annual report within 7 months of the end of the scheme year. This should be provided on request to members, prospective members, their spouses, beneficiaries and any trade union within 2 months of being requested. The annual report should contain the following information:

• Miscellaneous information - For example, the address to which enquiries about the scheme generally or about an individual's entitlement to benefits should be sent.
• Financial Information - For example, a copy of the audited accounts and the auditor's statement.
• Investment Information - For example, an investment report giving a review of the investment performance of the fund during the year and also for a longer period of between 3 and 5 years.

Annual Declaration

For personal and stakeholder pension schemes the trustees or scheme manager must make a declaration containing statements that:

• No charges have been made that are not permitted by regulations.
• The scheme's systems ensure investment transactions occur at fair market value.
• The scheme's systems ensure members' rights are determined.
• Adequate records have been kept for providing to members their annual statements.
• Regulations impose limits on the amount of charges applied.
• Each member of the scheme must be issued with an annual statement.

Within 3 months of the Annual Declaration being made, a certificate from the scheme's auditor must be added to it.

Winding Up

If a stakeholder scheme is omitted from the Stakeholder Register it must be wound up. Notice must be given automatically to each member within 4 months of the wind up commencing, stating:

• transfer value, unless the member submits an application in writing for a transfer to an alternative scheme to be made.
• The value of the member's fund at the start of wind up.
• That, unless the member applies within 4 months of the date of the notice of the transfer to be made to the scheme of their choice, a transfer may be made without their consent to the scheme stated in the notice.

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