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NEW Group Personal Pension (GPP)

  • Important - You will not be automatically enrolled into the new GPP with Aviva. If you fail to take action to join the new plan online both employee and employer contributions will cease in January.
  • To join the plan, please log on to BenPal and apply online; if you need assistance, contact the Helpdesk on 0845 309 6197 or email support@benpal.com.
  • You can choose from over 250 investment funds in the new Aviva GPP. BenPal also has three 'Fast-Track' risk graded solutions to help you get started.
  • You can switch between your investment funds as often as you like online and without charge.
  • If you leave the company after joining the Aviva GPP you have three choices:
    1. You can leave the value in the plan until retirement
    2. Transfer the value to another pension plan, or
    3. Continue to pay into the pension, making ongoing contributions directly from your bank account.
  • If you die before you receive your pension, the fund value will be paid out as a lump sum to your nominated beneficiary. It is important you complete your Expression of Wish form online and update it regularly.
  • If you die whilst receiving your pension, the remaining fund value will be paid based on the options you chose at retirement.
  • The earliest you can elect to receive your pension is age 55.
  • Your Legal & General pension plan will remain invested and you can keep this as a separate investment. JLT will contact you early 2011 should you wish to transfer this pension to the new Aviva GPP.
  • You can continue to make contributions into your Legal & General pension on a personal basis by setting up a direct debit mandate to collect your contributions. If you are entitled to higher rate tax relief you need to claim this via your self assessment tax return National Insurance savings will cease.
  • You will not be able to manage your Legal & General pension via BenPal.You can add the fund value to BenPal for the purpose of pension modelling.
  • The Pension Modeller will help you work out what you should be paying into your pension and you can include other pension values to get a fuller picture of your expected pension benefits in retirement.
  • You can vary the amount you pay into your pension plan, however, via salary exchange you can only reduce contributions once a year. Decide how much you wish to pay and then review each year. Should you experience a life event (marriage, divorce, death, birth of a child, financial hardship etc) you can make changes during the year.


Salary Exchange for Pension Contributions

How does it work?

  • You stop making your normal pension contributions from your net pay.
  • Your gross contractual pay decreases by the amount you were paying as a pension contribution.
  • You make savings in tax and NICs on the amount of salary exchanged and this will then increase your take home pay.
  • We will then pay the same amount of contributions on your behalf.
  • Using this method, you do not need to make a separate claim for higher rate tax relief if you are a higher rate tax payer
  • The term 'Reference Salary' will be used to describe your salary before the salary exchange reduction, to ensure you are not disadvantaged by this scheme. Your Reference Salary will be used to calculate your pension contributions, your pension benefits, Life Assurance and any other salary-related employee benefits. It will also be used for any future salary reviews and bonuses that are calculated on a percentage of your salary. Your Reference Salary will also be provided for any mortgage or tenancy references.

If you are a member of the Group Personal Pension Plan, you will automatically be opted into the Salary Exchange scheme for pension only unless you advise otherwise.

You can find further information on Salary Exchange by clicking here and examples of the potential savings by clicking here.

To join the new GPP, login to the BenPal system through the 'Login' tab on this site, and follow the instructions in the pension section.