Exploring my pension

There are an increasing number of companies claiming they can offer you high growth investment options outside of your current pension arrangement or help you access your pension as cash early. You need to be very careful if a company says they can do this for you. Often these arrangements can put your savings at unnecessary risk or result in tax charges and penalties of more than half the pot’s value and you won’t be told about this. If you’re concerned you should consider taking advice from an independent financial adviser. The Pension Regulator has more information about this here.

You may be able to transfer the benefits you’ve built up into another pension arrangement. For instance, you could transfer them into a new employer’s pension plan, a personal pension, stakeholder pension plan or a buy-out contract. There are various rules around pension transfers and you will need specialised IFA advice if you are in a Defined Benefit scheme and the value of the transfer is over £30,000. Contact us here if you would like a ‘Cash Equivalent Transfer Value’ (CETV) statement. You can receive independent advice from MoneyHelper here.

If your scheme or company is paying for our Retirement helpdesk service, you can contact us here.

Don’t let a scammer enjoy your retirement. Find out how pension scams work, how to avoid them and what to do if you suspect a scam here.

You may be entitled to a pension or a lump sum if your spouse, partner, or someone you were dependant on has passed away. Please do let us know here, if someone receiving a pension from us has died, or call us on 0800 122 5800 (from outside of the UK +44 20 3727 9850). We will need the member’s name, address, National Insurance number, date of birth and date of death. It would help if you know the member’s membership number and scheme name. Please let us know your telephone number, email address and relationship with the member. We will then be in touch about the next steps.

If you get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership, the courts need to decide how to divide your assets between you and your former spouse or civil partner. When they do this, they’ll take the value of your pension benefits into account. Please get in touch here to get details of your pension benefits for divorce proceedings.

When you die, most schemes, will provide your spouse or civil partner with a pension. If you don’t have a spouse or civil partner, your scheme may provide a pension to someone who was financially dependent on you. If we pay a pension to any of these people, their pension may also increase each year in line with inflation.

The minimum age you can start taking a pension in the UK is currently 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028. This is set by the government. However, your pension scheme may have a higher minimum pension age set in the scheme rules.  Retirement before ‘Normal Retirement Age’, which is usually 65, is normally reduced for early payment. Some schemes have exceptions due to ill health or protected minimum retirement ages. The latest that you can retire is often age 75.

We do not issue payslips automatically each month. You can view your payslip online anytime. You will have received a letter from Isio with instructions for logging in via www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You can request a new password here.

If you are currently employed by the company that sponsors your pension scheme, you may be able to increase your pension contributions or pay ‘Additional Voluntary Contributions’. You may need to contact your HR or Pensions department about this.

If you are still working for a company and a member of their scheme, you will receive an annual Benefit Statement. This shows how your benefits are building up. Some Defined Benefit schemes and all Defined Contribution schemes will also send annual Benefit Statements to members of a scheme, who have left employment.

The Annual Allowance is the limit set by the government on how much you can save in a pension scheme before having to pay tax. From the 2023/24 tax year, the Annual Allowance is £60,000. This amount is reduced further if you have an adjusted income greater than £260,000 and your threshold income is greater than £200,000. The government looks at a period of time called the Pension Input Period, to see how much the value of your benefits have increased. This increase is known as your Pension Input Amount and is included in your annual Benefit Statement. You need to check that the pension input amounts from all your pension savings do not go above the Annual Allowance. You may want to speak to an Independent Financial Adviser about this or read more about the detail here.

The LSA of £268,275 is the overall limit for receiving tax relief on lump sums paid at retirement.  The LSA is used up by Pension Commencement Lump Sums (PCLS) and the 25% tax-free element of Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sums (UFPLS).   Lump sums on total commutation of small pensions (trivial commutation lump sums, winding up lump sums and ‘small lump sums’), will not count towards these allowances.

The LSDBA of £1,073,100 will reduce through payment of a PCLS, and the 25% tax-free element of an UFPLS, as well as a serious ill-health lump sum, and the non-taxable part of any authorised lump sum death benefits (excluding a charity lump sum death benefit and a trivial commutation lump sum death benefit).

You can view your payslip and P60 online. You can log in online by going to www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You will need your username, password and memorable word. We have previously sent you this login information, but if you no longer have this please contact us and we will resend it. You can request a new password here.

We cannot answer questions about your tax code. If you think you are paying the wrong amount of tax, or if you think your tax code is wrong, you must contact HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) direct, quoting your National Insurance number (if you have one).

Phone: 0300 200 3300

Textphone: 0300 200 3319

Outside UK: +44 135 535 9022

Opening times:

8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday

8am to 4pm, Saturday

Closed Sundays and bank holidays

Best time to call: Phone lines are less busy before 10am, Monday to Friday

Post: Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment HM Revenue & Customs, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom

You can view your payslip and P60 online. You can log in online by going to www.mypensiontracker.co.uk. You will need your username, password and memorable word. We have previously sent you this login information, but if you no longer have this please contact us and we will resend it. You can request a new password here.

If for any reason you do still receive a paper payslip this will be sent to you by the 31st of May.

It is very important to keep your details updated. You can update your bank account here or request a form.

It is very important to keep your details updated. Click here to update your address or marital details.

Your benefits are valuable and so it is important to keep your contact details up-to-date. You can update your postal address here or email address, and telephone number here.

Your expression of wish form tells the Trustee who you would like any death benefits paid to. You should regularly update this to make sure it reflects your current personal circumstances and wishes. It is critical that you keep your Expression of Wish up-to-date. You can request the form here.

Everyone is different in terms of when they want to retire and how much they will want to spend. You may spend less on transport to work, upkeep of your children and you may have paid off your mortgage. However, you may want to spend more on holidays and your health. You can access an online budget planner from the MoneyHelper here. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has an excellent resource setting out retirement living standards here.

It may be possible to retire early, if your scheme rules and trustee board allow this. You can contact us here, if you believe that you are eligible.

You may be able to delay taking your pension. In some cases, it may result in an increase in your monthly payments.

Isio is a multi award winning pension administrator. Our focus is happy staff and a high quality member experience. Please do email, write or call us, if you have any question around the administration of your benefits. We are here to help. If you need any advice however, you need to speak to an Independent Financial Adviser. The government has set up a service to offer free, impartial guidance. You can call MoneyHelper on 0800 138 3944. You can also find lots of guidance around your retirement options at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en.

If you have any questions please get in touch using our online tools, telephone or post.

We have a range of dedicate online forms here or you can ask a general question here.

Email: adminhelp@isio.com.

Post: Isio, PO Box 108, Blyth, NE24 9DY

Helpline: 0800 122 3200 (from outside of the UK +44 20 3727 9850)

Opening times: 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday

If you need a retirement quotation, transfer out quotation or any other information, we have a variety of dedicated forms listed here or you can ask a general question here.

Isio takes complaints very seriously. Please do contact us here.

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Or use the following contact details.

Email: adminhelp@isio.com

Post: Isio, PO Box 108, Blyth, NE24 9DY

Helpline: 0800 122 3200 (from outside of the UK +44 20 3727 9850)

Opening times: 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday