FAQs

The contributions you paid while you were building up your pension are payable as a death lump sum. The Trustees decide who should receive this payment but they will take your wishes into account. Please make sure your Expression of Wish is up to date. If you leave a spouse, civil partner or someone else financially dependent on you, they may be entitled to a pension from the Scheme for their lifetime. This would usually be 50% of your pension, with increases to the date of death. The pension will be reduced if your dependant is more than ten years younger than you.The Scheme Rules also allow for childrens' pensions to be paid to any eligible children (aged under 18, or aged 18 to 23 and still in full-time education). Please contact the First Actuarial for more information.

Your pension is guaranteed for five years. If you die within five years of your retirement date, the balance of your pension to the end of the five-year period is payable as a lump sum. The Trustees decide who should receive this payment but they will take your wishes into account. Please make sure your Expression of Wish is up to date. Once you have received your pension for five years there is no longer a death lump sum payable and you do not need to keep your Expression of Wish updated. If you leave a spouse, civil partner or someone else financially dependent on you, they may be entitled to a pension from the Scheme for their lifetime. This would usually be 50% of your pension (before any reduction for a lump sum at retirement), with increases to the date of death. The pension will be reduced if your dependant is more than ten years younger than you.The Scheme Rules also allow for childrens' pensions to be paid to any eligible children (aged under 18, or aged 18 to 23 and still in full-time education). Please contact First Actuarial for more information.

The Trustees looks after the Scheme, and ensures that benefits are paid in line with the Trust Deed and Rules.

The easiest way for you to let us know that you have moved is to send us an email to ASS001.admin@firstactuarial.co.uk.

Please include your full name, your old and new address and your National Insurance number and date of birth on your email. If you would prefer to send this information in a letter, you can write to The Trustees of the ACCA Staff Pension Scheme, First Actuarial LLP, Fosse House, 182 High Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1BE.

If you have changed your name, you should let us know so we can update our records.

To update our records, we will need to see your marriage certificate or change of name deed. You can send the original document to us by post, or send a scanned copy or photograph by email. The postal address is The Trustees of the ACCA Staff Pension Scheme, First Actuarial LLP, Fosse House, 182 High Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1BE. Be sure to include your previous name and your date of birth. We will return the certificate to you by recorded delivery on the day of receipt. The email address is ASS001.admin@firstactuarial.co.uk.

You may also wish to consider updating your Expression of Wish form.

The Expression of Wish form is considered by the Trustees when deciding to whom any lump sum benefits should be paid, in the event of your death. The Trustees also consider other information, such as whether you have any children or other dependants, when making their decision.You should keep your Expression of Wish updated until you have taken your pension and been retired for five years. After this, no death lump sum is payable so your Expression of Wish is no longer needed. See "What happens if I die after taking my pension?" for more information.

You can download an Expression of Wish form from the Documents page of this website. Alternatively contact First Actuarial and we will send a copy to you in the post.

We are sorry that you have a complaint. As a first step, please let us try to put this right, contact the Scheme administrators and let them know the details of your complaint. If this does not satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you should raise a formal complaint by following the “Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure”, which can be found on the Documents page of this website - alternatively contact First Actuarial and we will send a copy to you in the post.

You can contact the Scheme administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website to ask any questions that haven’t been covered on this page.

The normal retirement age for most members of the Scheme is now 65, but if you left the Scheme before July 2007 it could be 60 or 62.

You can take your pension at any time between age 55 (this is changing to age 57 from 6 April 2028) and age 75. If you take it before your normal retirement age it will be reduced for early payment. If you take it later it will receive a late retirement uplift.

Your pension may be made up of elements with different normal retirement ages. You must take all of your pension at the same time. Each element will be calculated separately then they will be added together for your pension figure at your chosen retirement date.

TBC

You previously had the option to pay extra contributions to the Scheme to build up additional pension benefits.

These Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are invested separately from the Scheme in your personal AVC pot. Your AVC pot will be invested, so the value can go down as well as up, and you might get back less than you previously put in.

You have several choices in how you take your AVC benefits. Subject to HMRC limits, you can use your AVCs provide some, or all, of your tax-free cash at retirement. Alternatively, you can transfer your AVC pot to an insurance company, where you can buy an annuity, take it all as cash or make gradual withdrawals.

Your State Pension Age depends on your gender and when you were born. You can find out your State Pension Age on the following website, gov.uk/state-pension-age

Pensions in payment are increased on 1 April each year.

Upon your death, a pension of 50% of the amount you were receiving (before any reduction due to any tax-free cash sum you may have taken on retiring) will be paid to your spouse, civil partner or eligible dependant. The pension will be lower if they are more than 10 years younger than you.