Company Pension after redundancy

patnut

I've recently been made redundant just wanted to know what will happen to my Pension now. My employer paid into it for 10 years 10% of my income. Is there anything I need to do ie in terms of contacting pension company regards to investing the money. Up to this date ive just left it to them to deal with.

jamjar92

Its depends on the type of pension, if DB probably best left as is. Others you have the option to leave and it will grow until you retire or transfer. It depends if you think where its currently invested is right for you, as it will still carry charges until taken. Has you near retirement you may want to move the funds to less risker funds easier done if they are all in one place.

Albermarle

As above it depends on what sort of scheme it is . Defined Contribution ( DC ) or Defined Benefit ( DB) . If you are not sure you can find the definitions here >https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/workplace-pension-schemes

Most likely it is a Direct Contribution ( DC) scheme where there is a pot of money that has come from your and your employer contributions and some investment growth . If so the pension just goes with you and the employer is no longer involved ( if it is a DB scheme the employer remains involved ) You should have been getting annual updates from the pension provider and these will just continue, providing they have the right address of course. If you have not been getting any correspondence then you need to find out why .

MallyGirl

From now on you will need to make sure that you keep the address they hold up to date.

green_man

You probably don’t need to do anything, in fact you probably shouldn’t rush to do anything in the short term at any rate.  As Albermarle says, you should have been receiving pension statements at least yearly, when you leave your pension just becomes deferred.  Do you have online access to your pension? If so this should continue.  

What you could do when you have another job or after the dust settles is review you options: maybe transferring this pension to you new companies scheme would be an option, maybe transferring to a personal SIPP., maybe leaving it where it is.

Dox

Albermarle said:

Most likely it is a Direct Contribution ( DC) scheme where there is a pot of money that has come from your and your employer contributions and some investment growth . If so the pension just goes with you and the employer is no longer involved ( if it is a DB scheme the employer remains involved ) 

Often but not always true. You can have occupational defined contribution schemes run by trustees, which doesn't 'just go with you' (although you can normally transfer it). 

patnut

Thanks all for the advice. I just logged into my account it says group sipp?

Dox

patnut said:

Thanks all for the advice. I just logged into my account it says group sipp?

In that case it's a 'take it with you' type of scheme and you can go on contributing, transfer etc as you wish.

patnut

Ok thanks. With regards to actually looking after the investment do I need to do anything or do I just leave with the pension company to deal with? Sorry don't know much about pensions.

Dox

patnut said:

Ok thanks. With regards to actually looking after the investment do I need to do anything or do I just leave with the pension company to deal with? Sorry don't know much about pensions.

Steel yourself to read the SIPP provider's website and/or pension scheme booklet to look at the options you have in terms of individual fund choices. 

Albermarle

patnut said:

Ok thanks. With regards to actually looking after the investment do I need to do anything or do I just leave with the pension company to deal with? Sorry don't know much about pensions.

If you have not made any investment decisions in the past for your pension , then probably all your money is invested in a default fund . A kind of middle of the road investment. If you do nothing it will stay like that . Within the pension there will be a choice of different investments and you can change around if you like/want. However the pension provider will not change anything unless you request it .
As above make sure you have access to the website ( call them if you have lost the password etc ) and some self education about pensions and investments would be worthwhile.
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/