HSBC pension account decision

Nebulous2

Ayr_Rage said:

My pension administrators were very proactive when I advised them I had married, sending a new nomination form straight away.

As my wife is not from the UK, I asked what would be needed to ensure her widow's pension would be paid without delay and that involved sending her original birth certificate, a translation of it and a copy of her ID card.

@Nebulous2 I cannot see why HR would need anything, the pension administrators would deal with any paperwork and the trustees decide on who, if anyone, receives a payout.

I should have linked to a post above, which said thar people should be advised if their expression of wishes form was unacceptable. 

We received periodic reminders to ensure our EOW was completed. We downloaded it, filled it in, put it in a sealed envelope with our personal details and the fact that it was an EOW form written on the outside and sent it to HR. For reasons of confidentiality it was only opened in the event of death. 

So it would not have been possible for anyone to tell us it was not in accordance with the scheme rules, as they didn't see it.

born_again

Nebulous2 said:

I worked for a company with close to 2000 employees where the expression of wishes form had to be placed in a sealed envelope and it was retained by HR. There was absolutely no checking to see if it was appropriate or valid until it was needed. 

HSBC all done online via the pension portal of the linked co.
Has to be updated each year to make sure it is up to date.

eastcorkram

Can an EoW only nominate a dependant? What if you've no dependants? Do the pension trustees just never pay out?

I have a DB , and DC pension, neither in payment. I'll be 65 in 2024. Neither pension has had any kind of nominated person. I keep thinking I should do it, but can't help thinking it'll be ignored or overridden. Plus, I'll never know anyway! 

Can I for example, with the DC money, nominate my children, currently in their 30s? If so, do they receive it as a pension, ie, they can't touch it until they reach 57 or whatever, or do they receive it straight away?

Zanderman

eastcorkram said:

Can an EoW only nominate a dependant? What if you've no dependants? Do the pension trustees just never pay out?

I have a DB , and DC pension, neither in payment. I'll be 65 in 2024. Neither pension has had any kind of nominated person. I keep thinking I should do it, but can't help thinking it'll be ignored or overridden. Plus, I'll never know anyway! 

Can I for example, with the DC money, nominate my children, currently in their 30s? If so, do they receive it as a pension, ie, they can't touch it until they reach 57 or whatever, or do they receive it straight away?

Generally DB can only go to dependents - as I understand it (I'm no expert though!). There's nothing to inherit if you're not a dependent as DB is assigned to one person. It's basically a lifetime income, not a lump sum - and can go to surviving dependents. The default would probably be your spouse, if you have one.

But DC can go to anyone - as I understand it - as, unless it's been cashed in as an income (in which case no lump sum is left)  then there is a lump sum that has to go somewhere. It is yours, and so is part of your estate (though outside of probate).

In my (limited) experience the practice is that it goes to your nominees (if those are deemed appropriate - and they usually would be) and it will probably go as a pension, but one that can be cashed in early i.e. before normal pension age, or left invested.   

So if you have a DC pension yes you should nominate your children. But even if you nominate no-one the pension trustees, as I understand it, will take note of what ever your will says, as that is, even though pensions are outside your estate in probate terms, a form of expression of wish. .Your executors would have to tell the trustees about it though!