What happens if I leave the Bank?
If you cease employment with the Bank, you will no longer be able to contribute to the Scheme. Your contributions from your employer will stop, and you will become a deferred member of the Scheme. You will receive a leaver’s statement showing your current Pension Account and you will continue to receive annual benefit statements. Don’t forget you should also notify the Scheme administrator of any changes to your address or personal circumstances, for example if you move to a new house or change your surname. It’s also important to keep your Nomination Form up to date to let the Trustees know who should receive your pension benefit should the worst happen.
Between the date you leave the Scheme and retirement, your Account will continue to be invested. Your benefits will normally be paid to you at age 65, unless you request that they be paid earlier or later than this. The earliest you can currently receive your pension is age 55 unless you are suffering from ill-health. You can also transfer your pension value to another pension arrangement if you wish. If you wish to do this, you should contact the Trustees or the administrator of your new pension arrangement.
Can I opt out of the Scheme?
You can opt out of the Scheme at any time by giving one month’s written notice to the Bank and Trustees. You will, however, be able to re-join the Scheme at any time on request and will normally be automatically enrolled into the Scheme three years after you opt out. If you re-join the Scheme you will do so on the same terms that are being offered to new employees at that time. This may be lead to a change in your contributions and your death benefits and you should consider this carefully before deciding whether to opt out.
What if I need to leave the Scheme temporarily?
Ill-health
If you are off work due to ill-health and are continuing to receive your salary from the Bank or are receiving income benefits from the Bank’s Group Income Protection (GIP) scheme, the Bank’s contributions will continue on an unreduced basis based on your salary on the date on which your salary payments stopped and your GIP payments began.
Maternity
During your statutory maternity leave period, the Bank will continue to contribute to your Pension Account and your membership of the Scheme will continue.
If you are paying into your pension via salary sacrifice or paying Additional Voluntary Contributions, please contact your HR Department.
Leave of absence/ career break
If you are granted leave of absence from work, the Bank will consider whether your membership should be continued and for how long.
For any specific questions on your benefits, you should contact the Scheme administrator, Capita.
Can I transfer out of the Scheme?
Once you have left the Scheme and become a deferred member, you have a statutory right to transfer your benefits out of the Scheme to another pension arrangement if you wish. Active members of the Scheme do not have this right, but the Trustees do allow such members to transfer their current fund out of the Scheme whilst continuing to accrue future contributions should they request this.
Please note, however, that the Trustees will only cover the administration cost of one such active transfer payment. If you wish to make multiple transfers from the Scheme whilst continuing to accrue contributions, then you will need to cover the administration cost of any subsequent payments, which is currently £750 plus VAT.