Hovis Limited DC Group Personal Pension Plan Summary Leaflet

Transcription

1 Hovis Limited DC Group Personal Pension Plan Summary Leaflet For former members of the Premier Foods DC Group Personal Pension Plan May 2014 The Hovis Limited DC Group Personal Pension Plan is arranged through Legal & General. Your retirement fund builds up from your and the Company s contributions, plus any investment returns, less any charges. On retirement, you can use this fund to buy a pension. You can normally take up to 25% of your fund as a tax-free cash sum. This is a summary of the terms of the Hovis Limited DC Group Pension Plan. It also provides details of the associated Life Assurance Scheme. The scheme documentation including the Key Features, the Company s guide to Pension Contribution Salary Exchange, example illustrations and investment information explains how the scheme works and is available from Legal & General: Phone: Website:

2 Your contribution options There are three contribution levels available: Premier AE Level 4% Level 6% Level You will be able to change your contribution level between the 4% and 6% on any 1 st April. The Premier AE Level is only available for those employees who joined (and remained in) the AE level available under the Premier Foods DC Group Personal Pension. If you are currently contributing under the Premier AE Level and wish to join the 4 or 6% level, contact your local HR Manager for the joining forms. Premier AE Level Under the Premier AE level, you will initially pay contributions of 1% of your Qualifying Earnings. You will initially benefit from a contribution of 1% of your Qualifying Earnings from the Company. No Life Assurance benefits apply. Your Pensionable Pay is your total earnings (excluding bonus and certain non-pensionable items) in each pay period (subject to the Earnings Cap, which in the 2014/15 tax year is an amount equal to 145,800). 4% Level Under the 4% level, you will pay a contribution of 4% of your Pensionable Pay. You will benefit from a contribution of 5% of your Pensionable Pay from the Company. In addition you will benefit from cover of four times your Uncapped Pensionable Pay under the Life Assurance Scheme. 6% Level Under the 6% level, you will pay a contribution of 6% of your Pensionable Pay. You will benefit from a contribution of 7.5% of your Pensionable Pay from the Company. In addition you will benefit from cover of four times your Uncapped Pensionable Pay under the Life Assurance Scheme. All contributions are shown as a percentage of your Pensionable Pay Your DC Contribution The Company DC contribution Total DC contributions paid into your plan 4% Level 4% 5% 9% 6% Level 6% 7.5% 13.5% Premier AE Level The Premier AE Level is being maintained for those employees who participated in the AE Level under the Premier Foods DC Group Pension Plan. The contribution rates are based upon the minimum levels required by the Government for Auto enrolment for employees who joined Premier Foods from 1 April The Government sets the contribution rates required for the AE level, which are subject to change, but the current rates are set out in the table below: Premier AE Level Member Contribution % of Qualifying Earnings Company Contribution % of Qualifying Earnings From 1 April 2013: 1% 1% From 1 October 2017: 3% 2% From 1 October 2018: 5% 3% Your Qualifying Earnings is your total earnings between 481 per month ( 111 per week) and 3,489 per month ( 805 per week). This band of earnings is reviewed by the Government each year and is subject to change in future.

3 About your contributions Payment of contributions Contributions are normally paid through a method called Pension Contribution Salary Exchange. A leaflet giving details of how this works is available from Legal & General or site HR. Tax Relief If you participate in Pension Contributions Salary Exchange, your contribution is paid gross by the Company and tax relief is gained at source. If you do not participate in Pension Contribution Salary Exchange, contributions are deducted from your pay and this is done net of Basic Rate Tax. Legal & General will reclaim Basic Rate tax relief on your contributions from HMRC and this will be added to your fund. If you are a Higher Rate tax payer, you will need to reclaim any additional tax relief through your tax return. Maximum contributions for tax relief In total, you can pay up to 100% of your PAYE earnings in any tax year. The Company will pay only the contributions stated. If the total pension savings made under all of your pension arrangements exceed the Annual Allowance ( 40,000 from 2014/15), you may be liable for a tax charge.

4 Your contribution options Changing your DC contribution level You can change your level of contributions up or down (with the appropriate increase or reduction in the level of Company contribution), by completing the Change of Contribution Form available from the Legal & General website of from your site HR. Leaving the Scheme Membership is entirely voluntary and you can choose to leave at any time. If for some reason you are considering leaving the scheme, please remember that this may have serious consequences for your future pension choices and the protection for you and your family: Changing your investments As mentioned overleaf, your first contributions will be invested in line with your investment choices under the Premier Foods DC Group Personal Pension Plan. However, once the first contribution has been received, you can change the way you invest your retirement fund at any time. You can do this on the Legal & General website, or by calling the Legal & General helpline. If you do wish to leave the Scheme, you can do so by completing the leaving form, which can be found on the Legal & General website or is available from your site HR. You will effectively be giving up free money from the Company that we would otherwise contribute to your retirement savings. We will not pay these contributions to any other pension arrangement for you. You will not be eligible for cover under the Life Assurance Scheme. if you chose to leave, but later change your mind and want to rejoin the DC Scheme, you will only be able to join on the terms that apply to new employees: - You will only have the choice of joining the DC 4% Level or DC 6% Level. - You will only be eligible for cover of four times your Uncapped Pensionable Pay under the Life Assurance Scheme. We strongly encourage you to take independent financial advice if you are thinking about leaving the Scheme.

5 Your investment options Selecting how your pension fund is invested is an important decision, and the DC scheme offers a range of carefully selected investment choices from which you can choose. Your contributions will initially be invested in line with your investment choices under the Premier Foods DC Group Personal Pension Plan. However, once the first contribution has been received you can give different investment instructions at any time if you wish. The Scheme default investment choice is Lifestyle Path ONE one of three lifestyle strategies which gradually move investments from more risky, but potentially higher performing investments (such as shares), to less risky, but potentially lower performing investments (such as bonds and cash), over the period to retirement. The two alternative Lifestyle Paths (TWO and THREE) available for you to consider offer a choice of greater levels of risk and reward which may better suit your needs. A small number of carefully selected funds are also available as part of the Core Fund Range. You also have access to a wide range of other funds, including non-legal & General funds. Full details of all the investment options are available from Legal & General. Your Retirement Age Your Normal Retirement Age is assumed to be age 65. All of the investment strategies used within the Lifestyle strategies mentioned above will be based on this age unless you notify Legal & General of an alternative Normal Retirement Age, which can be any age from 55. Life cover benefit From the DC Scheme If you die before retirement, Legal & General will pay the fund value you have built up in the DC Scheme to your beneficiaries. To let Legal & General know who you would like to receive this benefit, you can complete the Nomination of Beneficiary Form on the Legal & General website. If you have already completed this form whilst a member of the Premier Foods DC Group Personal Pension Plan, these details will also be recorded under this Scheme, unless you choose to subsequently update them. From the Life Assurance Scheme If you die while employed by Hovis Limited and contributing to the DC Scheme, the Company s Life Assurance Scheme will provide a lump sum for your beneficiaries. This will be an amount equal to four times your Uncapped Pensionable Pay at the date of your death. Remember Please note: this life cover does not apply to the Premier AE Level. If you choose to move from the Premier AE Level to the 4% or 6% Level, you may be asked to provide evidence of good health before cover is confirmed. To let the Trustee of the Life Assurance Scheme know who you would like to receive this benefit, you should complete the Expression of Wish form that was issued by the Company.

6 State Pension You will be contracted in to the State Second Pension and both you and the Company will pay full rate National Insurance contributions. Because you will be paying full rate National Insurance contributions you will build up a State Second Pension payable in addition to the State Basic Pension. However, the State Pension arrangements are undergoing a number of changes. This includes changes to the age at which individuals can claim their State Pension and the structure of the State Pension itself. For the latest information, please visit the Government website at Finding out more For general information about the DC Scheme Visit the Legal & General website at Phone the Legal & General Helpline on Or, speak to your site HR contact. For general information about pensions Visit the Government website at and click on the link called Working, jobs and pensions For advice The law does not allow anyone at the Company, or the schemes administrators to give advice about your personal finances. If you want some advice about saving for retirement, you should contact an authorised independent financial adviser. The Money Advice Service an independent organisation set up by the Government and funded by a levy on the financial services industry provides free, unbiased information about all aspects of financial planning. This includes how to find an IFA and what questions to ask. Visit their website at or call their helpline on (call rates may vary). You can find detailed for financial advisers in your area at Before you take advice from anyone, make sure they are qualified and authorised to provide you with the assistance you need with your pension planning. You should also find out how much they will charge you for any advice they give.

7 This document has been provided to you for information only and does not form part of your employment contract. The Company reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend or withdraw its pension arrangements at any time, in the future. This document provides a guide that has been designed to help you understand your choice of pension. It may not cover every aspect of the Company s pension arrangements. The full details are contained only in the governing documentation which is the legal basis of the scheme. You should note that nothing in this document can override the governing documentation, and in the event of any unintentional difference, the governing documentation wil prevail. Hovis Limited May 2014