New Terms and Conditions for Private Pension


IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR PRIVATE PENSION

We have recently made some changes to the Terms and Conditions of our Private Pension. These changes were communcated to the members of the Private Pension scheme by letter sent on the 15th December 2011.  

 It has been necessary for us to make these changes due to changes:

  • In law
  • In regulation and industry guidance
  • To our systems
  • To our procedures and to the services we provide  

We are also consolidating the terms and conditions of the Private Pension into one document for ease of reference.

The main changes we are making are explained below and a full copy of the revised terms and conditions document can be found here. 

If the member does not want to accept the Terms and Conditions they must inform us before 20 January 2012. If no action is taken before 20 January 2012 the changes will take effect on this date.

Below is a summary of the main changes made to the Terms and Conditions 

  1. Under section 3.1 if there is any conflict between the agreement made between you and us (contained in the terms and conditions, your application form(s) and the fee schedule) and the rules of the Private Pension, the rules prevail. 
     
  2. Under section 5.3 we reserve the right to introduce a minimum initial investment level.
     
  3. Under section 11.6 we require you to maintain a suitable cleared balance, currently £1,000, in the designated account of your Private Pension to cover any payments due (note this requirement already applies to some members).
     
  4. In certain circumstances we may sell investments contained in your Private Pension without requiring your consent to do so. We have introduced a set order in which investments will be realised; this is contained in section 19.
     
  5. Any spousal bypass trusts which were in place prior to 1 October 2008 under the Private Pension have been removed. If you wish to set up a new spousal bypass trust please let us know.
     
  6. Under section 22 you may take advantage of the increased flexibility introduced by the government when withdrawing an income from your Private Pension, subject to satisfying the relevant criteria set out in that section. 
     
  7. The provisions of section 30 deal with the winding up of the Private Pension.
     
  8. Restrictions are placed on our liability to you and there are circumstances where you will be responsible for payment to us for any reasonable costs, claims, expenses, tax charges, demands and losses that we suffer in performing our duties under the terms and conditions. These are set out in section 33.

If you require any further information on the above please contact our customer enquiry team on 0845 345 2555.