At Creative Pension Trust, we work hard to make sure you have all the information you need to know about your pension and your rights. If you’d like to see more about what that should look like, you can take a look at this page from the government-backed MoneyHelper service.
On there, you’ll find a list of items that you should be told, such as:
We endeavour to make knowing your rights as easy as possible. Much of what you’ll need to know is outlined in further detail below. You can also find this information in your Member Guide, which you can access using the Creative Penson Trust Member Portal.
Here are some important things to know about your membership with and us and your rights as an employee when it comes to your workplace pension:
If you are auto-enrolled into Creative Pension Trust by your employer, this means you will benefit from their contributions into your pensions savings so long as you pay in regularly too.
This comes at no extra cost to you and your employer is obligated to pay them. If you were not auto-enrolled but requested to join us anyway, you may still be entitled to employer contributions. This will depend on your age and earnings. You can find out more about the criteria at www.workplacepensions.gov.uk/employee/.
When you earn over a certain amount you pay Income Tax to the government. However, when you pay money into Creative Pension Trust, you get it back automatically. This happens automatically with Creative Pension Trust.
If you are a Basic Rate taxpayer, a £20 contribution into your pension means your take-home pay only goes down by just £16 and by just £12 if you are a Higher Rate taxpayer*. Your investments will grow free from any Capital Gains Tax too.
Your employer is obligated to provide access to a quality workplace pension and give you automatic membership if you meet certain age and earnings-related criteria. This is called Auto Enrolment. They have chosen Creative Pension Trust to fulfil those legal duties.
You can find out more about the qualifying criteria at www.workplacepensions.gov.uk/employee/
If you do not meet the qualifying criteria to receive automatic membership due to your age or earnings, you may do in the future. You may also be able to request to join now. This is called ‘opting in’. You may not qualify for additional qualifications from your employer if you opt in, but some employees will. You can find out more about the criteria at www.workplacepensions.gov.uk/employee/. If you would like to find out about opting in, contact us on 0345 606 0424.
If you have been auto-enrolled and you do not wish to save into a pension, you are entitled to leave and claim back your first contribution within 30 days. This is called ‘opting out’.
You can also cease membership at any time thereafter, although your contributions cannot be claimed back – they will remain in your pension for your retirement. Leaving your workplace pension is a big decision and you will be giving up a number of valuable financial benefits, which may harm your financial security in the future.
If you do want to stop saving for your future, you can visit www.creativepensiontrust.co.uk/leave/.
If you leave your current employer or you choose a different financial arrangement when you retire, you can transfer your pension savings to a different provider. There is no fee and no penalties will apply, although you may pay fees to any new provider or financial adviser, so be sure to check first.
It’s important to know who you are dealing with and that you are aware of the risks of pension scams. Visit www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart or contact us for help if you are ever unsure.
You can access your pension anytime from the age of 55 and over. Creative Pension Trust has a default retirement age of 65. This doesn’t mean you have to retire then, but we will assume this unless you tell us otherwise.
We offer a wide range of retirement options – be sure to check our Retirement Guide in the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal. You can find out more about guidance and advice services in this guide to help you understand your options.
If you are over 50 and have started thinking about your retirement, you can book a free guidance appointment at www.moneyhelper.org.uk.
If you needed to opt out or cease your membership because you felt you couldn’t afford to save for your future, you should aim to re-join your workplace pension as soon as you can afford to.
Your employer is obligated to re-enrol you into a workplace pension every 3 years, but you may be able to re-join sooner. If you would like to find out about re-joining, contact us on 0345 606 0424.
We hope you’re more than happy with us and the service we provide. If for any reason we haven’t met your expectations, we’d like to hear from you so we can endeavour to put it right.
You can contact us in the first instance on 0345 606 0424 or through our contact page and one of our colleagues will respond to you as soon as possible.
We will hold and process your data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) and the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679).
From time to time we will share it between the companies involved in running Creative Pension Trust. This includes sending you information related to your pension which we believe may be of interest to you. We are required by law to send you some things, but you can opt out of receiving other types of communications from us on request. We will not sell your data to third parties or use it without your consent.
To learn more or manage your settings, you can log in to the Creative Pension Trust Member Portal.
*If your income is below the starting rate for Income Tax, you will not receive tax relief.
