Making contributions to your pension plan

Depending on whether you have a personal or workplace pension, there's different ways you can contribute into your plan.

Remember, there are limits on how much you can contribute to pension plans while still qualifying for tax relief. It’s also important to remember that tax relief depends on individual circumstances and could change in the future.

Changing your regular contributions

Your regular contributions are paid monthly to us by your employer and can be paid as a percentage of your salary, or as a fixed amount.

• Regular contributions are made from your net salary, or by using salary exchange.
• You can change the regular contributions to your workplace pension at any time but remember, any changes will affect your pensions savings.
• Pausing or decreasing your contributions could mean there’s less money available to give you an income when you stop working, and it may also change your forecast.
• If you want to change your regular contributions, or exchange a bonus for a contribution, you should speak to your employer.

Personal pension contributions

If you have a personal pension with us, you can also make a one-off contribution to your pension plan or change your regular contributions. If you're saving into our Pension Portfolio, your contributions are paid from your net salary, which is paid monthly or yearly by direct debit. Here’s what you need to know:

Making a one off contribution

You can make a one-off contribution into your personal pension plan at any time, and you’ll receive basic tax relief on all contributions you make to your plan. Here’s what you need to know:

• You can pay in up to 100% of your earnings, or £2,880 and it would be increased to £3,600 with tax relief.
• If you pay in more than £60,000 each year then you could be subject to a tax charge due to the annual allowance.
• Any one-off contributions made to your plan will be invested in line with your current instructions unless you tell us otherwise.
• Remember, the value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount invested.
• Your money is invested until at least age 55 (this will increase to 57 from 6 April 2028) which means you should consider all your options before deciding to make the payment.

To make a one-off contribution to your personal pension, please call us on 0345 603 015.

Changing your regular contributions

Here’s what you need to know:

• The minimum regular contribution you can make is £100 a month or £1,200 a year.
• If you've previously made a one-off contribution, it will reduce to £50 a month or £600 a year.
• You can choose a fixed amount or set it to increase each year with your salary, Retail Prices Index (RPI) or set at a level between one and ten percent.

If you’d like to speak to us about regular contributions please phone us at 0345 850 8953.

We always recommend speaking to a financial adviser if you want to change your regular contributions. If you don’t have one, find out where to look for an adviser.

Support with your pension

Our guides and helpful information can help you understand and manage your pension.