FAQs
Got a question about the Fund or your pension and can’t find what you need on the site? Search our FAQs to find the answer.
Joining the Fund
To be a member of the DB Career Average Plan you will have already joined before 1 October 2021.
If you choose to stop building up pension in the DB Career Average Plan, you’ll have one chance to restart. You can do this either at the next Annual Renewal or the one after that. If you stop a second time, you can’t start again.
You can also save in the DC Investing Plan. If you stop saving in the DC Investing Plan, you can restart at any time. You will be automatically re-enrolled in the DC Investing Plan every 3 years.
Read more about your benefit choices
Read more about Annual Renewal
If you have built up a pension in another registered pension scheme, you may be able to transfer it in.
Read more about transferring your pension
To start the transfer in process, please contact Fidelity.
If you are already building up pension in the Fund, we'll give you an update on the pension you've built up during Annual Renewal. To see this update go to unileverbenefitchoices.com. You can access the Unilever Benefit Choices website throughout the year with your Unilever account.
If you are saving into the DC Investing Plan, you'll get a statement once a year from Fidelity that tells you what your pension pot is worth and what it could be worth at retirement. This statement does not include any Final Salary or DB Career Average Plan pension that you have built up in the Fund.
You can see the value of your DC Investing Plan pot and change how your money is invested in PlanViewer.
If you want any specific details about your pension, please contact us.
Leaving the Fund
Yes, you can opt out at any time.
Once opted out, you’ll only have one chance to rejoin the DB Career Average Plan. You can do this either at the next Annual Renewal or the one after that. If you stop a second time, you can’t start again.
You can rejoin the DC Investing Plan at any time.
Log in to www.unileverbenefitchoices.com with your Unilever account to find out more about what happens if you opt out and stop building up pension in the DB Career Average Plan. Go to ‘Check your choices’ and click ‘Changes you can make’.
Download a copy of the opt out form to complete
You can request a transfer up to 6 months before your normal pension age (age 65 for most members).
If you want a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) and transfer forms, please contact us. You can get one free CETV in a 12-month period. After that we charge £78 plus VAT for each request.
You need to think carefully about whether a transfer is the best option for you and be aware of the risk of pension scams, so read our transfer page before making any decisions.
Read more about transferring your pension.
If you leave the Fund, your pension will be calculated at the date you left the Fund. This will be looked after until you retire. The value of your pension will generally increase every year until you retire or transfer out to help it keep up with the rising cost of living (inflation).
Your DC Investing Plan pension pot will stay invested in line with your investment choices. You cannot save more money into your account but you can still make changes to your investment choices if you want to in PlanViewer.
Read more about your investments
You can transfer your pension out of the Fund to another employer’s pension or a personal pension.
Find out more about transferring your pension
In some circumstances you may be able to get a refund of the contributions you've paid.
Saving into the Fund
The Benefits Envelope is an amount of money, worth 25% of your pensionable earnings (your basic pay and, for some people, other allowances).
You can use it to:
- Build up your pension in the DB Career Average Plan (if eligible)
- Save into the DC Investing Plan
- Take taxable take-home pay
You can decide how to use your Benefits Envelope each year during Annual Renewal
Read more about your benefit choices
You can pay extra voluntary contributions (EVCs) into the DC Investing Plan to save more for your retirement. You can pay EVCs on a regular basis or as a one-off payment to your account.
To start making EVCs or make any changes, please complete the EVC form. Once we’ve received the form, we’ll set up your payments through payroll.
Read more about saving for your pension
Yes. You do not pay tax on the money that you save into your pension up to a certain limit.
Read more about tax
Most members could build up pension in the DB Career Average Plan for up to 40 years. When you have built up 40 years of pension, you have the option to continue to build up your DB pension for a further 5 years, for a total of 45 years. There is no limit on how many years you can build up pension in the DC Investing Plan.
Read more about your pension details
Pension builds up in the same way for full and part-time workers. The only difference is the upper level of earnings that can count towards your DB Career Average Plan pension. If you work part-time we work out your part-time equivalent based on how many hours you work and how many hours a full time employee works. Then we adjust your upper level in line with this.
Read more about how your pension builds up
Death of a member
When you die we may pay a pension to:
- Your spouse
- Your civil partner
- Someone who relied on you financially
- Any dependent children
In some cases we may also pay a lump sum death benefit.
Read more about death benefits
Your spouse, civil partner or other dependant (if you've nominated one) may receive a dependant’s pension when you die. If you have children who are under 18 or 21 and in full-time education or training they may also receive a pension.
If you're thinking about nominating a dependant for a pension, make sure you complete the form and get the nomination agreed with the Trustees as soon as you can. Otherwise the Trustees will not be able to pay the pension.
Download the dependant pension request form
Read more about death benefits
For more details, please contact us
You will need to complete a nomination form to tell the Trustees who you would like to get any payments if you die.
Complete the nomination form to say who you’d like the money to go to.
Please remember to keep your nomination form up to date to help the Trustees follow your wishes.
Yes, when a member dies a P45 is sent to the tax office. This is only done when the final pension payment has been settled/paid.
No, the P60 details are not automatically sent out. Family members or their executor can request one from the administration team.
Life events
The earliest age you can currently retire is 55, but this will increase to 57 in 2028. You may be able to retire earlier if you are unable to work due to illness.
Read more about your retirement options
If you become seriously ill and in Unilever’s opinion can no longer work, you may be able to take your pension.
Find out more about ill-health pensions
You will remain a member of the Fund while you are on maternity/paternity leave. Details of how your pension builds up while you are on leave are in the Support section.
Read more about maternity/paternity leave
You will remain a member of the Fund while you are on sick leave. Details of how your pension builds up while you are on leave are in the Support section.
Read more about sick leave
If you get divorced or end a civil partnership, your former partner will lose any automatic right to a pension if you die. However, the courts may allocate some of your pension to them as part of the settlement.
The most common arrangement is transferring an agreed percentage of your pension to a pension provider in your ex-spouse/civil partner’s name. This is known as a pension sharing order.
Find out more about pensions and divorce.
You’ll need a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV). You can get one CETV free of charge in a 12-month period. Any additional requests for a CETV may be charged at £78 plus VAT.
To request a CETV, contact the administration team.
If you are already receiving your pension you will be charged for a CETV request. It will cost you £78 plus VAT.
Find out more about pensions and divorce
The administration fee for setting up a pension sharing order is £1,350 plus VAT. Who pays the administration fee is explained as part of the pension sharing order (for example, by the member, ex-spouse/civil partner or split equally between both parties).
The ex-spouse/civil partner can choose to have their proportion of fees deducted from their share of the pension.
Once the administration team have all the information needed (including any fees), there is a 4-month legal time limit to organise for the transfer of the share of the pension.
Find out more about pensions and divorce
Your line manager will advise UniOps that you are leaving via the Workday system. Once they’ve done this, the system will send a notification to the Fund.
Find out more about redundancy
Yes, this can be paid into the DC Investing Plan. This must be done before you stop working for Unilever. You will need to speak to UniOps to do this. Any redundancy money that you pay into your pension will count towards your annual allowance.
Find out more about redundancy
Pension payments
Pensions are generally paid on the 7th or 21st of each month. If the 7th or 21st falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, your pension will be paid the working day before this.
You may not get sent a payslip every month. But you will get a payslip:
- If your pension changes by more than £1 from the previous month
- Every March with your P60 information
- In April - if your pension is increased
You pay Income Tax on the income that you receive from all of your pensions. But you’ll only pay tax if all of your pension income, including your State Pension and any other taxable income, is more than the Personal Allowance. You do not pay National Insurance on income from your pensions.
Find out how much the Standard Personal Allowance is this year
Income tax is deducted from your pension payments each month automatically through payroll. It works in the same way as it did when you were working.
Read more about pensions and tax
Have your say and help us improve our service
Have you found this page helpful?
Yes No
Have your say and help us improve our service
How can we improve?
Have your say and help us improve our service
Thanks for your feedback
We’d love to hear more about how you’ve found the new website.
Fill in our 2 minute survey