My Inchcape pension

Inchcape motors pension scheme

Deferred members

Learn more about your Scheme benefits

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What benefits are available to you under the Scheme and when?

Whether you’re close to retirement or keen to plan for it, it’s really helpful to understand the benefits and options you have in the Scheme. The content on this page helps you with this.

Benefits in the Scheme vary and depend on the section you are in, your period of service etc. They are quite complicated and what’s covered below is generalised and high level. You can find out more by looking at the retirement guide for the section of the Scheme you’re a member of – they’re on the Scheme documents page. To be sure what your specific benefits are, you can request a benefit statement from the Scheme administrator at any age or a retirement pack from age 55.

Retirement benefits

In most cases, the earliest age you can take your retirement benefits from the Scheme is 55.

Combined & group sections

You get:

guaranteed amount of pension income each year for you

or

tax-free cash + a reduced amount of guaranteed
pension income each year

✔ your pension will increase every year

✔ if the value of your pension is very low, you may be able to take the whole of your benefit as a one-off lump sum

✔ you can choose to transfer out of the Scheme to gain extra flexibility in how you use your benefits
(you may need to take independent financial advice to do this)

Cash balance/legacy cash+ sections

You get:

your pension savings pot which can be used in one or more of the following ways:

• buy an annuity to get a guaranteed amount of pension each year

• take a tax-free cash sum

• leave your pot invested until you need it

• withdraw money as you wish (for example, in equal installments over the next 10 years)

• take all of it as cash (only the first 25% is tax-free)

you’ll need to transfer your pension pot to an insurer or other pension arrangement to use these options.

Death benefits

Combined & group sections

Lump sum cash payment to your spouse or civil partner if you die within 5 years of retirement

plus

a pension for your spouse or civil partner (this is calculated as a proportion of your pension and will depend which section of the Scheme you’re in).

Cash balance/ legacy cash+ sections

If you die before retiring:

Your DC pension pot is usually paid to your beneficiaries as a lump sum. This is usually tax-free if you die before age 75.

If you die after retiring:

The benefits payable (if any) will depend on the choices you made at retirement.

Make sure we know who you’d ideally like your pension benefits to be paid to if the worst happens – visit the member portal to check the details we have on record or ask the Scheme administrator to update your expression of wish.

Thinking about transferring out?

If you’re thinking of transferring out, there’s lots to consider, including:

• your financial needs & lifestyle

• security of your benefits

• how long you might live

• your tax position or the effect on means tested benefits

• the need for ongoing monitoring

• your attitude to taking risk

Watch the videos below to learn more about transferring your IMPS benefits:

Help with your retirement planning

Whether you’re planning your retirement or considering transferring your benefits out of IMPS, there’s lots of ways you can get more guidance and support.

MoneyHelper – a free government-backed service – joins up money and pensions guidance to make it quicker and easier to find the right help. It includes access to the Pension Wise service which gives impartial guidance for the over 50s on the options for taking money from your defined contribution (DC) pension pots. Visit: www.moneyhelper.org.uk

Guiide – a free retirement planning service – helps you understand, plan for and take decisions about your income in life after work. Getting a Guiide plan takes less than ten minutes and costs nothing. You can check how you’re getting on at any time and Guiide will help you work out what to change if future plans don’t go as expected.

To build your plan, go to:

  • GuiideDC – helps you get the best outcome from your pension savings: try.guiide.co.uk/inchcape
  • GuiideDB – helps you decide whether to continue with transfer advice before committing to the costs: try.guiide.co.uk/inchcapetv (to log in, enter your membership number with ‘IN’ at the beginning)

How do i…?

Get details of the benefits I can expect at retirement?

How do I get the details of the benefits I can expect at retirement?

  1. Get in touch to request a retirement pack or benefit statement

To get your retirement pack or benefit statement, contact the Scheme administrator. You can request a benefit statement at any age or retirement quotation from age 55. We’ll carry out security checks so you’ll need tell us:

  • your National Insurance Number or Scheme membership number
  • two pieces of personal information (to check against the record we hold for you)
  1. What we’ll do

The Scheme administrator will send you the information within 5 to 10 days of receiving of your request.

Want some help understanding your options or making your decision? You can get free, impartial guidance you can trust MoneyHelper on defined benefit (DB) pensions and defined contribution (DC) pensions.

  1. What happens if you want to retire from the Scheme

If you’re age 55 or over and would like to go ahead and take your pension benefits from the Scheme, you’ll need to complete the forms and return them with any documents (eg birth certificate) requested. We’ll return the originals to you.

If you choose to take a tax-free cash sum, we’ll arrange for this to be paid at the appropriate time. If you have a defined benefits (DB) pension, the Scheme administrator will:

  • arrange for payment at the appropriate time, including any additional contributions (AVCs)
  • set up your pension benefit & any arrears due
  • confirm your first payment, when it will be made & how it breaks down if you have different segments of benefit
  • liaise with HMRC to determine your tax code & make any necessary adjustments to your pension

Regular monthly DB pension payments will be paid and increased in line with the Notice of Pension issued to you.

Get a transfer
out pack?

How do I get a transfer out pack?

  1. Get in touch to request a transfer value

You, or a third party (like an independent financial adviser) with your written authority, may request a transfer-out quotation from the Scheme administrator at any time. We’ll carry out security checks so you’ll need tell us:

  • your National Insurance Number or Scheme membership number
  • two pieces of personal information (to check against the record we hold for you)

You can request one transfer-out quote within a 12 month period free of charge – additional requests in that period will be subject to an administration fee.

Be aware of pension scams

  1. What we’ll do

The Scheme administrator will send you a cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) statement and other related documents and forms. They aim to do this within 10 working days of receiving of your request.

If you have defined benefits, the value will include any additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) if you paid them. The quote will be guaranteed for 3 months if you are below your normal retirement age.

If your transfer value (CETV) is more than £30,000, you are legally required to take independent financial advice. However, we recommend all members consider doing so.

  1. What happens if you want to retire from the Scheme

If you want to go ahead and transfer out of the Scheme, complete the discharge forms and return them to the Scheme administrator along with any other documents requested. If you do not do this within the three months, a payment of £250 plus VAT will be required to recalculate the transfer value.

Once we have carried out the checks we need to do and can proceed, we’ll pay your transfer value to your chosen arrangement and confirm completion of the process to you. You will then no longer have any benefits remaining in the Scheme.

Report the death of
a scheme member?

How do I report the death of a scheme member?

  1. Be prepared – what we’ll need to know

We’ll need you to tell us:

  • the member’s National Insurance Number or Scheme membership number
  • the date they died
  • your relationship to them & your own contact details
  • whether the member has a surviving spouse or civil partner and/or dependent children
  1. Get in touch

To report the death of an Inchcape Motors Pension Scheme member, their spouse/civil partner, next of kin or other personal representative should contact the Scheme administrator on
020 3890 2159 or inchcape@equiniti.com.

  1. What we’ll do

The Scheme administrator will respond promptly and request any certificates or other documents we need (and will return the originals to you).

They’ll then contact us (the Scheme Trustee) to get a decision on any discretionary benefits that may be due, such as a lump sum payment. If anything is payable, the Scheme administrator will get in touch with the member’s dependants.

If the member was receiving a pension from the Scheme, their payments will be suspended but we’ll set up any dependant pensions that are payable and advise of adjustment we need to make for any overpayment.

Check my details?

How do I check my details?

In November 2023, we’ll be writing to all members to ask you to check the details we have on record for you.

At other times, you can check your details by contacting the Scheme administrator or visiting the member portal.