Terms & Conditions

The PensionBee service legal terms

The PensionBee Personal Pension (as defined herein) is a pension registered with HMRC under Chapter 2 of Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004. The PensionBee Personal Pension allows customers to invest their monies in one of a variety of plans, known as the Tracker, Tailored, 4Plus, Fossil Fuel Free, Shariah, Preserve, Pre-Annuity and Impact Plan (each as defined herein).

PensionBee Limited (PensionBee) does not provide pensions, financial, regulatory, legal, tax or other investment advice or recommendations with respect to any PensionBee Plan (as defined herein), under these Terms or otherwise. Nothing on the PensionBee Website or in any communications from us should be construed as pensions, financial, regulatory, legal, tax or investment advice. PensionBee does not provide any advice (especially financial, tax or legal advice) or individual recommendations on any PensionBee Plans and you must make your own investment decisions as to whether to invest in the PensionBee Personal Pension. Any advice received from third-party advisers is obtained by you independently of PensionBee and will be separate to these Terms and not form part of any contractual or other legally binding arrangements between you and PensionBee Limited, PensionBee Trustees (as defined herein) or any Money Manager (as defined herein). PensionBee provides the PensionBee Services (as defined herein) strictly and exclusively at your direction.

Any investments provided through any of the PensionBee Services can go down in value as well as up and PensionBee will not be responsible for any losses you incur or any tax liabilities which arise as a result of your use of any of the PensionBee Services or investments in any PensionBee Plan.

Brexit Warning

Following the end of the Brexit Transition period on 31st December 2020, the United Kingdom left the EU. As a result, the financial services landscape has changed with regards to the provision of financial services between the UK and the EU. PensionBee is an execution only service provider, meaning it is up to you to decide if PensionBee is right for you. If you are uncertain, you may wish to consider obtaining the appropriate financial, tax and legal advice as appropriate where it is likely you or your pension(s) may be affected by these changes.

1. Introduction

These Terms and Conditions together with your “application form” (as defined herein) create a legally binding agreement between you and PensionBee for the operation and management of your PensionBee Account. The PensionBee Services are offered in line with the terms of the Scheme Rules as defined herein and also available on the PensionBee Website) which are incorporated in these Terms and the PensionBee Key Features Document. Where there is a discrepancy between these Terms and the Scheme Rules, the Scheme Rules shall prevail. Please see further in these Terms at Section 24 below.

These Terms are an important document upon which we intend to rely and set out key contractual terms and conditions that shall be legally binding upon you for any PensionBee Services you use. Please read these Terms carefully and ensure you understand them and are happy with their contents before you proceed to use any of the PensionBee Services. For your own benefit and protection, you should consider whether seeking specialist advice from a financial adviser and/or solicitor would be appropriate for you in determining whether to use any of the PensionBee Services. If you require any further information on these Terms or any of the PensionBee Services please contact us on the contacts given on the PensionBee Website www.pensionbee.com/uk.

If you do not agree with any of these Terms, you should not use the PensionBee Services.

In addition to these Terms, you also need to read and ensure you understand the relevant fact sheets and disclosure documents for any PensionBee Plans (as defined herein) you are considering investing in, which documents are available on the PensionBee Website.

2. Definitions

Application Form: The webpage(s) and on-line forms where you enter the information required in order to set up a PensionBee account. The information collected is determined by the nature of the PensionBee website or PensionBee Mobile App (as defined below). This application form will require you to fill out details such as your email address.

Account: your online account set up through the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App by entering your name and email address. Your account may also be referred to as the “BeeHive”.

When you set up your Account, you will receive a login giving you online access to your Account through the website and the PensionBee Mobile App. Through your Account, you can track the progress of the PensionBee Location Service, check the status of any pending transfers, view your PensionBee Personal Pension balance, initiate the addition of contributions, initiate withdrawals and perform other administrative actions. These actions are subject to the Terms.

FSCS: the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, becoming operational on 1 December 2001, implementing the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority rules for compensation payments upon a failure of certain regulated financial service businesses.

Money Managers: the groups responsible for investing the money held in each PensionBee Plan. Each Money Manager is responsible for one or more of the PensionBee Plans. The current Money Managers are:

(i) State Street Global Advisors (operating through Managed Pension Funds Limited);

(ii) BlackRock Life Limited; and

(iii) Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Limited.

Each of these Money Managers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Please note the underlying Money Manager for the Shariah Plan is HSBC, however the Plan is traded via State Street Global Advisors.

PensionBee: The PensionBee Group of Companies including PensionBee Limited and PensionBee PLC.

PensionBee Consolidation Service: the service provided by PensionBee that combines your existing pensions into your chosen PensionBee Plan once you give us permission to do so.

PensionBee Location Service: the service provided by PensionBee that helps you locate your existing pensions in order to proceed with the PensionBee Consolidation Service.

PensionBee Native Mobile Application (PensionBee Mobile App): Our application designed for a mobile phone and accessed under the rules of the Apple Store or the Android Store.

PensionBee Personal Pension: the registered pension plan governed by these Terms and the Rules into which you will have the option of transferring your existing pensions. Your investment into the PensionBee Personal Pension is referred to in these Terms as “your PensionBee Plan”.

PensionBee Services: all of the services offered on or via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App, however accessed, including, without limitation:

(i) the Account;

(ii) the PensionBee Mobile App;

(iii) the PensionBee Location Service;

(iv) the PensionBee Consolidation Service;

(v) the PensionBee Personal Pension and any PensionBee Plans made available pursuant to the PensionBee Personal Pension;

(vi) any other service, facility, or information, that may be added to these Terms from time to time; and

(vii) any other service, facility, or information, that is provided that is ancillary to any of the items listed above in paragraphs (i) through to (v) (inclusive),

each of which is accessible through a variety of devices including the Internet or any mobile phone application.

PensionBee Plans: each of the options for pension plans available to you as part of the PensionBee Personal Pension; with the pension plans currently offered being:

(i) the Balanced Index Sub-Fund provided by Managed Pension Funds Limited (the Tracker Plan);

(ii) the Sterling Liquidity Sub-Fund provided by Managed Pension Funds Limited (the Preserve Plan);

(iii) the As of Priced (Net) HSBC Amanah Equity Index Sub-Fund provided by Managed Pension Funds Limited (the Shariah Plan);

(iv) the Dynamic Diversified Sub-Fund provided by Managed Pension Funds Limited (the 4Plus Plan);

(v) the Sterling Non-Gilts Bond Over 15 Years Index Sub-Fund provided by Managed Pension Funds Limited (the Pre-Annuity Plan);

(vi) a selection of the DC LifePath fund range, provided by BlackRock Life Limited (the Tailored Plan);

(vii) the FTSE TPI Global (Ex Fossil Fuels) Equity Index Fund, provided by Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Limited (the Fossil Fuel Free Plan); and

(viii) the BlackRock Life Impact Broad Equity Fund provided by BlackRock Life Limited (the Impact Plan).

In these Terms, the PensionBee Plan you choose to invest in is referred to as “your PensionBee Plan“.

PensionBee Website: the website operated by PensionBee, located at www.pensionbee.com/uk.

Rules: the trust deed and rules, establishing the PensionBee Personal Pension, dated 26th February 2016, as amended and restated from time to time.

Terms: these terms and conditions, as amended or restated, from time to time.

Working Day: any day on which banks are generally open for business, except: (i) a Saturday or Sunday, (ii) any other day which the Asset Manager managing your PensionBee Plan, has declared not to be a dealing day; between the hours of 9.30am until 5pm (Monday to Friday).

3. When these terms apply

These Terms apply to any PensionBee Service, including where you are in receipt of any services supplied by our partners in the course of delivering any PensionBee Service. These Terms are applied consistently to all customers holding a PensionBee Plan.

3.1 When you first Open your PensionBee Account

By entering your email details on the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App you are agreeing to open an Account and to be bound by these Terms to the extent they apply to your use of the PensionBee Services.

3.2 When you acquire a PensionBee Plan

By proceeding to consolidate your existing pension into one of the PensionBee Plans or opening a new pension, you agree to the application of all of these Terms to you and your PensionBee Plan and any PensionBee Services provided to you whether before or after the date of you first obtaining a PensionBee Plan.

There is no minimum length to our agreement under these Terms. Should you wish to end your agreement with PensionBee, you should inform us in writing. Read more in Section 17 (Leaving your PensionBee Plan). We reserve the right to amend these Terms in accordance with Section 18 (Changes to these Terms).

4. The parties

You: You must be aged 18 or over to use any of the PensionBee Services. You will be treated as a “Retail” customer under the Financial Conduct Authority rules, which means you benefit from the highest level of investor protections under those rules.

PensionBee: PensionBee Limited, a company incorporated and registered in England, registered office at 209 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NL (registered in England, Company Registration No. 09354862) and where referred to in these Terms includes each of PensionBee Limited’s directors, officers, employees, agents, advisers, authorised representatives and corporate affiliated entities. PensionBee and its directors, officers, employees, agents, advisers, authorised representatives and corporate affiliated entities shall be entitled to enforce these Terms as if each of them were a party to these Terms. PensionBee is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 744931). We may appoint any person (whether connected to PensionBee or not) to assist us or perform any or all of our functions or responsibilities under these Terms, but only if this does not offer you a poorer service and if your rights are not prejudiced by the assignment.

PensionBee Trustees: PensionBee Trustees Limited, a company incorporated and registered in England, registered office at 209 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NL (registered in England, Company Registration No. 10657838). PensionBee Trustees Limited is the Trustee of the PensionBee Personal Pension and is a bare trustee with responsibility for holding the assets of your PensionBee Plan, separate to its own assets.

The PensionBee Services may also be provided by any group companies of PensionBee.

In this agreement, “we” and “us” will be taken to mean any and all of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees, as applicable, who provide you with one or more of the PensionBee Services either individually or as a group unless otherwise specified in these Terms.

5. The services this agreement applies to and what you need to know about them.

Further details of the PensionBee Services currently offered are set out in this Section 5 of these Terms. These Terms will be amended or supplemented to detail any additional PensionBee Services that are offered from time to time in the future.

You should not seek to utilise any PensionBee Service or open a PensionBee Plan without first reading, in conjunction with these Terms, and understanding and determining the appropriateness to you and your investment decision, the following:

(i) the Key Features Document for the PensionBee Personal Pension;

(ii) the relevant factsheets and other disclosure documents for the PensionBee Plan you are considering choosing as your PensionBee Plan, including our disclosures on transaction costs; and

(iii) The Pension Scheme Rules (Scheme Rules).

The documents listed in (i), (ii) and (iii) above are each available on the PensionBee Website.

We reserve the right, in our absolute discretion, to refuse to deliver any one or more PensionBee Services to you.

5.1 Account opening

Opening an Account with PensionBee is free.

Your Account is opened from the moment you provide PensionBee with any information about yourself (e.g. your email address).

You agree to provide us with complete and accurate information as is required during the registration process.

It is a priority of PensionBee to protect your Account and any of your personal data provided to us for your Account. PensionBee applies security and authentication procedures whenever you access your Account which procedures have been introduced to prevent unauthorised users gaining access to your Account or your personal details. You will be required to comply with these security and authentication procedures whenever you are accessing your Account; any failure to comply will result in a loss of access to your Account. PensionBee reserves the right to amend these procedures and introduce additional security and authentication procedures from time to time to reflect new technologies and take account of improvements in recommended security protocols.

If at any time you are unable to comply with PensionBee’s security and authentication procedures whether due to a loss of your mobile, internet access issues or for any other reasons, you should get in touch with your Account contact at PensionBee as soon as possible to discuss alternative security and authentication procedures for your Account.

PensionBee’s current security and authentication procedures will require that you provide us with your mobile telephone number when you set up your Account. To which mobile telephone PensionBee will send a unique six-digit security code by text message to allow you to access your Account securely. You agree that the mobile telephone number you provide us to receive text messages is registered in your name and only you have access to it. If you provide inaccurate mobile telephone contact details or lose access to the mobile telephone contact details you provided to us, you will not be able to pass our security and authentication procedures and will not be able to access your Account.

You agree you will tell PensionBee of any change to your mobile telephone number or if you have ceased to have access to that number. PensionBee is not liable for any loss of access to your Account or unauthorised access to your account should you not provide us with this information and promptly update it as needed.

By providing PensionBee with your contact details, including mobile telephone number, email or other social media contacts you agree to PensionBee contacting you for the purposes of giving you reminders, updates, information requests, and general correspondence regarding your progress through and our delivery of the various PensionBee Services (including reminders to commence the PensionBee Services).

Initiating the Account opening process does not necessarily mean that you will be able to invest in a PensionBee Plan or be able to use any of the other PensionBee Services. We undertake various checks to protect both our customers and ourselves from fraudulent activity, as well as complying with regulatory requirements for the PensionBee Plan. We can only proceed to offer you any further PensionBee Services once our internal procedures are satisfied. These checks may include verifying your identity with an external provider, including credit reference agencies (Please Note: the checks will not affect your credit score), the Electoral Register or information from utility groups (e.g. electricity providers). By opening an Account you agree to allow us to perform these checks. Following these checks or for any other reason, in our absolute discretion, we may decline to let you use the PensionBee Services, and you agree that we are not required to provide you with any details of any decision to refuse to provide you with one or more PensionBee Services. We may need to carry out similar checks throughout the lifetime of your investment in a PensionBee Plan and use of PensionBee Services.

5.2 Pension locating

We will use the information you provide us to locate your existing pensions on your behalf. We may ask you to provide information about yourself, including information about your existing pensions and your employment history, as well as your authorisations to approach the providers of your existing pensions (either in writing or verbally) in your place to obtain relevant information from them. By accepting to use the PensionBee Location Service you agree to allow us to use this information (including your personal data and any approved form of your signature) to identify you to your existing pension providers upon their request and to find your existing pension savings by contacting government departments, pension providers, your current and past employers and any other person or organisation we believe may help us to locate your pensions. By asking us to locate your pensions, you approve our usage of a standard letter of authority, which may contain an electronic or physical (wet ink) copy of your signature. Subject to your authorisation, we may generate a wet signature from your digitally rendered signature for the purpose of transferring your pension.

We take the security of your information very seriously. See further details of our security processes for information you provide to us in our Privacy Policy and below in these Terms at Section 12.

We cannot promise that we will be able to locate any or all of your pensions.

While we will always take reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of the information we provide you, we are unable to guarantee the accuracy of information from third parties provided in relation to your existing pensions. We do not accept liability for any default or mistakes by any third party who has provided us information about your pensions or resulting mistakes or inaccuracies.

You are welcome to contact us with clarification questions. To comply with regulatory requirements binding upon PensionBee, in responding to any questions you address to us we shall restrict our answer to statements of identified facts provided to us without advising you on the significance or impact of those facts on your investment or pension decisions or whether to proceed with any PensionBee Services. We may also point you towards additional sources of information. PensionBee provides an execution-only service and does not offer pension, legal, financial, tax or investment advice. If you would like advice on your pensions, finances, legal position, taxes or other investment advice please contact an appropriate professional for instance an IFA, tax advisor or Solicitor.

5.3 Ineligible pensions

We will not be able to consolidate any pensions if:

• we have been unable to locate the pension;

• we have been able to locate your pension but unable to obtain sufficient details from the provider;

• it is a pension with defined benefits worth more than £30,000 and you have not received financial advice specifically stating that to transfer this pension is in your best interest. Defined benefits in pensions are guaranteed features of a pension, including but not limited to final salary promises, guaranteed annuity rates or other non-standard but potentially attractive benefits. Pensions that typically have extensive defined benefits and therefore which do not lend themselves to transfer into new schemes include government pensions and company plans established before 1988. Where any of your defined benefit pensions are individually worth more than £30,000 it is a regulatory requirement that you receive advice from a pensions transfer expert prior to making any transfer of those benefits and this is required prior to your being able to make any transfer of your defined benefit pension worth more than £30,000 to your PensionBee Plan.

• it is an international pension: we will not at this stage be able to consolidate your non-UK pensions;

• it is a pension with a Pension Attachment or Pension Earmarking Order.

  If your pension is a currently active company pension: you can add your active pension to your Account, but active pensions benefit from employer contributions and you may therefore wish to leave your pension where it is until you switch jobs. If you insist on transferring your active pension to PensionBee, it is possible to do so and you may ask your employer to pay into your PensionBee Personal Pension although they are under no obligation to do so. It is also possible to do a partial transfer of your active pension so that the account with your old provider remains open and continues to receive employer contributions, if your current provider agrees to do so.

6. Transferring your existing pensions into a PensionBee plan

We will inform you of which pensions are ineligible to be transferred into the PensionBee Personal Pension.

If you have elected to transfer eligible pensions into the PensionBee Personal Pension we will contact the providers (and other relevant parties who we reasonably believe are required to be contacted) holding your existing pensions and advise them that you wish to transfer your pension with them to the PensionBee Personal Pension.

While we aim to follow up promptly, we cannot commit to chasing your existing pension providers for a response to our requests. We are limited in what actions we can take to require those third party providers to action your transfer request promptly. We will only be able to invest monies we receive from your existing pensions on receipt of the required information from the transferring provider. Where this information is not received from the existing providers it will delay any investment of your cash in your chosen PensionBee Plan. This may result in your transferred monies being held in a non-interest bearing account until all necessary information is received. You agree that we shall not be responsible or liable in any way for any delay to a transfer of your existing pensions to the PensionBee Personal Pension, or the investment of any cash received from one of your existing pensions into your chosen PensionBee Plan, caused by any of these third party providers failing to transfer your existing pensions savings to us promptly or providing us with necessary information.

In some cases your pension provider may inform us of a National Insurance Number (NINO) mismatch, this is where the NINO we have been provided with does not match the records that we hold for you on file. Should the provider transfer your Pension to PensionBee whilst there is a NINO Mismatch, the value of your Pension may be invested by PensionBee in the meanwhile. This process will normally occur within 5 working days of the Pension transfer being confirmed and the funds being received by PensionBee. In the event there is a NINO mismatch we will contact you by email to confirm there is a mismatch and request the documentation we need to correct your NINO details. Please note, whilst there is a NINO mismatch, you will be prevented from transferring out, switching funds, making withdrawals and/or contributing into your PensionBee Personal Pension until the correct NINO has been confirmed by PensionBee.

All transfers from your existing pension plans to the PensionBee Personal Pension will be made as cash and in British pounds sterling.

Before you can transfer to PensionBee some of your existing pensions, you may need to provide PensionBee with additional information and, in some instances, seek specialist advice such as may be provided by an independent financial adviser on the transfer of such pensions. PensionBee does not provide advisory services. Any additional third party advice you require is likely to charge you fees for that advisory service.

You are responsible for being aware of and bearing all exit fees associated with your existing pensions. You are also responsible for being aware of and bearing all consequences of transferring any pensions that have guaranteed final salaries, guaranteed annuity rates or other non-standard features to the PensionBee Personal Pension. The PensionBee Personal Pension does not provide any guaranteed final salary, guaranteed annuity rates or other non-standard feature.

Where we find an exit fee over £10, a pension with guaranteed final salaries, guaranteed annuity rates or other non-standard features of significant benefit, we will let you know. Please be aware we aren’t always able to tell from a pension provider whether such features exist for a pension and are reliant on clear information from third parties. We don’t check certain policies we in our absolute discretion consider to be very low-risk, including where you ask us to waive our usual checking processes in your account or over email.

Please note that valuations produced for certain pensions, especially defined benefit pensions, are guaranteed for a specific period of time and if that time period lapses, you may be required to pay a fee for the production of a new valuation document. You are responsible for managing your financial affairs in accordance with any deadlines applicable to your defined benefit pensions and we do not take responsibility for any fees or consequences owing to missed deadlines.

PensionBee does not offer Capped Drawdown as an option. You are able to transfer your Capped Drawdown funds to the PensionBee Personal Pension however they will be converted to Flexi-Access Drawdown funds immediately upon receipt. It is important to note that taking taxable income from Flexi-Access Drawdown funds will trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance and you will be subjected to lower contribution limits than you would be if you took taxable income from a Capped Drawdown fund.

You acknowledge that by requesting a transfer in of Capped Drawdown funds that you are also requesting for these to be converted to Flexi-Access Drawdown.

7. Selecting a plan

It is your responsibility to determine whether investing in the PensionBee Personal Pension is appropriate for you. You can select from a number of Plans when investing in the PensionBee Personal Pension. You can choose your Plan before confirming your wish to transfer your pension(s) to the PensionBee Personal Pension, or when opening a new PensionBee Personal Pension. If you sign up without deciding on a Plan, you will be choosing to transfer your pensions into the Tailored Plan and will confirm this during sign up. You are able to choose a Plan other than the Tailored Plan subsequent to sign up within the BeeHive. Should you not choose another Plan in the BeeHive your choice will remain the Tailored Plan. You should ensure you are aware of current fees or levies applying to any PensionBee Plan you select. Details of these fees and levies are set out in Section 13 in these Terms.

Each of the PensionBee Plans are structured as long term unit-linked insurance policies provided by a Money Manager under an insurance contract entered into by PensionBee Trustees on behalf of the relevant PensionBee customers choosing that PensionBee Plan.

Once you have informed us (via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App) of your selection as to which PensionBee Plan you wish to invest in, we shall invest into your chosen PensionBee Plan each amount of cash successfully transferred to the PensionBee Personal Pension account (which transfers must be accompanied by any additional information required to be obtained before PensionBee Trustees can accept the transfer) from any of your existing pension providers. Where you have more than one existing pension plan or funds are transferred in parts from any of your existing pension plans being transferred into your PensionBee Plan, it is likely your monies will be invested in stages. Where there is any substantive delay (or even an eventual failure) in the successful transfer into your PensionBee Plan of one or more of your existing pensions, there may be an extended period of time during which your PensionBee Plan will not include a consolidation of all of your existing pensions or pension balances.

You acknowledge and agree that no PensionBee Plan is guaranteed or underwritten, in whole or in part, by any of PensionBee, PensionBee Trustees, any Money Manager of any PensionBee Plan or any other person.

The terms applicable to the policies constituting the underlying investment in each PensionBee Plan are set out in the separate fact sheets for each specific PensionBee Plan and the Key Features Document. The policy terms include provisions that restrict payments under the policies in exceptional circumstances where market conditions are such that the issuer of the policy has determined to gate, restrict or delay payments/the sale of units in the underlying policy, or place the units into separate vehicles for pay down of obligations. You acknowledge and agree that we have no ability to control or restrict the application of these provisions by the issuers of the policies. In those circumstances where restrictions upon payments/sale of units in the underlying investments are applied, you acknowledge and agree that none of PensionBee, PensionBee Trustees, or any Money Manager shall be liable in any way for the application of such provisions and any resulting restrictions or delays in payments pursuant to any PensionBee Plan to you.

Any purchase of units for your PensionBee Plan are normally instructed within one working day of receipt of the funds and the associated documentation, however our trading may occasionally be delayed. The price is determined at the next valuation point for the relevant PensionBee Plan (this is usually calculated by reference to a specific time on the next Working Day). It can take a week or longer for your balance to be displayed in your Account.

You agree that if at any stage it is determined that your PensionBee Plan has been allocated units in error, you are required to notify us as soon as you become aware of this fact and otherwise upon you notifying us or our notifying you, you shall take all reasonable steps as requested by us to assist us with correcting the error in unit allocation (including your executing any necessary agreement, notices, declarations or deeds) as soon as possible.

Where you ask us to move your existing PensionBee Plan to an alternative PensionBee Plan, this is known as a “switch”. A switch will involve the sale of units in your current PensionBee Plan and the purchase of units in your newly chosen PensionBee Plan. The sale will normally be placed by the end of the Working Day following receipt of your instructions and the purchase will normally be placed by the end of the Working Day following receipt of the sale proceeds. During the process of switching, your money may not be invested in either plan. It is possible for a “switch” to be delayed and you are responsible for bearing the consequences, including but not limited to market movements, of the “switch”.

We reserve the right, in our absolute discretion, to not accept transfers into a PensionBee Plan if we believe the size of the fund(s) to be transferred is not sufficient or for any other reason in our absolute discretion.

8. Contributions

8.1 Eligible institutions

PensionBee accepts contributions from UK-based accounts with banks regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and from UK-based accounts at electronic money and payment institutions regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. References in this Section 8 (Contributions) to “bank” and “bank account” shall include all accounts of this nature.

8.2 Personal contributions

You may set up arrangements to make additional one off or regular contributions into your PensionBee Plan from your personal bank account. Contributions can be made by direct debit, standing order, bank transfer or using our Easy Bank Transfer feature. Bank transfers and standing orders need to be set up in your bank account and also in your PensionBee Account. Once you have set up your first bank transfer contribution or standing order in your PensionBee Account, you will not need to set up another one here for subsequent amounts that you want to contribute, however you will still need to initiate these from your bank account. You must use the correct reference when sending a bank transfer so that we can invest your pension contribution into your Account. We cannot take any responsibility for the consequences of incorrect, incomplete or unavailable references associated with your bank transfers. We may try to contact you regarding any outstanding information we need for your bank transfer and during this time your contribution may be uninvested. We may also return your contribution to your bank account if we do not have sufficient information, including but not limited to an accurate reference or any other information we deem necessary to meet our regulatory or administrative standards.

8.3 Employer contributions

You may also set up arrangements to make employer contributions to your PensionBee Plan from a business bank account. Directors of their own limited companies are able to make employer contributions to their PensionBee Plan.

If you are not the director of a limited company, you can request your employer to make employer contributions into your PensionBee pension. You must agree with your employer that they are happy to do this beforehand. We will need confirmation from your employer for their intention to make contributions. This is not the same as a workplace pension and PensionBee does not provide auto-enrolment services for third parties. If you choose to set up an employer contribution, you will be asked to confirm you are eligible for tax relief. Your employer contribution can be split across a member (employee) contribution and the employer’s contribution. Your employer will be given the option to make both member (employee) contributions on your behalf, as well as the employer contribution. We will only claim tax relief on the member (employee) part of this contribution if your employer selects to make this. We will not claim tax relief on any employer contributions.

8.4 Contribution practicalities

There are no additional fees for setting up one off or regular personal contributions into your PensionBee Plan. It can take around twelve (12) Working Days for your first Direct Debit payment to be processed. You agree and acknowledge that we will not be responsible for any delays in the process of setting up the Direct Debit. Please note that any changes to contributions must be updated via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App in your Account.

Where you are paying by bank transfer, it normally takes around eight (8) Working Days to set up the bank transfer from the time we receive your funds from your bank. The total time it takes will to a large part depend upon your bank with whom the bank transfer is being set up. We cannot control the time frame for your bank to establish the bank transfer. You acknowledge and agree that we will not be responsible for any such delays. You are responsible for informing your bank of your bank transfer and of any desired changes to your contributions.

You are responsible for ensuring you have sufficient monies in your bank account prior to setting up a contribution. If your bank account becomes overdrawn as a result of a contribution you make or intend to make to PensionBee, you will be responsible for any overdraft fees.

The contributions will normally be sent for investment in your chosen PensionBee Plan on the Working Day after the monies are received into the PensionBee Personal Pension account, provided you have also set up the contribution correctly via the PensionBee Website in your Account. Where we are unable to meet our usual time frame, we will invest the monies received from you into your PensionBee Plan as soon as practicable thereafter. If we are unable to confirm your contribution instruction, we will return your contribution to the bank account it was sent from and it will not be invested in your PensionBee Plan.

Changes to your regular monthly investment instruction, such as contribution increases, must be received by us via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App, no less than 12 Working Days before your next payment is due. To stop future Direct Debit payments, you must cancel your contribution via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App in your Account. Note that if you wish to cancel your direct debit at any point, you must do this at least 3 working days before the next expected payment date. If you cancel after this point, the funds may still be taken from your account, and we will be required to invest them. To cancel any bank transfer or standing order that you have set up, you will need to notify your bank in writing, which will typically mean updating the relevant bank transfer directly with your bank, and also update your Account via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App. If no payment is received at the time of any regular contribution that has been notified to us, we may terminate the regular contribution instruction. If this happens, you will need to again instruct for the regular contribution via the PensionBee Website or PensionBee Mobile App.

We are required to satisfy our internal process and regulatory obligations when accepting and investing your contributions. We may require additional information from you in order to accept and invest your contribution, including proof of the source of funds, further proof of your identity or of the entity making the contribution. Your contribution will remain uninvested while we await the receipt of information from you. Where we are unable to satisfy our internal requirements or have not received the appropriate information from you, strictly at our discretion we will send your contribution back to the bank account we received it from. At our discretion, we may also choose to keep your contribution uninvested while we await further information from you or from the regulatory authorities even if you request us to return your contribution.

If you have indicated that you have fixed or enhanced protection in your Account, you will not be able to set up new contributions in your account until we have received proof of the protection you hold. If you have already set up a contribution, we will wait to receive further proof from you before we invest your contribution. It is your responsibility to send proof of your fixed or enhanced protection and if we do not hear from you two weeks after receiving your contribution, we will proceed to invest it in your PensionBee Plan. We do not accept responsibility for any taxes, penalties, liabilities or other consequences if you subsequently breach any of the limits associated with your fixed or enhanced protection or any other linked or associated arrangements.

For information regarding tax relief on your contributions and your obligations with respect to liability for excess tax relief, please read the PensionBee Key Features Document and further below at Section 14.

It is not permissible under UK Pensions Legislation to refund contributions in most circumstances and any refunds will be treated in accordance with the appropriate legislation at the time. Should the refund be deemed an “Unauthorised Payment” this will be reported to HMRC and is likely to result in substantial tax charges for you personally and potentially for PensionBee. We will convert assets from within your PensionBee Personal Pension Plan to cash to cover all charges levied by HMRC. In addition, we will charge a £1,000 penalty. If there are insufficient assets in your Plan, you will be held personally liable for the outstanding balance and both HMRC and ourselves will contact you to settle the outstanding amounts.

8.5 Direct Debits

You are able to set up a Direct Debit to make only regular monthly contributions to your Plan through the Contributions section of the BeeHive.

If you clawback a Direct Debit payment, we will convert assets from within your PensionBee Personal Pension Plan to cash to cover the amount being reimbursed as well as any related tax-relief we may have obtained on your behalf from HMRC. The cash will then be debited from your PensionBee Personal Pension Plan. If there are insufficient assets in your Plan, you will be held personally liable for the outstanding balance and we will contact you to settle the outstanding amounts.

8.6 Overseas contributions

Contributions must come from a UK-based bank account. Contributions paid from bank accounts outside the UK will be returned. We cannot be held responsible for any losses incurred due to fluctuating currency exchange rates.

9. How your money is handled

All monies and assets in your PensionBee Plan will be held under a trust arrangement in accordance with the Rules.

Any cash you or a third party on your behalf consolidate with or contribute to (either on a one off or regular basis) your PensionBee Plan is temporarily held in a UK bank account in instant access or term accounts opened in the name of PensionBee Trustees in its capacity as trustee for the PensionBee Personal Pension. This money is segregated from our own funds and the funds of PensionBee Trustees. This is how your cash will be held pending it being invested in the underlying investment of the PensionBee Plan of your choice, as well as while processing payments to you after a redemption of units in the underlying investment of your PensionBee Plan. In the relevant account, your money will be “pooled” with the cash of other customers using the PensionBee Services. You may not elect to keep your money in this bank account for any reason as we are required to invest your money into your chosen PensionBee Plan as soon as reasonably practicable.

No interest is paid on cash held on your behalf by PensionBee Trustees, including while your cash is being held prior to its investment in your chosen PensionBee Plan or being held pending payment for a transfer out of your PensionBee Plan. The PensionBee Personal Pension accounts are currently non-interest bearing accounts and so no interest is received/retained by PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees on these accounts. If this changes in the future, interest payments received on account balances of customer funds shall not be paid to any of PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees and shall instead become part of the general fund of the PensionBee Personal Pension available to offset the costs and expenses of the PensionBee Personal Pension and or for donation to a registered charity where permitted by the Rules.

Non-cash assets and investments will be held on behalf of the customers in the name of PensionBee Trustees or by another appropriately appointed nominee company or by an approved third party custodian as permitted under the Rules or terms of the relevant PensionBee Plan. Detailed records of all the investments and assets in your PensionBee Plan will be kept.

If the custodian of any underlying assets of your PensionBee Plan becomes insolvent, there may be delays in identifying individual assets particularly if there is at that time a shortfall in the holding of interests/units held at the relevant custodian of the underlying assets of your PensionBee Plan. As a general rule, the longer the period of any time delay in the return of the assets in question, the greater the likelihood of additional shortfalls in any recovery.

You acknowledge and agree that PensionBee is not liable for any liability for any insolvency of, or default or mistakes by any third party who is the money manager, custodian, the nominal holder or has some other form of custody of, control over or operational input into, any of the underlying investments of your PensionBee Plan.

The banks or credit institutions used by PensionBee Trustees to hold your cash are independent of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees. Neither PensionBee nor PensionBee Trustees accept any liability for any default or delay in the distribution of monies following a failure of the account holding bank or any other event affecting such bank or credit institution.

In the event that a default by the bank occurs you may have to bear any shortfall in the recovery of cash from the relevant accounts on a pro rata basis with other customers of the bank based on the cash balance in all customer bank accounts held with the bank.

Individuals may seek compensation for any shortfall of recovery of cash held in a customer bank account through the FSCS. Please see further below details of the terms and extent to which you are provided with rights under the FSCS at Section 22 (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).

The underlying investments of each PensionBee Plan will be pooled with the investments of other customers of the PensionBee Personal Pension electing to invest in the same PensionBee Plan. Each PensionBee Plan is structured as a long term insurance policy. PensionBee Trustees will hold the rights under the relevant long term insurance policy for and on behalf of all customers. Accordingly, as is standard for investments of this kind, you will not have a direct beneficial right to any of the underlying investments held in your PensionBee Plan. Instead, you will become entitled to receive the sale (redemption) proceeds on the specified number of “units” in the underlying long term insurance policy representing your PensionBee Plan investment for your selected PensionBee Plan purchased from the money you have transferred or otherwise contributed into your PensionBee Plan. As a consequence, your holding will not be individually identifiable at the level of the provider of the long term insurance policy and in the event of their failure or default which results in the recoveries under that long term insurance policy being less than the amount intended to be held (as recorded on our systems) then as the investments are pooled, you may be required to share proportionally in any shortfall with other investors (including investors who are not customers of the PensionBee Personal Pension) in the long term insurance policy.

There is no cross subsidy or re-allocation of units, liabilities or value between PensionBee Plans, meaning that the performance of your PensionBee Plan is unaffected by the performance of other PensionBee Plans: gains or losses accruing on your PensionBee Plan are allocated only to those customers of the PensionBee Personal Pension who have invested in that specific PensionBee Plan. Similarly any shortfall in recoveries from any custodian or other holder of the underlying asset of a PensionBee Plan will not be shared across customers of the PensionBee Personal Pension who are not affected in the relevant affected PensionBee Plan.

The third party providers of any long term insurance policy or other underlying investment of any PensionBee Plan are independent of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees. PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees are unable to control or influence the operational or investment decisions or policies of the relevant long term insurance policy or other underlying investment of your PensionBee Plan. Consequently, you acknowledge and agree that PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees each accept no liability for and do not make any representation as to: (i) the performance or returns of any underlying investment in your PensionBee Plan or any PensionBee Plan or (ii) the operational decisions of any third party or their compliance with their governing rules. You acknowledge and agree that none of PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees have any obligation to you to undertake compliance audits or other auditing of any of the Money Managers or other service providers of the underlying investments connected with your PensionBee Plan or any other PensionBee Plan and that you remain responsible for monitoring the performance and compliance of your PensionBee Plan with its terms (as set out in the relevant key facts document and other disclosure materials) and ensuring it meets your expectations.

PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees are not in any way involved in your choice to invest in the PensionBee Personal Pension or your selection of any particular PensionBee Plan. Neither will any of PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees make recommendations to you as to if, or the timing or quantum of, any contributions to or transfer out of your PensionBee Plan or provide you with any ongoing advice as to the merits or otherwise of the performance (past, present or future) or operation of your (or any) PensionBee Plan or underlying investment in your (or any) PensionBee Plan. Any decision to remain with or transfer to another pension or PensionBee Plan is a decision to be made solely by you without advice or input from PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees. It is important that you monitor, on an ongoing basis, the performance and operational details of your PensionBee Plan and seek independent professional advice about any concerns you have with the performance or operations of your PensionBee Plan.

We are under no obligation to exercise any voting rights where there are voting rights attached to any underlying investments of your PensionBee Plan.

Proxy Voting

Where we are able to exercise proxy voting with regard to the Tailored Plan, the Tracker Plan and the 4Plus Plan line, we will do so in line with our Key features document.

10. Exclusion of Liability

PensionBee relies on Money Managers to enable you to invest in and manage your PensionBee Personal Pension. Money Managers in turn rely on data, price information and other services they create or obtain from third parties. The Money Managers are responsible for all price information, fund composition and the overall accuracy of how all investments are valued at all times. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for any errors, inaccuracies or mistakes made by the Money Managers.

PensionBee does not accept any responsibility or liability for any errors, inaccuracies or mistakes made by any agents, representatives or third parties acting on behalf of Money Managers.

11. Monitoring your account and communicating with us

You acknowledge and agree that all PensionBee Services are provided exclusively as online services and therefore we will deliver most of our communications with you over the Internet, including via email. We will also send Push Notifications to your mobile device(s) from time to time. Our email messages and Push Notifications may contain personal information about you and your pensions, so you should ensure that your email address, mobile telephone number and other contact details are always correct and up to date. You will be sent a confirmation email when you set up an Account. If any details are incorrect,- you will be unable to receive a six-digit code to access your Account. If you receive a confirmation notice you do not recognise, you must contact us immediately. By using any of the PensionBee Services you acknowledge and agree that each of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees are unable to guarantee that its or your communications via email are secure and that by agreeing to accept any of the PensionBee Services you (i) accept these risks, and (ii) indemnify and hold harmless each of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees from any losses, damages or liabilities you may suffer as a result of any failure of email or online communications as well as any service interruptions or faults, as well as interference, interception or breach in transmission (in each case including any security breach resulting in the release of your personal data).

*Note: The transmission of security text message codes to mobile telephone or other access devices is available to telephone numbers domestic to the United Kingdom and internationally. The delivery of security code text messages or automated calls may not be available to your telephone number depending on your location.*

You will usually be able to access your Account through the Website or the PensionBee Mobile App at any time subject to passing PensionBee’s security and authentication procedures. This will allow you to see the current value of your PensionBee Plan as at the latest valuation point provided in relation to the underlying investments in your PensionBee Plan, arrange to add new contributions (whether on a one off or regular basis), withdraw from the age of 55 (57 from 2028), and perform various other administrative functions in relation to your PensionBee Plan.

We will prepare an annual statement for your PensionBee Plan which will be made available to download in your Account within six (6) weeks of the annual reporting date, which is 5 April annually.

We will not send you confirmation notices for certain transactions, for instance where we sell underlying investments in your PensionBee Plan to cover our fees. Fees incurred on your PensionBee Plan will be detailed in the annual statement.

We make every effort to be available to you, but cannot guarantee that access to your Account will be available at all times or without delay. You acknowledge that the PensionBee Services may be interrupted and the services available may be variable in certain circumstances. You acknowledge and agree that we will not be liable to you if our systems or services are unavailable to you for whatever reason.

If you would like to get in touch, please call us at 020 3457 8444 or you can email us at [email protected].

If you would like to write to us by post, please address your letters to: 209 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NL. Writing to us by post is the slowest way to get in touch.

12. How we protect your information and privacy

PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees comply with and are registered as data controllers under UK data protection laws (registration details of each of these companies can be obtained by viewing the Data Protection Public Register at https://ico.org.uk/). PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees take all reasonable care to prevent any unauthorised access to your personal data. We take the protection of your information very seriously and how we may use your information is documented in our Privacy Policy.

We may obtain information (including personal data) from you, your employers (current and previous), your existing pension providers and other third parties at various times you are accessing any of the PensionBee Services. Any information you provide may be used to update an existing record we hold with respect to you.

You accept that it is your responsibility to ensure that the contact details we have for you are active and up-to-date. You should immediately advise us of any change to your email address, telephone number(s) or postal address.

We may also need to seek additional information from you, in which case we may delay your access to the PensionBee Services, in part or whole, until we receive any such additional information or contact you again to facilitate the transmission of this information.

Where information in your application is incomplete or incorrect then we may adjust your application to make it valid, but we are not bound to do so. We will only make changes using details you have previously given us. In the absence of your providing correct and up to date details, we shall be entitled to proceed on the basis of the latest personal data we hold in respect of you and you shall indemnify and hold us harmless from any losses, damages or liabilities arising from our relying upon the latest personal data we hold for you, irrespective of its source.

PensionBee have the right to share any information provided by you or on your behalf with third parties as documented in our Privacy Policy.

By using the PensionBee Website or PensionBee App you agree to the placement of cookies on the device you are using and accept how we may collect data about you. Further information on our use of information and cookies is available in our Privacy Policy.

The PensionBee App is only supported on devices where the operating system has not been modified, or jailbroken, or configured to allow software installation from sources other than those approved by PensionBee (including but not limited to the Apple App Store and Google Play). Use of the PensionBee App on such a device is at your risk and PensionBee cannot be held responsible for any loss of data, information or financial loss.

We will rely on any communication which we reasonably believe to have been made by you (or on your behalf). We are entitled to treat instructions validated with your passwords as genuine. Where we are unable to validate your instructions for any reason, we will be entitled to follow our internal security procedures to handle your requests.

When using PensionBee Services, it is your responsibility to have secure access to the Internet and we recommend that you change your passwords regularly to keep your details as secure as possible. In addition we strongly suggest that you do not use the same password for any other online accounts you hold.

We recommend that you only use a private email address when creating and managing an account with PensionBee. You should not use your work email address or any other email address that is not a private email address you own such as, a staff, university, NHS or office email account- as you may lose access to that email account in future.

We maintain appropriate processes and controls to secure the information we hold about you. You must not disclose your username, password or other secure information to anyone else. You acknowledge and agree that you shall be responsible for any losses, damages or liabilities you suffer from any disclosure you do make. You are responsible for keeping your personal data secure. Your personal data outside of PensionBee is beyond our control and you (i) accept these risks, and (ii) indemnify and hold harmless each of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees from any losses, damages or liabilities you may suffer as a result of a third party receiving unauthorised access to your personal data (including through identity theft) and subsequently accessing information about you and your PensionBee Account or completing transactions on your behalf, including withdrawals. Where such activities lead to your Account being blocked we will not be liable for any losses that could arise. Where we believe the integrity of our systems could be compromised by a third party receiving unauthorised access to your personal data, we reserve the right to block online access to your Account and take such other reasonable action as may be necessary to protect us or you.

You must report any information loss, suspected theft or misuse of your Account to us as soon as possible by calling us at 020 3457 8444 or by email on [email protected].

In the event that you are a victim of a crime such as; the theft or unauthorised access of your smartphone, iPad, Tablet, Laptop or PC etc, or your personal identification documents (i.e. Passport), you should consider whether any of your accounts or key passwords such as your PensionBee account/password may also be compromised as a result. If you have been a victim of a crime of this nature, you should consider whether you should change your PensionBee account password and enable Two Factor Authentication (where it is not already in place) as soon as possible.

You acknowledge and agree that we accept no liability for any damage, liability or loss suffered by you or any third parties resulting from you not having complied with these Terms or your failure to take reasonable security precautions, including but not limited to ensuring you do not write down password(s), PIN or any security information related to your Account with us unless this is done in a way that would make it impossible for anyone else to recognise any of that information.

By initiating the process to establish an Account or utilising any PensionBee Service, you agree and consent to our monitoring and recording any or all of our interactions with you (including telephone conversations), including for the purposes of improving the PensionBee Services or meeting any of our regulatory requirements.

Provided that we send you correspondence to the email address, telephone number and/or postal address you have provided, we will not be deemed to have failed in any duty of privacy, nor be liable for any losses, costs or expenses which may arise from a third party intercepting the communications and we shall not be responsible for the loss of any documents, or the cost of replacing them, or for any other loss, cost or expense resulting from delay, or failure of delivery of, any communication we send or receive in such manner.

13. Our fees

Using PensionBee to find and combine your pensions is always completely free. Charges only apply when you move your pensions to a PensionBee Plan.

Once you have invested in your PensionBee Plan the fees and charges as disclosed in this Section 13 (Our Fees) apply.

At PensionBee one of our core objectives is to provide better value pension plans for UK savers. For most customers of the PensionBee Personal Pension, the only fees they will pay will be the annual management fees. In these circumstances your fees are automatically deducted from your PensionBee Plan and no action is required on your part.

There are a number of extra services that we can provide customers should they require them, at no additional cost. These are outlined below at Section 13.2 (Services provided at no additional cost).

All fees and charges will be paid in British pounds sterling or by way of Unit deductions or Unit price adjustments.

All amounts in these Terms are expressed exclusive of VAT unless otherwise expressly stated in these Terms. Currently management fees and certain other fees listed herein are exempt from VAT under UK law. If any such exemption ceases, VAT will be payable by you on any affected fees where VAT is imposed and any such VAT will be in addition to the figures shown below.

13.1 Annual management fees

Your annual management fee is based on a fixed percentage (%) which for each of the PensionBee Plans is:

PensionBee Plan	Annual Management Fees (fixed percentage)
Tracker Plan	0.50%
Preserve Plan	0.50%
Tailored Plan	0.70%
Pre-Annuity Plan	0.70%
Fossil Fuel Free Plan	0.75%
Shariah Plan	0.95%
4Plus Plan	0.95%
Impact Plan	0.95%

On pensions larger than £100,000 we start decreasing your fee. We halve the fee on the portion of your savings over this amount:

PensionBee plan	Fee on your first £100,000	On your savings above £100,000
Tracker Plan	0.50%	0.25%
Preserve Plan	0.50%	0.25%
Tailored Plan	0.70%	0.35%
Pre-Annuity Plan	0.70%	0.35%
Fossil Fuel Free Plan	0.75%	0.38%
Shariah Plan	0.95%	0.48%
4Plus Plan	0.95%	0.48%
Impact Plan	0.95%	0.48%

By way of example of how the annual management fees on PensionBee Plans are calculated, below we show the actual £ figures of fees based on a pension pot of £20,000:

PensionBee investment plan	Annual Management Fee (in %)	Annual Management Fee (In £)
Tracker Plan	0.50%	£100
Preserve Plan	0.50%	£100
Tailored Plan	0.70%	£140
Pre-Annuity Plan	0.70%	£140
Fossil Fuel Free Plan	0.75%	£150
Shariah Plan	0.95%	£190
4Plus Plan	0.95%	£190
Impact Plan	0.95%	£190

In addition, all investments include transaction costs related to the buying and selling of underlying securities (such as shares) in your plan. These include costs such as stamp duty reserve tax or levies charged by the regulatory or tax authorities. These are not fees earned by PensionBee, but the effect of transaction costs is to reduce the performance (or growth) of your plan so it is important that you know about them.

Most asset managers, including our asset managers - BlackRock, State Street and Legal & General - now separately disclose these costs. Transaction costs are generally very small in our plans as we work only with the largest asset managers in the world. To learn more about transaction costs and how they have been calculated, you can download our explanatory paper here.

13.2 Services provided at no additional cost

The following PensionBee Services will be included in your PensionBee Plan at no extra cost:

PensionBee Plan Services

• The PensionBee Location Service;
• The PensionBee Consolidation Service;
• Regular and one-off voluntary contributions;
• Withdrawals, unless taking your PensionBee Plan in cash at once (after holding your Plan for less than a year - see below for further information);
• Regular rebalancing of investments (as relevant to the Plan);
• Age-driven investment allocation & money management according to retirement desires (Tailored Plan only);
• Free 30-day cancellation;
• Free transfers out at any point.

Customer support services

• Pension splitting: if you get a divorce;
• Pension death benefits: if you pass away;
• Pension ill-health benefits: if you can no longer work;
• Pension serious ill-health benefits: if you have a life expectancy of less than 12 months.

There are no “inactivity fees”, exit fees or minimum balance requirements.

13.3 Early withdrawal fee

If your pot has been with PensionBee for less than a year and you wish to withdraw it in full, then a full withdrawal fee of £150 (including VAT) applies. Please note that you have to be aged 55 or over (57 from 2028) to make a standard withdrawal request. For pension balances under £150, a full withdrawal won’t be possible as there’s insufficient funds to complete the transaction.

While expected to be minimal, any BACS charges and telegraphic transfer charges paid directly by us in relation to any transaction for you shall be automatically recoverable from your PensionBee Plan.

13.4 Recovery of fees and charges

The fees and charges set out in this Section 13 (Our fees) may be amended from time to time following any periodic review of fees and charges or other event (including, without limitation, any changes to regulations imposing additional costs on the PensionBee Personal Pension or with respect to any of the PensionBee Services). We also reserve the right to recover reasonable costs and expenses where it is necessary to locate a missing customer, verify information following the death of a customer or trace a missing beneficiary. Where there is an amendment of any fees or charges payable by you we will advise you by email notice in advance of any change, to the extent possible.

You agree and authorise us to sell any underlying investments in your PensionBee Plan to cover (i) any outstanding fees or charges due from you or (ii) any amounts that have been inadvertently paid to you in excess of the actual value of your PensionBee Plan. Where it is not possible to sell underlying assets within your PensionBee Plan, PensionBee may require you to meet outstanding fees by cheque, debit card or Direct Debit at our discretion. See further in these Terms at Section 13 (Taxes) for details of circumstances where PensionBee and/or PensionBee Trustees may need to raise monies for other reasons, for example to send tax relief back to HMRC. In all circumstances, your interests in the underlying investment of your PensionBee Plan will only be sold to the degree required to meet the outstanding amounts.

There are costs related to trading the underlying investments in your PensionBee Plan. The costs are frequently referred to as “transaction costs” and may include currency conversion costs and transaction taxes. Transaction costs are not fees charged by PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees. Transaction costs are included in the price of the units in your PensionBee Plan and are not charged separately.

Annual Management fees applicable to your plan are calculated daily and automatically deducted from your account each month (or when you switch or transfer your plan). We calculate the fees payable on the basis of there being 365 days per year. If you withdraw your pension in full (available from the age of 55, rising to 57 from 2028), switch plans or transfer your pension to another provider, you’ll only be charged a proportion of the annual management fee up to when your request has been completed.

You acknowledge that where you transfer your PensionBee Plan to another pension plan, any management fees will continue to apply until the transfer has been completed.

Where permitted by the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, any of PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees may receive payments from the Money Managers and other providers. PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees are each responsible for complying with any legal requirements to disclose any such payments received from Money Managers or other providers or otherwise any retained interest/commission on holding of your cash.

You will continue to be responsible for any outstanding fees or charges assessed on your PensionBee Plan irrespective of whether or not your PensionBee Plan has been cancelled, terminated, or its balance has been reduced to zero.

You may be charged interest on money you owe on account of fees and charges on your PensionBee Plan at 5% per annum above the Bank of England Base Rate throughout the period of delayed payment of such fees and charges. Any of PensionBee or PensionBee Trustees may also make other financial institutions and/or credit reference agencies aware of your payment record: this may adversely impact your credit history and scoring in future. Where you are in arrears of paying any fees and charges, PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees may also immediately cancel, terminate and/or suspend any contract with you without having any resulting liability to you. Where it is determined by PensionBee and/or PensionBee Trustees that it is necessary to take legal action against you for recovery of a debt then you acknowledge and agree that you will be liable for any and all expenses incurred by PensionBee and/or PensionBee Trustees (in each case as applicable) in undertaking such action, including for any costs of engaging legal counsel and other court costs.

14. Taxes

You acknowledge and agree that at all times you will remain entirely responsible for the management of your tax affairs in relation to any pension you hold, including your PensionBee Plan, and complying with any tax rules in relation to your PensionBee Plan contributions and taking advantage of any tax deductible allowances as permitted from time to time, making any applicable returns and payments and generally complying with any applicable taxation and/HMRC laws and regulations. You acknowledge that you are solely responsible for ensuring that you obtain all applicable information that is required to complete any applicable forms and file your tax returns and comply with all your tax obligations. You acknowledge and agree that you, not PensionBee, PensionBee Trustees or any Money Manager, shall be responsible for complying with any reporting requirements.

Statutory caps on the amount of tax deductible contributions you are permitted to make to your pensions, including your PensionBee Plan, have been implemented in the UK in the past. New caps may be introduced by law in future that will apply to your PensionBee Plan. These caps are usually calculated on an annual basis or a whole of lifetime basis. If you exceed any current or future caps you will not be entitled to the tax deductions on those excess payments. PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees are not in a position to and therefore will not monitor your annual and lifetime caps and whether you have exceeded such caps. If you are making a personal contribution, we only accept contributions that you represent to us when making the contribution are eligible for tax relief, and PensionBee will automatically apply for basic rate tax relief on all personal contributions. If applicable, you can claim higher rate relief through your self assessment tax return. You are responsible for ensuring that your contributions are within the overall limits for tax relief and you shall indemnify and hold harmless each of PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees from any and all liabilities arising as a result of any claims for tax relief in excess of your allowance.

In very rare circumstances, where you make a contribution which is not eligible for tax relief (whether knowingly or not), you may be allowed to have that contribution refunded. However, you can only have the value of that contribution refunded by making a redemption of units in your PensionBee Plan. This means you will be repaid an amount determined on the basis of any increase or decrease in the value of those units for the time you held your PensionBee Plan (which variations reflect the performance of the relevant PensionBee Plan over that period), with management fees and potentially transaction fees also being deducted from the balance of your PensionBee Plan before you receive a payment.

Any excess tax relief at any time received from HMRC must be returned. We will not accept responsibility for any interest levied by HMRC on a refund of overpaid tax relief. You further acknowledge and agree that: (i) PensionBee is permitted to sell any assets within your PensionBee plan and use the proceeds to cover any amounts due to HMRC (including for the payment of any penalties or interest assessed by HMRC on any amounts you owe or with respect to any failure to comply with relevant tax law by you) or any other tax authority on your behalf; (ii) you are responsible for making any lifetime allowance charge election required by law and (iii) where there is an annual allowance charge incurred by you, PensionBee is permitted to make deductions from your PensionBee Plan including for charges or penalties levied against the PensionBee and/or PensionBee Trustees Limited in relation to such annual allowance charge. Please see further in the Rules (provided on the PensionBee Website) which are important terms binding upon you and your PensionBee Plan in relation to any taxes that may be levied on or deducted via assets sales as described herein from your PensionBee Plan and for treatment of tax deductible allowances or required adjustments to these allowances and any payments to the HMRC required to be made in connection with them.

If there are insufficient assets in your PensionBee Plan to cover the amount due to HMRC, or your PensionBee Plan has since been transferred to another pension provider or used to provide benefits, PensionBee and PensionBee Trustees reserve the right to recover the shortfall directly from you and you acknowledge and agree to such recovery.

All payments made to you related to income arising from cash or investments in your PensionBee Plan shall be subject to deduction of any applicable taxes.

15. Taking benefits

An application to take benefits must be made using the relevant form available in your Account. Benefits taken from PensionBee are in the form of Flexi-Access Drawdown. More information is available in the Key Features Document. If you require benefits, funds will then be disinvested to meet this request. If you require benefits directly after transferring in or contributing please note that the funds will be invested immediately and a disinvestment will then be processed to meet your request.

You may change your mind regarding your first withdrawal within 30 days of the withdrawal. You will be required to return the funds you have withdrawn back to PensionBee. Please note that we will not be able to refund your withdrawal fees owing to the administration costs of drawdown.

Under current pension legislation you are only permitted to take benefits from your pension after the age of 55 (57 from 2028). You may be able to access your pension as an authorised payment before the age of 55 (57 from 2028) if you are in serious ill-health with a life expectancy of under 12 months or are unable to work for the rest of your life. Generally, payments made out of your pension before the age of 55 (57 from 2028) are treated as unauthorised payments. Any unauthorised payments would likely result in tax charges for you and for PensionBee. Therefore, unauthorised payments are not permitted from the PensionBee Personal Pension.

PensionBee does not offer Capped Drawdown. You are able to transfer Capped Drawdown funds into the PensionBee Personal Pension however they will be converted to Flexi-Access upon receipt.

To make a withdrawal, you’ll need to complete identity and bank verification checks.

For identity verification, you’ll need to provide a valid copy of one of the following documents, either by uploading an original photo or taking a photo using your smartphone (we cannot accept scanned documents):

• passport;
• driver’s licence; or
• UK residence permit.

You will also be asked to complete a Facial Similarity Check, where a ‘selfie’ (which means a photo of your face), will be needed. Your selfie will only be used to compare with the photo on your identity document to ensure it’s really you.

We may also ask for additional documentation per our Acceptable Proof of Identification page. If the criteria above is not met, we may not be able to process your withdrawal request.

Making Withdrawals from your Account

Please note that withdrawals from a PensionBee account must be paid into a UK bank account:

1. with a Bank that is regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA); and
2. with a UK account number and sort code; and
3. in the name of the customer.

We are unable to authorise payments to any other bank accounts.

NB. We will carry out standard bank verification checks on the details of the bank account supplied. If these checks are unsuccessful or inconclusive, we may request a copy of a bank statement in order to proceed.

You will be subject to income tax on anything above your 25% tax-free withdrawal amount. The amount you pay depends on your total income for the year and your tax rate. Please note, HMRC rules dictate that we must apply an emergency tax code to income payments made from your pension until we receive notice of your correct tax code directly from HMRC (unless you provide us with your P45). Once we have been advised of the correct tax code by HMRC, we will aim to apply your individual tax code to your subsequent withdrawals.

In some circumstances, we may be instructed to issue a tax refund if your tax code changes to a cumulative basis. If this applies to you, we will contact you via email. We will endeavour to make any tax refunds by the end of the following tax month after your withdrawal is made. However, in rare cases, you may need to wait longer.

To settle any remaining underpaid or overpaid tax, you should liaise directly with HMRC. PensionBee is unable to make requests around tax adjustments to HMRC on your behalf.

If your pot has been with PensionBee for less than a year and you wish to withdraw it in full, then a full withdrawal fee of £150 (including VAT) applies. This fee will also be charged should the value of your account be less than the £150 fee at the point of withdrawal.

When making a Withdrawal request, PensionBee reserves the right to set a maximum requestable percentage, calculated in pounds, to guard against market volatility. This will ensure that in the event of high market volatility, the amount you request will not exceed your total pension balance at the time of trading. PensionBee has the right to vary this percentage based on current market conditions, and historically this figure has ranged from 7% to 20%. To avoid this, you can request a full withdrawal of your pension subject to the other terms in this Agreement.

16. Death

Your beneficiaries may be entitled to death benefits in the event of your death. Your beneficiaries will be required to send us either the original or a certified copy of your Death Certificate, and these Terms and Conditions shall continue to apply until your PensionBee Plan is closed. It is your responsibility to ensure your beneficiaries or executor of your estate are aware of your investment with us and the details of your PensionBee Plan. Failure by your beneficiaries to claim your death benefits within the prescribed period may result in the forfeiture of those benefits (see further in the Rules regarding forfeiture of benefits for failure to claim).

In order to help ascertain who should be considered as the potential beneficiaries of the death benefits, we may require further information from your family, next of kin, partner, friends or any other relevant third parties as necessary.

17. Leaving your PensionBee Plan

You have a statutory cooling off period of 30 days in which to cancel your application for a PensionBee Plan. The same statutory cooling off period will apply to any subsequent existing pension plan that you decide to transfer into your PensionBee Plan but this will not apply again to earlier transferred pensions or to any subsequent voluntary contributions you may make within your PensionBee Plan (whether one off contributions or regular contributions). Cancelling your PensionBee Plan within the statutory cooling off period will result in our transferring your pensions back to your previous provider, assuming they are willing to accept the pension again.

Where units in the underlying investment in your PensionBee Plan are sold to make a payment to you (whether upon transfer to a new pension provider or otherwise), you may suffer a shortfall between the amount you invested and the value you get back after cancellation of the units. This shortfall may arise from a decrease in the value of the underlying investment of your PensionBee Plan from the prices at which you invested (which variations reflect the performance of the relevant PensionBee Plan over that period), as well as deductions on account of management fees and potentially transaction fees from the balance of your PensionBee Plan before you receive a payment. Any shortfall will be borne by you.

17.1 Transfers Out

If you wish to transfer your savings out of your PensionBee Plan, you will need to set up an account with an alternative pension provider into which you can make the transfer. This new provider will contact PensionBee to arrange the transfer and PensionBee will facilitate the transfer of your savings to your new provider (subject to the payment of any fees specified within these Terms and detailed in Section 13 (Our Fees)).

PensionBee has a legal and regulatory obligation to conduct due diligence and consider whether the requested transfer is a potential “pension scam”.

Where you transfer your investment to an alternative provider, your investment will be transferred as cash in British pounds sterling. Your monies will not be transferred until we have conducted the appropriate checks of your new provider to meet our obligations to ensure the transfer complies with regulatory requirements applicable at the time.

If your new provider is able to transfer electronically through the Origo Options system and is another institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, we will aim to transfer your pension within 14 calendar days.

Please note that PensionBee can only transfer out to:

i. UK registered pension schemes (transfers out to overseas pension schemes will not be permitted).

ii. A UK bank account in the name of the relevant UK registered pension scheme that is directly regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

If your new provider is not set up for electronic transfers and/or is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, or if there is some other cause for concern in line with other industry guidelines, your transfer may take six months or longer and we may refuse your request to transfer out altogether in order to fulfil our own regulatory obligations. We may need to write to HMRC in order to confirm the registration of your new scheme. In all instances, we will endeavour to complete your transfer out of PensionBee as soon as possible.

If you apply to transfer your PensionBee Plan, either to purchase an annuity or to transfer to another pension arrangement, unless you provide specific instructions to the contrary, PensionBee will not transfer your PensionBee Plan until we have received all outstanding tax relief due to you. On or before your transfer out of your PensionBee Plan in full;

• you will pay us all outstanding fees relating to any PensionBee Service and any transactions already initiated prior to termination
• you will also pay any expenses necessarily incurred by us in terminating these Terms and in concluding outstanding obligations and;
• you will bear any losses realised in concluding any outstanding obligations.

17.2 Termination

There is no binding minimum length you must hold your PensionBee Plan for. These Terms may be terminated with immediate effect, by you providing us with written notice that you wish to cancel your PensionBee Plan and advising us of the subsequent pension provider you wish to transfer the balance of your PensionBee Plan to, less any deductions, fees or charges permitted in accordance with these Terms.

Termination of these Terms shall be without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated under these Terms. Such transactions will be completed by us as soon as practicable, provided that you pay us all outstanding amounts owing to us under these Terms.

Cheques or payment orders that remain uncashed and residual balances not claimed or transferred will not attract interest or entitle you to participate in any performance of the underlying investment of any PensionBee Plan you held interests in previously, nor shall they entitle you to receive any other benefits from membership of any PensionBee Plan.

You shall forfeit the right to receive any payments that are not claimed within six (6) years of the date on which such payment was due to be made to you or your beneficiary.

You agree that, on termination of your PensionBee Plan, or its transfer, any subsequent residual balance in your PensionBee Plan of £5 or less may at the election of PensionBee Trustees (acting as directed by PensionBee), be donated to a registered charity selected for this purpose in accordance with any requirements of the Rules.

17.3 Access to your account

Once your online Account access has been stopped, you will no longer be able to access the documents saved in your Account or access any other PensionBee Services in relation to your terminated PensionBee Plan. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have downloaded and saved any and all documents that you require whether for regulatory, taxation or other purposes. PensionBee Services do not include the retention and delivery of any documentation or records to you after the expiry of your access to your Account in accordance with these Terms and you acknowledge and agree that we are not liable for any damages, losses or liabilities you may suffer for any failure to retain copies of relevant records after the expiry of your access to your Account.

18. Changes to these terms

We may change these Terms, including our fees, from time to time in whole or in part, without further consent from you. We will notify you of material changes to these Terms by sending you the amended Terms by email. We will also make the amended Terms available on the PensionBee Website. Subject to regulatory requirements, we will give you at least 30 days notice of any material changes that may be detrimental to you, but small drafting changes may be implemented immediately.

19. New/replacement PensionBee Plans

The underlying investments in any PensionBee Plans (including your PensionBee Plan) offered by the PensionBee Personal Pension may be changed from time to time, including by a decision of the relevant Money Manager offering such underlying investment to cease offering the underlying investment option. Where your PensionBee Plan is no longer offered, it will not be possible for you to make further contributions to such PensionBee Plan, whether by way of one off or regular contributions, or the transfer of further existing pensions.

Where a Money Manager has decided to cease offering or close your PensionBee Plan, the relevant Money Manager may require the PensionBee Personal Pension to switch the investment of the PensionBee Personal Pension (including your PensionBee Plan) to a new underlying investment, or the PensionBee Personal Pension may choose to exit that investment option in favour of a new investment option with that Money Manager, or to seek to switch its investment to another investment option with a new Money Manager. If this happens, PensionBee will (i) promptly inform you of any such changes to your PensionBee Plan and its underlying investment proposed by the Money Manager, including providing you with updated fact sheets for the proposed underlying investment where available, and (ii) provide you with the opportunity to either nominate an alternative PensionBee Plan you wish to transfer to, at no cost, or give you the right to terminate your PensionBee Plan and transfer out of the PensionBee Personal Pension. In the absence of your providing instructions to transfer or terminate in these circumstances, you acknowledge that your PensionBee Plan will be transferred or switched to the new proposed underlying investment without need for further authorisation or notice.

20. Conflicts of interest

We are determined to treat our customers fairly at all times. We have a policy in place to ensure that we identify and handle conflicts fairly and treat our customers with honesty and integrity at all times. We may receive reasonable gifts, sample products, free demonstrations or presentations, hospitality or associated promotional materials from product providers whether in relation to the provision of the PensionBee Services or otherwise, but these are subject to our conflicts policy and are closely managed to ensure customer interests are not adversely affected.

21. Complaints

You should contact us promptly if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the PensionBee Services.

Telephone: 020 3457 8444 \ Email: [email protected] \ Write: PensionBee, 209 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NL

Your complaint will be handled in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority rules. We treat every complaint very seriously and aim to resolve each complaint fairly and promptly. We have a written policy available on the PensionBee Website about how we deal with complaints and how we ensure each complaint is dealt with promptly and fairly.

We hope to resolve all complaints amicably. However, should we fail to resolve a complaint to your satisfaction or if we fail to do so within eight (8) weeks of receiving your complaint, you can also direct your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service:

Phone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123 \ Email: [email protected] \ Write: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR

22. Financial Services Compensation Scheme

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the UK’s compensation fund for customers of authorised financial services firms. It is an independent compensation scheme set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), and individuals can use it when a financial services firm is unable to pay claims made against it.

The FSCS is often referred to as a ‘last resort’ for customers when something goes wrong, and has been in operation since 2001. If a financial services company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and stops trading, goes bust or doesn’t have enough assets to pay claims made against it, the FSCS can help compensate its customers.

The compensation scheme is free of charge for individuals and the FSCS can provide different levels of compensation depending on the type of investment involved.

PensionBee is a proud member of the FSCS and several protections may apply to your pension with PensionBee, depending on your status as a customer. Please note that every claim against a failed company is individually assessed by the FSCS at the time of the claim and the rules and interpretation surrounding FSCS protection are subject to change.

While your money is invested in the PensionBee Personal Pension

The typical customer will spend the majority of their relationship with PensionBee invested in the PensionBee Personal Pension. During this period of time the money manager arranges for the safekeeping of the pension assets using global custodians, including Bank of New York Mellon (BlackRock), State Street Bank (State Street) and Citibank (Legal & General Investment Management).

The holdings in the PensionBee Personal Pension are structured as long-term insurance contracts, which means that if something happens to the money managers and the FSCS accepts the claim, they would cover the pension at 100% with no upper cap. Because PensionBee has arranged for the contracts with the money managers, it will pursue the compensation on your behalf.

While your money is with your old pension provider

The protection available to you with your old pension provider will depend on how their pension product is structured. You should direct your questions regarding their FSCS protection to them. There may be some FSCS protection available or none at all.

While your money is in transit between PensionBee and your old pension provider

The protection available to you while your money is in transit between pension providers (including between PensionBee and your old provider) will be subject to the available protections each pension provider has arranged for. You should ask your old pension provider what FSCS protection they have in place.

It is likely that prior to transferring your pension to PensionBee your old pension provider will move your pension into a clearing bank account in order to send it to the clearing bank account of PensionBee Trustees Limited. PensionBee operates a clearing bank account purely for the purposes of receiving your transfers or contributions and sending them on to the relevant money manager. It is unlikely that your pension money will be held in this clearing account for more than a few working days (unless we have not received sufficient information to identify the payment).

The clearing bank account is held separately from all other assets and bank accounts of PensionBee so as to be unaffected should anything happen to PensionBee. The clearing bank account is held with Barclays Bank.

The FSCS is generally able to cover deposits held in pooled client accounts so long as you’re ‘absolutely entitled’ to these funds. This is a legal test and depends on the terms and conditions of the arrangement in each case. The FSCS can’t compensate you for more than £85,000 in total per bank, covering all of your claims against the bank (including if you have personal deposits with the bank). It may take FSCS up to three months after a bank failure to pay compensation for deposits held in such accounts. Please see Section 9 for further details.

If PensionBee makes a mistake with your pension

PensionBee Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. If PensionBee makes a mistake while administering your pension, you can complain directly to us using our Complaints Policy. If you are dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If the Financial Ombudsman Service rules in favour of your complaint and PensionBee Limited has become insolvent, you may be able to receive compensation from the FSCS up to £85,000.

23. Market abuse

Certain types of behaviour, such as insider dealing and market manipulation, can amount to market abuse. Types of conduct constituting market abuse are set out in Section 118 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and in the Market Abuse Directive (and any relevant replacement post the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union). By purchasing a PensionBee Plan, you agree that you will not take part in any activity that may be construed as market abuse. You agree that you will not engage in market abuse in any way and that you will not require or encourage others to do so. If you have any doubts as to whether your activities may be considered market abuse, you should take legal advice. If we believe or have suspicions that you may be engaging in market abuse on your PensionBee Plan, we reserve the right to take any action that we deem to be appropriate. This may include, but is not limited to, refusing to follow any instructions you issue. In such circumstances, we will be under no obligation to provide you with reasons for our actions.

We may actively monitor levels of trading and/or refuse applications or trades from anyone who is considered to have a history of short-term or excessive trading or whose trading has been, or may be, disruptive.

24. Other legal matters

If there is any conflict between these Terms, the Rules, the PensionBee Key Features Document, any Money Manager documentation or relevant factsheets or any other PensionBee document and the Finance Act 2004, then the Finance Act 2004 and subsequent amending provisions and legislation will prevail. All payments or transfers to or from your PensionBee Plan and the operation of your PensionBee Plan in general will be subject to any UK legislation in force at the time.

We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under these Terms that is caused directly or indirectly, and whether wholly or substantially, by any one or more events that is an Event Beyond Our Control. An “Event Beyond Our Control“ means any act or event beyond our reasonable control, including without limitation strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action by third parties, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat of or preparation for war, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks. If an Event Beyond Our Control takes place that affects the performance of our obligations under these Terms we will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable and our obligations under these Terms will be suspended and the time for performance of our obligations will be extended for the duration of the Event Beyond Our Control and potentially further. You may cancel the contract if an Event Beyond Our Control takes place and you no longer wish us to provide to you the PensionBee Services.

These Terms, and any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim of whatever nature arising out of or in any way relating to these Terms or their formation (including any non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. We will communicate with each other exclusively in English.

Risk declaration

BY PROCEEDING TO PURCHASE A PENSIONBEE PLAN YOU ARE CONFIRMING THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND CONSENTED TO BE BOUND BY THE CONTENTS OF THIS DECLARATION. IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT YOU DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND, YOU SHOULD SPEAK TO PENSIONBEE, OR SEEK INDEPENDENT ADVICE BEFORE CONTINUING.

The Risks

As the PensionBee Personal Pension provides retirement benefits to its customers on a Money Purchase (defined contribution) basis, the level of benefits achievable at the point you wish to retire will depend on a number of factors, including:

• The size of the fund attributable to you at the point you wish to retire: this will be dependent on the amount you contribute to invest into your PensionBee Plan, through transfers and contributions, plus the performance of the underlying investments held by your PensionBee Plan, minus any fees incurred along the way;

• The timing of your retirement: the values of the underlying investments held by your PensionBee Plan will fluctuate with market conditions. The value of an investment can go down as well as up and there is always the risk that you may not get back the full amount (or any) of what you originally invested in your PensionBee Plan. If you decide to purchase an annuity with your retirement savings, then it’s important to remember that annuity rates also fluctuate with market conditions;

• Pension Tax Legislation: the taxes applicable to your contributions to your PensionBee Plan or applicable to your PensionBee Plan itself, is subject to change which could be more or less favourable to the growth of your savings within your PensionBee Plan and the options available to you at the point you wish to retire; and

• Tax Rates: these rates are also subject to change and may affect the retirement income that you receive.

Some investments are a higher risk than others and you should understand the risk profile of the underlying investments for your PensionBee Plan. We offer an execution-only service. We do not provide any form of advice to you and will not advise you on whether it is appropriate that you invest in the PensionBee Personal Pension, the amount you should invest in the PensionBee Personal Pension or any pension scheme, or which PensionBee Plan would be appropriate for you to invest in.

General declarations

By applying for your PensionBee Plan, you acknowledge and declare that you are purchasing a PensionBee Personal Pension, which is administered by PensionBee and:

(a) confirm you have read and understood these Terms, the Rules, the PensionBee Key Features Document, and relevant disclosure documents for your PensionBee Plan;

(b) understand and acknowledge that the information you provide to PensionBee including with this application for initiating an Account will be used by PensionBee to determine whether to permit you to receive PensionBee Services;

(c) agree to be bound by these Terms and the Rules;

(d) if you are not already subject to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) you will trigger this from the date of your first flexi-access payment from this Plan, unless you trigger this under any other pension arrangement before this payment is made. If you do trigger the MPAA under any other pension arrangement, then it’s your responsibility to inform us of this within 91 days of the trigger. If you are already subject to the MPAA, you agree to supply the date the MPAA first applied to you;

(e) you acknowledge and understand that you will not be able to cash-in, assign, or take as a lump sum benefits except as allowed by Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004 (as amended);

(f) you are aware of the current limits and allowances regarding tax relief and you declare that:

(i) the total contributions that have been or will be paid to any registered pension arrangement in respect of which I am entitled to tax relief under section 188 of the Finance Act 2004 will not exceed the higher of the following: (X) The basic amount (£3,600); or (Y) your “relevant UK earnings” for the tax year in question, within the meaning of section 189 of the Finance Act 2004;

(ii) the declaration and information you have given in this application is, to the best of your knowledge and belief, correct and not misleading;

(iii) you will give notice to us in writing by the end of the tax year (5th April) or within 30 days whichever is sooner if there is a change in your residency status, or status affecting your qualification for tax relief.

(iv) you will give notice to us in writing as soon as reasonably possible if your personal information changes for instance; if you change your name, or your permanent residential address.

(v) we have your authority to complete any anti money-laundering checks on parties making contributions, in each case as required by any applicable law from time to time;

(g) you declare that the information provided by you in applying for any of the PensionBee Services, and any other documents completed in connection with this application, is to the best of your knowledge and belief, correct and complete. You will not require, nor attempt to require, the withdrawal of savings held to provide benefits for you under the PensionBee Personal Pension, or the income on those savings, other than in accordance with the Rules. In the event that an unauthorised payment is made, you agree to us deducting the amount of any sanction charge or other charge levied by HMRC on us from the monies held for you in your PensionBee Plan in order to pay that charge to HMRC. If there are insufficient monies held for you in your PensionBee Plan, you agree to pay us the amount by which the charge exceeds the value of your PensionBee Plan;

(h) you agree to the fee structure set out in the Terms and understand that appropriate fees and expenses may be paid to PensionBee and/or any applicable Money Manager by the realisation of assets within your PensionBee Plan and the withdrawal of resulting cash proceeds from your PensionBee Plan; and

(i) you agree that if you decide to cancel your PensionBee Plan within the cooling off period of the first 30 days, you will immediately pay back to PensionBee any pension commencement lump sum figure (commonly known as tax-free cash) and any income payments you have received from your PensionBee Plan.

Transfers

You understand and agree to the following statements:

I authorise, instruct and apply to my current providers to transfer sums and assets from the plan(s) as listed in the appropriate section of this application directly to PensionBee and to provide any instructions and/or discharge required by any relevant third party to do so.

I accept that in order to comply with regulatory obligations, PensionBee and the current provider(s) named in this application may need to verify my identity and residential address, and may use credit reference agency searches and ask for my documents to verify my identity and address.

Until this application is accepted and complete, PensionBee’s responsibility is limited to the return of the total payment(s) to the current provider(s).

When payment is made to PensionBee as instructed, this means that I shall no longer be entitled to receive pension benefits from the whole of the plan(s) listed in the appropriate section of the application where the whole of the plan is transferring, or that part of the plan(s) represented by the payment(s) if only part of the plan(s) is transferring.

I have read any information provided or made available to me by PensionBee in connection with this transfer.

I authorise PensionBee and the current provider to obtain from each other, and release to each other, any information that may be required to enable the transfer of sums and assets to PensionBee.

I authorise PensionBee, the current provider, any contributing Employer and any financial intermediary named in this application to obtain from each other, and release to each other, any information that may be required to enable the transfer of sums and assets to PensionBee.

I accept responsibility in respect of any claims, losses, expenses, additional tax charges or any penalties that PensionBee and the current provider may incur as a result of any incorrect, untrue, or misleading information in this application or given by me, or on my behalf, or of any failure on my part to comply with any aspects of this application.

I apply to PensionBee to accept the transfer from the current provider and to pay it into my PensionBee Personal Pension. I confirm that the information provided relevant to my application to transfer benefits into my PensionBee Personal Pension is correct and complete, to the best of my knowledge and belief.

I confirm that I have not received any advice or recommendation in relation to the transfer from a representative of PensionBee.

Last edited: 06-04-2022