It's important to understand your pension is a long-term investment so its value can go down as well as up and you could get back less than was paid in.

Laws and tax rules may change in the future. Your own circumstances and where you live in the UK have an impact on tax treatment.

Plan details

You are being offered the opportunity to join the Centrica Savings Plan - a Trust Based Pension plan provided by Phoenix Life Limited, trading as Standard Life.

It's important you make an informed decision so you should read the key documents at the bottom of this page.

And you can find answers to common questions in our FAQs

 

How joining this plan will work

Joining automatically

You'll normally become a member of this plan when you start working for your employer (but you can opt out if you want to).

Joining as part of your employment contract

Centrica offers this pension plan as one of the benefits of working there.

Centrica will let you know when you’ll join the plan - this will happen from 1st of the month following 3 months of employment. You can join the Plan before if you wish through MyPension .

What you need to do

  1. Make sure it's right for you

    Paying into a company pension can be a great way to save for the future - especially since your employer pays in too. But you may decide it's not right for you. Once you've joined, you'll have a month to opt out. And you can stop or change your contributions in the future if you need to through MyPension .

  2. Decide how much to pay in

    It's up to you how much you pay in as long as you meet the minimum amount set by your employer.

Contribution options for this plan

You'll be able to change your contributions once you've joined this plan.

Centrica will contribute up to 10%* of your pensionable salary. This could depend on how much you pay in - see the table below.

When you’re first enrolled into the Plan you’ll pay in 5% of your salary. You can change this amount after you have joined through MyPension . Centrica will double match your contribution and will pay up to a maximum of 10% of your pensionable salary.

Please see the tables below for more information on the Sections and maximum contribution rates. You can select a lower contribution rate if you prefer, however this will reduce the amount Centrica contributes too.

*There is a different contribution rate for CSP C

CSP A and CSP B

Your contributions Your employer’s contributions Total contributions
5% 10% (maximum) 15%

CSP C

Your contributions Your employer’s contributions Total contributions
6% 12% (maximum) 18%

You also can make additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) via MyPension  which is a great way to give your retirement savings a boost. Please note Centrica do not match any AVCs.

Life Assurance

As a member of the Plan, you are also covered for Life Assurance whilst working for the Company and should you die your nominated beneficiary or dependant(s) would receive a lump sum of four times your Reference Salary plus the value of the funds you have built up in the Plan. If you leave a spouse, civil partner or dependant, an additional four times reference salary benefit would be payable as a further lump sum or used to purchase an annuity at the Plan Trustee's discretion.

If you are currently not a member of the Centrica Savings Plan or you are an actively contributing member of one of Centrica’s Defined Benefit pension schemes you will be covered with a Life Assurance policy providing you with a lump sum of four times your reference salary should you die whilst working for the Company. Any funds you may have previously built up in the Plan would also be payable.

Important - please make sure you nominate your beneficiaries in respect of this Life Assurance benefit – if the worst happens this information will help the Trustees make a decision on who should receive the benefits payable. It’s very easy to nominate and update your beneficiary information at any time on MyPension.

How contributions are made

Contributions into your pension plan will be made by SMART Pay. This means contributions will be taken from your salary before tax and National Insurance (NI) are calculated. You and your employer may pay less NI and you won't need to reclaim any tax relief from the government manually. It's important to remember that SMART Pay isn't right for everyone. It's a change to your terms of employment and could affect your entitlement to state benefits or your ability to borrow.

You can see examples of how SMART Pay could increase your pension contributions or your net take home pay in these documents:

You might be able to change the way you make contributions into your pension plan - there is a guide available on MyPension  under the ‘Good to know’ section with more information and details of how to opt out of Smart Pay if you wish to.

Pension allowances

There's a limit to the amount that can be paid into your pension plans each tax year without paying a tax charge - for most people this is normally 100% of your earnings, capped at £60,000. But in some circumstances - including if you have taken income from one of your pension plans - it could be lower. You can find out more about the Annual Allowance on standardlife.co.uk.

Lifetime allowance

Up until 5 April 2024 the Lifetime Allowance was the maximum amount of pension savings you were allowed to build up during your lifetime and take some of the benefits tax-free.

The limit for the 2023/24 tax year was £1,073,100 but could be higher if you are registered for any form of Lifetime Allowance Protection.

From 6 April 2024 onwards the Lifetime Allowance was replaced with limits on the tax-free benefits instead.

It’s important that you understand how these changes may affect your retirement planning.

Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance

From 6 April 2024 onwards HMRC have placed limits on the amount of tax-free benefits that can be taken from pension schemes both during your lifetime and on your death.

The standard Lump Sum Allowance is £268,275 and the standard Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance is £1,073,100. These allowances reduce each time you take benefits.

If you hold one or more of the Lifetime Allowance Protections given by HMRC then you will be entitled to higher allowances that reflect this.

There’s more information on these allowances on standardlife.co.uk, and we’ve also created Questions and Answers to help explain the changes and you can visit the HMRC gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension.

These allowances aren't an issue for most people, but it's a good idea to check. For more information download our Guide to tax relief, limits and your pension.

Opting out

A company pension is one of the most rewarding ways to save for the future. But it's your choice and you can opt out if you want to.

You can't opt out until you join

You can only opt out after you've been enrolled into this plan by your employer. This is a government rule to encourage people to save into their pension plan. You'll be notified once you've been enrolled and will receive details about how to opt out at that point.

If you opt out you can still join later

Government rules may mean that you get auto-enrolled back into your company pension plan in the future. This normally happens every three years, but you can ask your employer if you'd like to join sooner.

You can re-join the plan at any time via MyPension  if you wish to. If you are auto-enrolled back into the plan in the future and being a member still isn’t right for you at that time you will still have the option to opt out again.

 

The downsides of opting out

If you opt out, you won't receive any contributions from your employer. Your dependant(s) will not be entitled to the additional 4 times basic salary dependant benefit on death whilst working for the Company that applies only to actively contributing members of the Plan. (Your nominated beneficiary will still remain eligible for the Life Assurance benefit of 4 times your basic salary).

Investment choices and charges

standard life icon

Understand how the money in this plan is invested, the options you have and the charges you'll pay.

Go to investment choices

brief case iconImportant documents

These documents will help you understand how this plan works, so you can decide if it's right for you. It's a good idea to keep or save a copy of each one.

These documents are provided by Trustee of the Centrica Savings Plan:

Standard Life are not responsible for the accuracy of the content in these documents.