Workplace pensions

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Get help

For questions about the specific terms of your workplace pension scheme, talk to your pension provider or your employer.

You can get free, impartial information about your workplace pension options from:

You can get advice about workplace pensions from a financial adviser. You’ll usually have to pay for the advice.

Employers should contact The Pensions Regulator.

Problems with being ‘automatically enrolled’

Contact The Pensions Regulator if you have concerns about the way your employer is dealing with automatic enrolment.

You can also contact MoneyHelper, who may be able to help you.

If you’re already paying into a personal pension

Check whether it’s better for you to:

  • carry on with just your personal pension
  • stop paying into your personal pension and join your workplace pension
  • keep paying into both

If you’re saving large amounts in pensions

You may have to pay a tax charge if your total savings in workplace pensions and any other personal pension scheme go above your annual allowance of £60,000.

If you start taking your pension pot, your annual allowance could drop to as low as £10,000.

If your pension scheme is closing

This can happen if your employer decides they do not want to use a scheme anymore or they can no longer pay their contributions. Money Helper has information about what happens if your pension scheme is winding up.

If you’ve been automatically enrolled, your employer cannot close a pension scheme without automatically enrolling you into another one.

If you’re getting a divorce

You and your spouse or partner will have to tell the court the value of each of your pension pots. You then have different options to work out what happens to your pension when you get a divorce.

View a printable version of the whole guide

Part of Plan your retirement income: step by step

  1. Step 1 Check when you can retire

    1. Check what age you can get your State Pension
    2. Find out about working after you reach State Pension age
    3. Find out if you can retire early with your workplace or personal pension

  2. and Check how much pension you could get

    1. Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast)

    You may also be paying into a:

    1. Find out if you’ll pay tax on your pension
    2. Find contact details for a lost pension

  3. Step 2 Increase your pension

    You might be able to increase the amount you get if you delay your pension.

    1. Find out about delaying your pension

    You might be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record (such as, from when you were not working or claiming benefits).

    1. Check if you can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions

    For advice about increasing your workplace or private pension, speak to a financial adviser.

    1. Find a financial adviser through Unbiased

  4. Step 3 Check what other financial support you could get

    Check what financial help you could get if you:

    You can also get free bus travel if you:

  5. Step 4 Decide when to retire

    1. Get advice on planning your pension and deciding when to retire