Working after taking your pension account

Please keep in mind, that as a pensioner of the UPP, you are no longer classed as an active member. This means you are not entitled to the life insurance benefit of six times your salary or the Group Income Protection in the event of ill health, even if you are still working or return to work. 

Please also note that if you have accessed your UPP benefits you may be subject to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance meaning the amount you can contribute to a DC pension arrangement and obtain tax relief is reduced to £10,000. For more information please see the tax allowances page or www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension/annual-allowance.

Depending on how you have chosen to access your pension account, you may still have money invested with Fidelity, so it is important to keep an eye on those investments and make sure they are still working for you too. You can do that in your PlanViewer account or by calling the Pensions Service Centre.

You may be able to start taking your pension benefits and continue in employment with Uniper. In most cases there will be no restrictions, as long as you started to take your benefits after age 55 (or age 57 from April 2028).

If you would like to continue working for Uniper while taking your benefits, please speak to the Company’s HR team. 

You may have already started receiving your benefits and then decided to return to work.

In most cases you can do this as long as you started to take your benefits after age 55 (or age 57 from April 2028).

You should speak to the Company’s HR team if you are thinking about returning to work for Uniper while receiving your benefits.  

In most cases, as long as you started to receive your pension after age 55 (or age 57 from April 2028), there will be no restrictions on you returning to work for any employer or going self-employed in the future.

Working while taking your pension may have an impact on the amount of income tax you are paying, particularly if your total income is over the Personal Allowance. Visit www.gov.uk/tax-on-pension for more details. 

Please keep in mind that this is different to the tax implications that occur based on the way you have chosen to take your benefits, for example via drawdown or encashment.

If you have any questions about working while receiving your benefits from the UPP, please speak to your current or prospective employer in the first instance. Alternatively, you can raise a query with Uniper's HR team or contact the UPP administrator, Fidelity, for support.

You may also want to get independent financial advice. Go to the help and advice page for more details.