COVID-19: pensions and investments

If you want to talk about your policy, we're here to help. We can tell you what the current value is and explain any options you have. You can find out more about how we can help here.

If you're thinking about making changes to your policy, we recommend that you speak to a financial adviser. If you don't have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

You can also get help from these government services:

The Money Advice Service — provides guidance about all issues to do with money, for all ages.

The Pensions Advisory Service — provides pensions guidance for all ages.

Pension Wise — provides help for people over 55 who are considering taking money from their defined contribution pension.

Uncertainty can cause volatility in investment markets. And it can result in higher than normal movements in the value of investments — down and up.

As uncertainty eases it’s typically expected that market volatility will ease too. Aviva’s Head of Savings and Retirement, Alistair McQueen, says, “It’s best to keep calm in situations like this. Aviva’s products are designed for the longer term, and this needs to be taken into account when considering changes to your policy. Investment decisions made in haste are rarely good ones.”

If you wish to make changes to your policy, we recommend you speak to a financial adviser. If you don’t have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

If you have been planning your retirement for some time, then you probably considered your options a while ago based on the circumstances at that time. So you might want to review whether now is still the right time for you to take your benefits. It’s important to look at what other choices you have, including other potential income available to you, so that you can make an informed decision. Pension Wise is a free, independent government guidance service that can help you make the right decision — you can book an appointment with them here. 

More general considerations are contained in an article you can find here.

You can only access your pension savings if you’re aged over 55, or if you’re suffering from serious illness that impacts your ability to work in the future, or which means your life expectancy is limited to less than 12 months.

There are a number of things to think about when considering taking your benefits. Pension Wise is a free, independent government guidance service that can help you make the right decision. You can book an appointment here.

If you’ve asked to withdraw money from your pension and we’ve received forms or an online application, we will first check your pension value for that day. If your pension value has dropped more than 10% since the date of your quote, we’ll contact you to confirm if you want us to still make the payment.

Yes, you can switch funds, but before you make any changes to your investments, we recommend that you have a look at what Aviva’s Head of Savings and Retirement, Alistair McQueen, has to say on investing at this time.

Your policy offers a range of different funds you can invest in. If you have access to MyAviva you can use it to track the performance of your funds and depending on your policy, you may be able to switch investments online. Before you make any changes to your policy, we recommend that you speak to a financial adviser. If you don't have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

Typically, there should be no fee for switching. However, different funds can have different charges, and some may be more or less expensive than others. Each fund has a fact sheet explaining its investment objectives and charges.

Where a fund is suspended this may have an impact on transactions involving the fund, this can be both payments in and out. If this affects you, we'll let you know.

This may be a scam which could leave you without access to your benefits, excessive charges and a hefty tax bill. You can read our article to find out more information on how to spot a scam.

The current situation may have placed increased pressure on your finances, so you may be looking for ways to ease this in the short term. We’d recommend that you look at the guidance from the Money and Pensions Service before making any decision about reducing your pension contributions.

If you have an individual pension you can stop your contributions at any time. Before you do so, it might be worth considering the impact that stopping contributions will have on your retirement plans, and how you might be able to make up those contributions in the future. You should be aware that paying contributions later may mean you have to pay in more, to make up for lost investment growth.

If you’re in a workplace pension, you can stop your contributions by telling your employer that this is what you want to do. This will usually mean that employer contributions will stop too. Your employer may let you take a ‘contribution holiday’ which means you can set a date when contributions will automatically start again, but not every employer offers this.

We recommend that you set a reminder to opt back into your workplace scheme. If you forget to do this you could miss out on a significant amount in employer contributions, which won’t usually be backdated. This could mean you have to pay in more, or keep working for longer, to achieve the same standard of living in retirement.

For both individual and workplace pensions, remember too that by stopping your contributions you’ll also be losing out on the tax relief you get when you pay into a pension.

If you’re unsure whether stopping contributions is the right thing to do, we recommend that you speak to a financial adviser. If you don't have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

If you have an individual pension, you can reduce your contributions at any time.

If you’re in a workplace pension, you may be able to reduce your own contributions — though you should remember that some schemes have a minimum contribution level. What's more, if you reduce your contributions, it could reduce or stop contributions from your employer too. All of this depends on your employer’s scheme and your personal situation — so if you’re considering reducing your contributions, start by speaking to your employer.

Before you make any changes to what you pay in, it’s worth thinking about the impact lower contributions will have on your retirement plans, and how you might be able to make up the difference in the future. Aviva has a range of online tools that can help with this, depending on the type of pension you have.

If you're thinking about making changes to your policy, we recommend that you speak to a financial adviser. If you don't have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

Yes, we will continue to pay your annuity as normal, as per your policy’s terms and conditions.

It may be that the value of your pension pot has fallen as a result of market downturns. While the value of your benefits may recover, you may want to think about reducing the income you take whilst your fund value is lower.

This is an area where a financial adviser should be able to help you make a decision. If you don’t have an adviser, we can put you in touch with one.

Yes, if you trigger automatic enrolment, for example if you turn age 22, or if you were a new hire in December you will be assessed for automatic enrolment. If your earnings while furloughed are more than £833 per month or £192 per week your employer should automatically enrol you into the workplace pension scheme.

No. Whether or not you’re already receiving your State Pension, your entitlement isn’t linked to stock markets.  

We’ve been in this industry for over 300 years, so we’re well versed in weathering financial storms and crises. We’ve applied all that experience to the current situation. We’re watching it closely, but as an organisation we’re financially strong. As of December 2019, we have a significant capital surplus of £12.6 billion.

We are also overseen by — and work closely with — our regulators. The Prudential Regulation Authority is there to ensure we remain financially strong, while the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is there to ensure customers’ interests are protected. We also work with the Pensions Regulator to ensure compliance with their regulations too.

Aviva serves over 30 million customers around the world. Our strong financial position, together with our business resilience and risk-reduction strategies, means we’re very confident in our ability to keep meeting our commitments to you.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues, we’re doing all we can to support you while keeping our people safe. We’ve moved people to working from home in most cases and although we may be taking a little longer than usual to reply to letters and emails, we're pleased to say that generally our service levels are being maintained.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in these exceptional circumstances.

Aviva’s Head of Savings and Retirement, Alistair McQueen, has put together a list of actions you may want to consider to help keep calm in times of market volatility. Read Alistair’s tips or watch via video.