Welcome to the Fresca Personal Pensions Plan

Find information about your pension and investing for your future.

Making the most of online saving with Aviva

Fresca have chosen Aviva to help you make the most of your savings.

The Personal Pensions Plan provides you with your own pension to save for your retirement.

Your pension enables you to build up a pot of money that can be used when you retire. It gives you a tax-efficient way to save, and you could benefit from a regular contribution from your employer. 

If you want to make the most of your retirement years, it’s so important to prepare well.

Your company stakeholder pension provides you with your own personal pension to give you a way of building up a pot of money that you can use to help fund your retirement.

Aviva has been carefully selected by your employer to provide a workplace pension, your company stakeholder pension.  Aviva has many years of experience managing pensions and is one of the main providers of pensions in the UK.

How your pension works

 

  1. You make payments into your pension plan, and your employer might do, too. You don’t pay any tax or national insurance on payments your employer makes, and you get tax relief on any payments you make yourself.  The tax treatment may be subject to change in the future.
  2. This money is then invested in funds to give it a chance to grow. Just remember that, as with any investment, the value can go down as well as up, and it could be worth less than has been paid in. You can choose the funds or investment option for your pension. 
  3. Aviva charges for managing your pension plan and the funds you invest in may have extra charges. These charges will reduce the value of your pension plan.
  4. Aviva sets up your pension plan so you can use the money you’ve built up to provide yourself with retirement benefits from your chosen retirement age, but you can take your benefits once you’re 55. There are various ways of doing this, so we’ll write to you well in advance to let you know what your options are.

 

For more details about how your pension works, read the ‘Key features’ and ‘Terms and conditions’ in 'Your company stakeholder pension scheme - An essential guide for employees' on the documents page.

Just remember that, as with any investment, the value of your pension plan can go down as well as up, so it may be worth less than the amount paid in. 

Already a member?

You can manage your pension savings online, with tools to help you plan for the future.

Joining information

The government introduced rules to encourage people to save more for their retirement. So if you:
• are aged 22 to state pension age 
• ordinarily work in the UK, and
• earn more than £10,000* a year

Fresca has to enrol you into a pension scheme that meets the government’s requirements (unless you’re already a member). This is known as auto-enrolment.

We will give you full details about the Personal Pensions Plan and tell you how much you and Fresca will contribute to your pension.

You don’t pay any tax or national insurance on payments your employer makes, and you get tax relief on any payments you make yourself.  Aviva claims basic rate tax relief on your behalf and adds it to your pension plan. If you pay tax at more than the basic rate, you can claim even more tax relief when you  complete your annual self-assessment tax return.

If you're 22 to state pension age or earn less than £10,000* a year, you may still be able to join the scheme. You can obtain further information by viewing the documents available in the Documents page.

To find out more about your company stakeholder pension, please get in touch with your employer.

*£10,000 is the figure for the 2023/2024 tax year.

What happens next?

If you’re not yet a member of the workplace pension scheme, you’ll fall into one of three categories depending on your age and how much you earn. Your employer will provide more information about the category that applies to you.

Step 1

You'll be automatically enrolled into the pension scheme

This means pension contributions will automatically be taken from your salary and you'll also start to receive employer pension contributions.

Step 2

You can opt in

You can choose to opt in; you'll start to pay pension contributions and receive contributions from your employer.

Step 3

You can join

You can choose to join; you'll pay in pension contributions from your salary and start saving towards your retirement, but you won't necessarily receive pension contributions. 

Please read the ' Your company stakeholder pension scheme - An essential guide for employees' document for details about your scheme. The default investment guide will show you where your money will be invested.

What's in it for you?

What's in it for me?
For a start, automatic enrolment makes it easier for you to invest for your retirement. Rather than you having to take steps to join a pension scheme, most employees will be signed up as a matter of course.

But perhaps the biggest benefit is that if you’re automatically enrolled, your employer will contribute to your pension as well as you.

Whether you are automatically enrolled, or you choose to opt in or join, you will benefit from tax relief from the government on any contribution you make. For every 80p you pay into your pension, the government adds 20p in tax relief, increasing it to a total contribution of £1. So, if you paid £80 into your pension each month, the government would boost it to £100. Your employer may have opted for salary sacrifice, or exchange. This is an arrangement between you and your employer. Please contact your employer for more information.

Please note that tax rules may change and your tax treatment will depend on your personal circumstances. The value of your investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than has been invested.

Staying in or opting out - you're in control
If you're auto-enrolled you can opt out if you want to. If you do so within a month, any contributions already paid will be refunded. If you opt out later, this money will stay in your pension fund.

If you opt out, you will miss out on employer contributions meaning your pension pot will be smaller, however you may be able to change your mind and opt back in.

If you stay opted out, your employer will normally put you back into the pension scheme in around three years. But you can again choose whether to opt out. Remember that the sooner you join the pension scheme, the better your chance of a more comfortable retirement.

Contact us

Got a question? We are here to help

Contact Aviva

Phone: 0800 145 5744

Email: contactus@aviva.com

Contact your employer

Robert Ovens, Group payroll manager

01892 831372

robert.ovens@mwmack.co.uk

Guidance and Advice

This site does not provide financial advice.

MoneyHelper

A good place to start is MoneyHelper, the government-backed free guidance service. The MoneyHelper service won't tell you what you should do, but they'll provide you with information to help you understand your options.

Contact an adviser

For financial advice please contact your financial adviser. You may be charged for this. MoneyHelper can help you find an adviser in your area.