Your T-Mobile International UK Pension Scheme (the Scheme) makes up an important part of your retirement income and provides you and your family with a valuable range of benefits. As a deferred member of the Scheme, your pension has been built up as an annual pension that’s payable for life and you can choose how you wish to take this when you retire. Not only does it provide you with an opportunity to plan for your future, you’ll also have peace of mind knowing your loved ones will be financially supported when you die.
The Scheme is a ‘final salary’ pension scheme run by the Trustee, with a legal duty to act in the members’ best interests. The Trustee invests the Scheme assets in line with the Statement of Investment Principles (SIP), which outlines the Trustee’s investment strategy and policies. You can see the current SIP on the News and information section of the website.
For details of the Scheme’s Trustee, please contact HR: DTUK_HR@telekom.com
When you left the Scheme, you got a letter explaining your retirement benefits. These benefits increase each year to keep up with inflation, subject to caps. The increase rate may vary depending on which section of the scheme you belonged to.
Your DB pension in the Scheme is a highly valuable benefit, payable for life, and for most people, taking this type of pension is the best option. However, if you are considering transferring your benefits, we strongly recommend you take financial advice before making any decisions.
If your transfer value (excluding AVCs) exceeds £30,000 and you plan to transfer it to a scheme offering ‘flexible benefits’ (for example a DC pension arrangement), we are required by law to check you’ve received advice from a financial adviser in relation to the transfer before your transfer can be paid.
Please contact Barnett Waddingham for more information.
Also see ‘Helpful information’ and ‘Useful links’ on the News and information page.
At retirement, you can exchange part of your pension for a tax-free lump sum payment, subject to current regulations. Typically, the maximum amount you can exchange is 25% of the total value of your pension, up to a limit of £268,275. This limit applies in total across all of your pension schemes and is not just for this Scheme.
For members who previously had Defined Contribution (DC) benefits – also known as the ‘1% top-up’ or AVCs – in the Scheme, these benefits were transferred to the Legal and General (L&G) Master Trust in February 2022.
The Trustee and Deutsche Telekom (UK) Ltd have agreed with L&G that, subject to certain conditions being satisfied, members may be able to transfer funds back from the L&G Master Trust to the Scheme to help fund (in full or in part) their tax-free lump sum when they start drawing their DB benefits from the Scheme. This is known as ‘Switchback’.
Where Switchback is allowed, it would include those benefits which were transferred to the Deutsche Telekom Section of the L&G Master Trust in February 2022, together with any further contributions made as an active member of that section of the L&G Master Trust from 1 November 2021 onwards, and whilst the Member is employed by DTUK. However, it wouldn’t include any amounts transferred into the L&G Plan from other pension arrangements outside the Scheme. Additionally, the amount which can be used for Switchback will be capped at the maximum required to fund the tax-free lump sum in the Scheme.
Please note, the Switchback arrangement isn’t guaranteed, and no Member has a right to use their DC benefits in the L&G Master Trust to fund their tax-free lump sum at retirement. The Trustee and DTUK reserve the right to amend or discontinue the Switchback arrangement in the future.
You may have paid Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). All DC Benefits are now invested with L&G. Please visit the L&G Master Trust microsite for information about funds available to you and how you can take your benefits at retirement.
All AVCs are provided by L&G. If you’re a member of the DB Scheme when you start drawing your benefits, you may be able to use the funds built up with L&G towards your tax-free cash. Please contact Barnett Waddingham for further information.
Since 1 April 2012, the Company has made ‘Money Purchase’ contributions for employed members of the DB section whose basic salary (before Salary Sacrifice) is at least £70,000 per annum (at 1 April each calendar year).
As a deferred member, any Money Purchase Top Up contributions you have remain invested until retirement.
On 3 February 2022 all Money Purchase Top Up Section assets were transferred to L&G Master Trust. Visit the L&G Master Trust microsite.
There are a number of ways you can get in touch for help or information about your benefits depending on the scheme you’re in:
| Benefit type | Contributions | Investment | General queries | Retirement options | Benefits in payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DB pension | DTUK | N/A | Barnett Waddingham | Barnett Waddingham including Switchback | Barnett Waddingham or annuity provider |
| 1% top up | DTUK | L&G | L&G | Barnett Waddingham if you want to use Switchback or L&G | L&G if funds remain |
| AVCs | DTUK | L&G | L&G | Barnett Waddingham if you want to use Switchback or L&G | L&G if funds remain |
If you die whilst still working for the Company and you’re a member of the Scheme, we’ll make a lump sum payment of four times your pensionable salary. We decide who to pay these benefits to and will take into account, but not be bound by, your wishes given in your Nomination Form. The Government is making changes to the inheritance tax on pensions, which means tax may have to be paid on your pension when you die. For more information visit www.gov.uk/tax-on-pension-death-benefits
The pension paid will be 1.9% of your final salary (at date of death) for each year and part year of pensionable service, subject to a maximum of 4/9ths of your pensionable salary at the date of your death.
If you die whilst working for the Company and you’re an active member of the Scheme at the time you die but you have already started to draw a pension from the Scheme, any death in service lump sum will be reduced by the amount of any lump sum payable if you die within five years of starting to draw your benefits.
Dependent children will receive a pension until they are 18 (or 23 if they’re in full-time education or training approved by the Trustee).
If you die while still working for the Company, and you have two or more dependent children, they will receive equal shares of a pension equal in total to 50% of your spouse’s or qualifying partner’s pension – as each child becomes ineligible the amount will be changed. If you only have one dependent child, he or she will receive 25% of that amount.
If there’s no pension payable to a spouse or qualifying partner, we can choose to pay the pension (otherwise payable to a spouse or qualifying partner) to another dependant, such as an elderly parent.
Where there’s no spouse or dependant (other than children) the child’s pension will be double all the amounts set out above.
Children’s, dependants’ and spouses’ pensions increase at the same level as normal retirement pensions.
If you die before drawing your ‘deferred pension’, a lump sum (five times your current annual deferred pension) will be payable. We’ll bear in mind, but not be bound by, any nomination you’ve made stating who you’d like to receive this benefit. This usually means the recipient(s) of this sum will be free from paying inheritance tax on the lump sum.
If you die after leaving the Scheme but before drawing your pension, a spouse’s pension or a qualifying partner’s pension will be payable. Its value will be 40% of the preserved pension (in respect of pensionable service after 5 April 1997) that would have been payable to you at that date (adjusted to take account of inflation).
If you die after leaving the Company but before coming to draw your pension and you have two or more dependent children, they will receive equal shares of a pension equal in total to 33.33% of the preserved pension that would have been payable to you at that date (adjusted to take account of inflation) – as each child becomes ineligible the amount will be changed. If you only have one dependent child he or she will receive 16.66% of your pension.
If there’s no pension payable to a spouse or qualifying partner, we can choose to pay the pension (otherwise payable to a spouse or qualifying partner) to another dependant, such as an elderly parent.
Where there’s no spouse or dependant (other than children) the children’s pension will be double all the amounts set out above.
Children’s, dependants’ and spouses’ pensions increase at the same level as normal retirement pensions.
You should complete an Expression of Wishes form for your DB Benefits to let the Trustee know how you’d like your death in service or deferment benefits to be distributed – visit Pension self-service or contact Barnett Waddingham, the Administrator.
You’ll need to complete a separate form for any DC Benefit you hold, please see the DC Benefits information below.
Please refer visit the L&G Master Trust microsite, which confirms how your DC benefits are paid out in the event of your death: www.legalandgeneral.com/workplace/d/deutsche-telekom-uk/helpful-resources/document-library-page/
You can complete an Expression of Wishes form or to make any changes to your beneficiaries via an online form. Visit the L&G Master Trust microsite: www.legalandgeneral.com/workplace/d/deutsche-telekom-uk/helpful-resources/document-library-page/
Whenever your pension starts, it is guaranteed for five years. This means if you die within five years of your pension starting (as long as you’re still under 75) a lump sum will be paid, subject to certain conditions. This lump sum will be equal to the balance of the remaining guaranteed pension instalments (disregarding any increases).
If you die in retirement and are married (or have a civil partner), your spouse will receive a pension (as long as you’re not separated or living apart when you die). If you’re not married or in a civil partnership but in a relationship which closely resembles marriage (and there’s financial dependency or interdependency) your partner will generally be entitled to the above – however, there may be differences, particularly if there’s also a spouse or civil partner with whom you’re not living with when you die.
This pension will normally be calculated as 66.67% of your gross pension (ignoring any reduction in the amount of that pension because you have exchanged part of it for cash or dependant’s pension). However, this may vary depending on the difference between their age and yours.
If you’ve retired due to ill-health, are receiving a pension from the Scheme, and die before you reach Normal Retirement Age, a lump sum payment will be made as if you had died in service, less an amount equal to the lump sum you received when you retired.
Dependent children will receive a pension until they are 18 (or 23 if they’re in full-time education or training approved by the Trustee).
If you die in retirement and you have two or more dependent children, they’ll receive equal shares of a pension equal in total to 50% of your spouse’s or qualifying partner’s pension – as each child becomes ineligible the amount will be changed. If you only have one dependent child, he or she will receive 25% of that amount.
If there’s no pension payable to a spouse or qualifying partner, we can choose to pay the pension (otherwise payable to the spouse or qualifying partner) to another dependant, such as an elderly parent.
Where there’s no spouse or dependant (other than children) the child’s pension will be double all the amounts set out above.
Children’s, dependants’ and spouses’ pensions increase at the same level as normal retirement pensions.
You should complete an Expression of Wishes form to let the Trustee know how you’d like your death in service or deferment benefits to be distributed – visit Pension self-service or contact Barnett Waddingham, the Administrator.
On reaching your Normal Retirement Date, you will receive a lifetime income based on your membership in the Scheme. The amount will be determined by the total years and months you were a Scheme member, your Pensionable Salary, and the accrual rate, which specifies the portion of your Pensionable Salary you’ll receive as a pension for each year of membership.
If you were an active member of the Cable & Wireless Superannuation Fund on 29 February 2000 and joined the Scheme on or after 1 March 2000, you can retire at any time from your 60th birthday onwards without requiring consent. Your pension will not be reduced if taken on or after age 60.
For further details on your retirement options at your Normal Retirement Age, see your retirement options, or contact Barnett Waddingham.
If Trustees agree, you can start receiving benefits from the Scheme before age 65, with a minimum age of 55 (rising to 57 in 2028).
If you decide to retire before your Normal Retirement Age, your benefits may be reduced to take account of being paid a retirement income for longer.
If you’d like to retire early and start to take your benefits, you should contact the Scheme Administrators Barnett Waddingham, for an early retirement quote to understand what this means for you.
You may receive an enhanced pension if you have to retire early due to ill health. If you’re unable to keep working in any occupation (not just your current job) due to ill-health you might be able to draw your pension early (as long as we and the Company agree and have received appropriate medical certification).
The pension calculation is the same as for normal retirement, but you’ll also be credited with your potential service to your normal retirement date (based on your final Pensionable Salary at the date of leaving).
Ill-health pensions in payment are reviewable and may be stopped or changed at the discretion of the Trustee.
If you decide to retire later than your Normal Retirement Age (NRA), your pension may be increased to reflect the fact the Scheme expects to pay your pension for a shorter period.
If you’re an active member of the Scheme and the Company agree to you working past your NRA you’ll continue to be a member of the Scheme and earn further benefits, up to age 75 at the latest. You’ll receive a pension when you retire from the Company, or 75 if earlier. If you continue to work past your NRA, you’ll still be covered by the death-in-service benefits.
For more information, contact Barnett Waddingham.
If you’re looking to retire soon, you may be able to view a retirement illustration online by logging in to Pension self-service. Illustrations can’t be produced for a small number of members. If this affects you, please call the Barnett Waddingham on 0333 11 11 222 for more information.
Your retirement options will vary depending on your Scheme membership.
The options available to you are as follows:
For more information on your retirement options contact Barnett Waddingham.
If you’ve paid Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs), the funds you’ve built up can be taken as tax-free cash (subject to current regulations and conditions).
Certain events can impact your pension such as, you:
If you’ve had a change in circumstances, contact Pension self-service
To report a death please call or email Barnett Waddingham directly.
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You can name and update your nominated beneficiaries by logging into your online account.