Band Earnings

Also known as Qualifying Earnings, this is your pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year. In other words, your pension contributions are not based on your full salary, but on that part of your salary above a minimum amount – £6,240 (for 2022/23 tax year), up to a maximum limit of £50,270 (2022/23).

Employer contributions

Your employer pays 3% of Band Earnings.

There’s more information about the contribution rates in the scheme guide.

Tax relief

Tax relief on your contributions means that for every £100 you want to save, you only pay £80. Tax relief of £20 is then added by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), topping your contribution up to £100. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer you may be able to claim additional tax relief.

Smart

Your contributions are automatically paid through SMART. This is a way of making pension contributions that means you (and your employer) pay lower National Insurance (NI) contributions.

There are some people who won’t benefit from paying pension contributions through SMART; we will take them out of SMART and they will pay contributions using traditional payroll deduction.

You can find out more about contributions and SMART in the scheme guide, or take look at our Q&A section to see some common questions about SMART.