Members of the Scheme build up a pension of 1/60 of pensionable salary for each year they are member of the Scheme, payable from age 63. You can also choose to change their pension build up rate to 1/70 for lower contributions. More details can be found in the Scheme booklet and factsheets on the Documents and Forms page.

The normal retirement age in the Scheme is 63. You can normally retire before or after this date, subject to certain restrictions. More details can be found in the Scheme booklet and factsheets on the Documents and Forms page.

If you work for Unite and would like to join the Scheme, please contact the HR team at Unite, or email hr@unitetheunion.org

If you are an active member of the Scheme, you can get an estimate using the online Pension Modeller, which can be found in the Members section of this website If you are a deferred member of the Scheme, please contact the Scheme administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website.

If you are thinking of retiring, please contact the Scheme administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website. They will provide you with an estimate of your pension, and the forms you need to complete.

You can choose to pay extra contributions to build up additional pension benefits. These Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are invested separately from the scheme your personal AVC pot. Your AVC pot will be invested, so the value can go down as well as up and you might get back less than you put in. You can find more information on AVCs in the Unite Pension Scheme on the AVCs page.

You have several choices in how you take your AVC benefits. Subject to HMRC limits, you can use your AVCs provide some, or all, of your tax free cash at retirement. Alternatively, you can transfer your AVC pot to an insurance company, where you can buy an annuity, take it all as cash or make gradual withdrawals.

If you wish to nominate a beneficiary or update your nomination, please complete the Expression of Wish form which can be found on the Documents and Forms page on this website.

Your State Pension Age depends on your gender and when you were born. You can find out your State Pension Age on the following website, https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y

You can contact the Scheme administrators using the details on the “Contact Us” page of this website to ask any questions that haven’t been covered on this page.