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Manage my pension

Benpal is a secure, online portal for all members of the Sainsbury’s Pension Scheme, where you can see your pension record, ask for retirement quotations, and manage your contact details. 

You can complete a range of tasks without needing to contact the administration team at Aptia, so you can get it done outside working hours, at a time that suits you. 

It also helps to reduce the amount of paper we use, making your pension – and us – more environmentally friendly.

Log in to Benpal

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to:

  • find out how much your pension is worth
  • get an estimated value for transferring your pension
  • update your personal details
  • view or update your nominations; this lets the Trustee know your wishes in relation to the payment of any benefits from the Scheme on your death
  • view your monthly pension payslips and annual P60s (if you’re already receiving a pension from the Scheme). 

Registering for Benpal

You need login details from Aptia to be able to register for Benpal. If you have lost your login details, please contact Aptia.

Security is our priority

All the data we show on Benpal, and that you send to us when you’re using it, is kept securely on our administration system. We will only ever contact you with relevant information about the Scheme, and we will only share data with third parties where necessary or reasonable to do so for the purposes of administering the Scheme.

Once you’ve registered for Benpal, you can change your communication preferences to tell us, for example, that you prefer to continue receiving Scheme updates by post.

The Scheme provides security not just for you, but also your family or financial dependants in the event of your death. 

What’s paid to your beneficiaries will depend on the Scheme Rules in force on the date you stopped earning benefits, but they would normally include:

  • a pension for your spouse, civil partner or dependant
  • children’s allowances (if you die in retirement).

If you die within the first five years of retirement, a cash lump sum equal to the unpaid balance of those five years’ pension payments is also payable.

If no pensions are paid, a refund of contributions may be made.

Watch our video for a quick overview of the benefits payable on death

Update your nominations

The Trustee decides who gets the benefits on the death of a member. They must act in line with the Scheme Rules, but they will take your wishes into account. It’s a good idea to review your nomination every so often and whenever your circumstances change, such as if you get married or divorced, enter or leave a civil partnership or have a child.

Log in to Benpal to view or update your nominations.

Report the death of a member

If you need to let us know that a member has died, please contact the Scheme administrator, Aptia, as soon as possible. You can call them on 0345 072 6772 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) or use the online contact form at contact Aptia

Be ready to provide Aptia with the following information about the deceased member:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • National Insurance number
  • address
  • full name and address of the deceased member’s spouse (if applicable) or the person dealing with the estate. 

You don’t need to send a death certificate in immediately – Aptia will try to verify this online first.

Aptia will ask the spouse/representative of the estate to complete a Beneficiary Data Form and send it back with a copy of the member’s Will and/or the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration, if applicable.

Aptia will then request the appropriate original certificates, such as the spouse’s birth certificate and marriage certificate, or documents proving the relationship between the deceased member and their other beneficiaries, before any pensions can be put into payment.

Sometimes, if Aptia isn’t told about the death of a pensioner before the payroll is run for the following month, there can be an overpayment of pension which goes to the member’s account. If this happens, Aptia will try to recall the pension back from the member’s bank account, but if they can’t do this then they’ll write to the spouse/representative of the estate to ask for the money back. If an overpayment is made, please return the payment as soon as you are able to. We know that the death of a family member is a difficult time and appreciate your understanding.

For many people, their pension can be one of their biggest financial assets – so in the event of a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, your Sainsbury’s pension will normally form part of the financial settlement. 

There are a number of ways this can happen:

  • Pension sharing order: part of your pension is given to your ex-spouse or civil partner, so you get a smaller pension.
  • Offsetting: the cash value of your pension is offset against other financial assets, like the marital home, so none of your pension is provided to your ex-spouse.
  • Earmarking: if you’re not taking your pension yet, a portion of it can be earmarked to go to your ex-spouse or civil partner when you start to receive a pension. 

When you let Aptia know that you need information for a divorce, they will arrange for a guaranteed Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) to be calculated. This tells you the cash value of your pension and may need to be worked out by the Scheme actuary. (You can run free transfer quotes online before you request a guaranteed quotation.)

You can have one free CETV a year. If you need another within a 12-month period in relation to a divorce, there will be a charge payable, usually £250 plus VAT.

There will also be some administration costs associated with sharing a pension, payable when the divorce is finalised, and Aptia will send you details of these charges. 

Log in to Benpal to see the cash value of your pension.