How may we help you?

Yes. To make sure we’re prepared to respond to the evolving situation we have robust measures in place. This includes making sure that we have contingency plans to ensure the safety of the staff who look after the Heinz Pension Plan and to continue the payment of pensions. 

At present there is no risk to the continued payment of your pension. We will continue to keep a close eye on developments and if the situation or advice changes, then we will issue further communications.

If you are approaching or thinking about retiring, you should follow the usual process. You will have been contacted by the administration team if you are nearing your intended retirement age so you can complete and return the forms they have provided.

This will be something you need to think about in light of your current financial situation. There is currently no risk to payment of pensions so your retirement can proceed as planned.

If you are worried about your income, you might want to take some financial advice on your options at this time. You can find a financial adviser at www.fca.org.uk/consumers/finding-adviser

Yes, we still currently have operational post teams so all certificates will be returned in the usual timescales.

If you wish to transfer your pension you can do so if scheme rules allow and you can find a scheme willing to accept your transfer. You are likely to be required to take independent financial advice before transferring your defined benefit pension to another arrangement (although you will not need to if the transfer is less than £30,000).

Please be aware that scammers may be seeking a way to try and convince people to hand over their pension savings.  For further information go to the website below:

https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/pension-scams

The admin team will deal with any cases as usual. We are currently working to our usual timescales; we will update here should this change.

We are sorry for your loss.  As soon as you are ready, you should notify the admin team, this will allow us to get most of the information we need from you right away. This information includes:

• Full name of deceased
• Your name, relationship to the deceased and contact details
• Date of death
• Information about the next of kin/ dependents or person dealing with their affairs

We will need you to send us the death certificate and potentially other certificates as well. After we have received the death certificate, we will need to identify the beneficiaries. We will advise you if we require any further documents to do this. Our aim is to process these claims as soon as possible, but some cases might be complex and could take longer.

Yes, we have taken steps to protect the staff working to administer your pension so they may be working from home, but we are still in operation. We have very detailed plans to continue to deal with the administration and payment of pensions as well as protecting our staff during this time.

Yes. We have very robust two-factor authorisation protocols on all our computers and laptops.

We are also paperless so staff at home will have no physical data. It is all stored on secure electronic equipment.

Yes, we have taken steps to protect the staff working to administer your pension so some of them may be working from home, but we are still in operation and answering calls during the usual opening hours. We have very detailed plans to continue to deal with the administration and payment of pensions as well as protecting our staff during this time.

You can find information about the coronavirus and your pension by e-mailing or calling the admin team.

The Pensions Advisory Service has produced a note about Coronavirus and pensions which is available at www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

If you have any further questions you can contact the admin team using the following details:

Address: Heinz Pension Plan/Heinz 2000 Pension Plan, Whitstable Operations Team, PO Box 555, Darlington, DL1 9YT

Email: heinzpensions@capita.co.uk

Telephone: 01227 773 911