Welcome to BBC LifePlan Additional Contributions

Find information about your pension and investing for your future.

Additional contributions can provide an easy and effective way of investing extra money for your future if you're are a member of the BBC Pension Scheme (either Old Benefits, New Benefits, CAB 2006 or CAB 2011). The main benefits of the scheme are:

Tax relief on contributions
Access to manage your plan online
Interactive tools to help you with your financial decisions.

The value of your pension investments can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed, you could get back less than is paid in. Please note tax benefits are subject to change and their value depends on individual circumstances.

Ready to join?

Step 1

Decide how much to contribute

You decide how much you want to contribute, from as little as 0.5% of salary to as much as you like, please see the contribution section below for more information. You can change your contribution at any time from this page too.

Step 2

Choose the funds to invest in

When you first join LifePlan, you will be automatically invested in the My Future Focus Lifetime investment programme. You can find out more information in the Investment Brochure

If you wish to consider where you want to invest your contributions from the full range of available investment funds, you can do so once you join and receive your documentation through the post.

Step 3

Click on the myChoices button below

Once in myChoices, select myBenefits and scroll to myMoney

To join LifePlan, go to LifePlan Top Up and click change, complete the details and submit

To change your contribution click on the change button next to LifePlan Top Up, make your changes and submit

Go to myChoices

Contributions

Smart Pensions, contribution rates and examples

Using LifePlan could be an effective way to help you save additional money to fund the lifestyle you want in your retirement. As a Scheme member you have access to a package of pension and protection benefits. Even so, you may want to think of increasing your overall pension contributions, for example if you:

are considering retiring early
will have short service by the time you reach the retirement age under the Scheme
or receive other regular non pensionable earnings.

Topping up your Scheme pension with a separate LifePlan benefit aims to provide you with:

an additional income for your retirement
the flexibility to vary the level of your top up payments annually
increased benefits for your dependants, if you die before you retire.

LifePlan can be used as a separate top up benefit for all Scheme members. However Old and New Benefits members should consider using the Scheme's Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) option. Details of these are on the BBC pensions website, please note that the website may not be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as it is not operated by Aviva we cannot be liable for the content. If you have any doubt as to whether the Scheme AVCs or LifePlan is more suitable for you, please contact an Independent Financial Adviser. If you do not have a financial adviser, you can find one in your area at www.unbiased.co.uk. Please be aware that an adviser may charge for their services.

Career Average Benefits (CAB) 2011 additional contributions

For CAB 2011 members only, the BBC will match your contributions to LifePlan up to certain limits:

For members earning less than £10,000 per year, BBC contributions are capped at 3%
For members earning more than £10,000 per year, BBC contributions are capped at £300 per year.

The BBC will match (up to the above limits) contributions paid on pensionable salary only. Pensionable salary is defined as basic pay (plus London Weighting if applicable).

Example

Salary £30,000 per year, contributing an additional 2% (£50 per month, or £600 per year). The BBC will match the first £300 of this contribution, giving a total additional contribution of £900 per year.

Examples for different salary bands are shown below. Remember, you can contribute anything from 0.5% to as much as you like.

Salary of £10,000

Salary of £20,000

Salary of £30,000

Salary of £40,000

Salary of £50,000

Annual Allowance

Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance

For tax year 2024/25 the standard Lump Sum Allowance is £268,275 and the standard Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance is £1,073,100. Your remaining allowances reduce each time you take benefits. Your personal allowances may be higher than the standard amounts if you've been granted one or more of the types of protections by HMRC.For more information on the Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance please click here.

Documents

Download any information you need about BBC LifePlan Additional Contributions here.

My Money documents

Introducing My Money

Helps you to understand the choices available to you, and explains what you need to do next.

Investment brochure

Helping you to understand your investment choices

Fees and charges

Helping you to understand the fees and charges

Key features

Explains the aims, risks, charges and tax rules that apply to the BBC LifePlan. For these reasons it's important that you read and understand this document.

Illustration

This shows an example of what you may get from your pension account when you retire

Terms and conditions

Provides detailed information about the plan

LifePlan Additional information guide*

Explains the additional life assurance benefits available to participants, as well as life changing events. * Aviva do not own, produce, maintain or update this document. Aviva therefore accepts no liability for the contents.

Nomination form

Complete the nomination form to request who you would like benefits to be paid to in the event of your death.

Frequently asked questions

by BBC LifePlan Additional Contributions members

Investments Matter

Aviva’s quarterly investment newsletter for pension scheme members.

NGP documents

How contributions are invested

This guide explains how contributions will be invested

Key features

Explains the aims, risks, charges and tax rules that apply to the BBC LifePlan. For these reasons it's important that you read and understand this document.

Terms and conditions

Provides detailed information about the plan

Nomination form

Complete the nomination form to request who you would like benefits to be paid to in the event of your death.

What other savings and investment products are available?

We offer you a choice of products to suit your saving and investment needs. The value of an investment in the Stocks & Shares ISA and the Investment Account can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. The value may be less than has been invested.

Cash ISA

The Cash Individual Savings Account (ISA) is a tax-efficient way of saving for your short- to long-term goals.

You can:

Make regular and/or one-off payments as you wish. The minimum regular payment is £25 a month or £250 a year and the minimum single payment is £250.
Pay in up to £20,000 for the tax year 2024/25. This can be split between a cash ISA (including Help-to-buy), stocks and shares ISA, innovative finance, and Lifetime ISAs in any combination (subject to a maximum of £4,000 in the Lifetime ISA). Aviva does not offer innovative finance, Help-to-Buy ISAs, or Lifetime ISAs.
Make payments directly from your salary, bank or building society account.
Transfer in existing ISAs, so you can see all your savings in one place. There's no guarantee that if you transfer your investments to Aviva it will be in your best interest.
Earn tax-free interest on your Cash ISA.
Access your money if you need to.

Inflation will reduce the buying power of your money, particularly if the interest rate is less than the rate of inflation.

ISA subscription limits and tax benefits may change. Tax benefits are subject to interpretation and depend on individual circumstances.

We try to keep charges fair and simple. You can find information about these charges within the Key features document below.

Our interest rate

For details of the current Aviva Cash ISA interest rate and Annual Equivalent Rate (AER), please visit http://workplace.aviva.co.uk/cash-isa.
AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and compounded once each year.

Documents

In order to consider whether a Cash ISA is suitable, please read the following documents:

Key features

Product guide

Terms and conditions

Stocks & Shares ISA

The Stocks & Shares ISA is a tax-efficient way of saving for the medium to long term.

You can:

Make regular and/or one-off payments as you wish. The minimum regular payment is £25 a month or £250 a year and the minimum single payment is £250.
Pay in up to £20,000 for the tax year 2024/25. This can be split between a cash ISA (including Help-to-buy), stocks and shares ISA, innovative finance, and Lifetime ISAs in any combination (subject to a maximum of £4,000 in the Lifetime ISA). Aviva does not offer innovative finance, Help-to-Buy ISAs, or Lifetime ISAs.
Once your Stocks & Shares ISA has been set up, you will need to log on and choose your investments. Any payments received into your Stocks & Shares ISA before you do this will be held in your cash account.
Invest in a wide range of over 900 funds.
Make payments directly from your net salary, bank or building society account.
View and change investments online and access your money if you need to.
Transfer in existing ISAs so you can see all your investments in one place. There's no guarantee that if you transfer your investments to Aviva it will be in your best interest.

ISA subscription limits and tax benefits may change. Dividends and interest from investments in a Stocks & Shares ISA are tax free. A Stocks & Shares ISA is currently exempt from Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Tax benefits are subject to interpretation and depend on individual circumstances.

The value of your investment can go down as well as up. You may get back less than has been invested.

We try to keep charges fair and simple – so it’s easy for you to make investment choices. You can find information about these charges in the Key features document below.

Documents

Before opening a Stocks and Shares ISA, , take a look at these important documents:

Key features

Product guide

Terms and conditions

Investment Account

The Investment Account is an online account which offers you the facility to invest regularly and/or make one-off payments. It is a medium to long-term investment opportunity.

You can:

Invest in a wide range of over 900 funds.
Make payments directly from your salary, bank or building society account.
Once your Investment Account has been set up, you will need to log on and choose your investments. Any payments received into your Investment Account before you do this will be held in your cash account. No interest is paid on cash held in your Investment Account.
Easily view and change investments online and access your money if you need to.
Pay in as much as you want - there is no maximum limit on this product. The minimum regular payment is £25 a month or £250 a year and the minimum single payment is £250.
Transfer in other investments so you can see all your savings in one place. There's no guarantee that if you transfer your investments to Aviva it will be in your best interest.

Dividends and interest from investments in an Investment Account may be taxable. Tax benefits are subject to interpretation and depend on individual circumstances. Any investment gains made through an Investment Account are currently subject to tax.

The value of your investment can go down as well as up. You may get back less than has been invested.

We try to keep charges fair and simple – so it’s easy for you to make investment choices. You can find information about these charges within the Key features document below.

Documents

Before opening an Investment Account take a look at these helpful documents:

Key features

Product guide

Terms and conditions

Go to myChoices to choose one of these workplace savings products

Access your account with MyAviva

You can login to your MyAviva account here, where you can manage your pension account online

If you have not yet activated your account you will need your member number or National Insurance number to hand. If you need help logging in or activating your account you can call us on 0345 601 3605.

Please note you won't be able to log on to MyAviva until you receive your activation email which you will receive a few weeks after joining.

Tools

To help you with your retirement planning, we provide a range of planning tools so you can think about the kind of income that your pension savings could provide for you. You can look at the sort of pension pot you might have when you reach retirement and what impact making changes to your pension contributions could have.

Shape my Future

Can help give you an idea whether your potential retirement income will fund the lifestyle you want.

Shape my Future

The Mid-Life MOT app

The Mid-Life MOT app provides a free check-up of your wealth, work and wellbeing. Our Mid-Life MOT app is a small investment of your time, but it could make a big difference. Designed for people in the UK between 45 and 60.

The Mid-Life MOT app

Life Expectancy Tool

When you're planning to fund your retirement, having a better idea of how long that retirement might last could help.

Life Expectancy Tool

People like me

How you manage your savings is personal to you – it can be a challenging balance between making sure you have enough to live comfortably now and building security for your future.

Take a look at our customer stories to see how other people might be saving.

These examples are purely for illustrative purposes to show how savings products can be used at different age groups to meet different saving needs.

I have decided that I am going to make additional contributions and put these into LifePlan to help increase my savings for retirement

Simon, 33

I am a member of the Career Average Benefits (CAB) 2011 section of the BBC Pension Scheme and I know this has a normal pension age of 65.

But while I have still got a long time until retirement, I cannot see myself working to 65.

I have decided that I am going to make additional contributions and put these into LifePlan to help increase my savings for retirement. It's easy for me to join LifePlan and I can make Smart Pension contributions in order to get immediate tax benefits on the contributions as well as saving some National Insurance contributions.

LifePlan is an easy way for me to save for retirement and, based on the amount I am going to contribute and the fact that I am planning on joining the CAB 2011 section, I will also benefit from the additional BBC contributions to LifePlan of £300 a year.

Using the eValuate retirement planning tool has also been really useful as it lets me see how these contributions could help me prepare for the future.

Having reviewed the investment options available, I decided that as I still have a long time to go to retirement and LifePlan won't be my main BBC pension benefit, I would take more risk with my investments soI choose to invest in the Adventurous Lifetime investment programme. I will of course continue to review my investments in future years and the eValuate retirement planning tool may help me understand my attitude to risk and where I might like to invest.

I have been thinking about topping up my BBC pension

Beth, 48

I have only been with the BBC since 2008 and in my previous jobs the pensions offered were very limited.

Although I am now a CAB 2006 member of the BBC Pension Scheme, I am concerned that because I joined it at a later age, I will not have enough service when I reach retirement to get the level of pension I need.

I have been thinking about topping up my BBC pension by starting my own plan, but it has always been one of those things that I have not actually got around to doing. Now that I have found out I can do this through LifePlan and have the convenience of making Smart Pension contributions like I do with the Scheme, I have finally decided I should do something about it.

Being in the Scheme, I have not had to think about where my contributions are invested and I know I need to understand this for LifePlan. However, when I first start paying additional contributions into LifePlan, the contributions are initially automatically invested into the Aspiring Lifetime investment programme and this seems to offer a mix of investments and a balance between risk and return that will be right for me - at least for now.

Once I have joined, I will have access to my LifePlan account online and I will be looking at my investments again in the future.

Got a question? We are here to help

Contact Aviva

Phone: 0345 601 3605

Email: BBCLifePlan@aviva.com

Guidance and Advice

This site does not provide financial advice.

MoneyHelper

A good place to start is MoneyHelper, the government-backed free guidance service. The MoneyHelper service won't tell you what you should do, but they'll provide you with information to help you understand your options.

Learn more

Contact an adviser

For financial advice please contact your financial adviser. You may be charged for this. MoneyHelper can help you find an adviser in your area.

Learn more

GOV.UK

More information on State Pension age

Learn more

GN201125 03/2022

Your Smart monthly contribution (% of salary)	1%	2%	3%	Over 3%
Your Smart monthly contribution (£)	£8	£17	£25	Over £25
Your Smart annual contribution (£)	£100	£200	£300	Over £300
The BBC contributes (£)	£100	£200	£300	£300
Total annual contribution	£200	£400	£600	Your contribution + £300

Your Smart monthly contribution (% of salary)	1%	2%	3%	Over 3%
Your Smart monthly contribution (£)	£17	£33	£50	Over £50
Your Smart annual contribution (£)	£200	£400	£600	Over £600
The BBC contributes (£)	£200	£300	£300	£300
Total annual contribution	£400	£700	£900	Your contribution + £300

Your Smart monthly contribution (% of salary)	1%	2%	3%	Over 3%
Your Smart monthly contribution (£)	£33	£67	£100	Over £100
Your Smart annual contribution (£)	£400	£800	£1,200	Over £1,200
The BBC contributes (£)	£300	£300	£300	£300
Total annual contribution	£700	£1,100	£1,500	Your contribution + £300

Your Smart monthly contribution (% of salary)	1%	2%	3%	Over 3%
Your Smart monthly contribution (£)	£42	£83	£125	Over £125
Your Smart annual contribution (£)	£500	£1,000	£1,500	Over £1,500
The BBC contributes (£)	£300	£300	£300	£300
Total annual contribution	£800	£1,300	£1,800	Your contribution + £300

Welcome to BBC LifePlan Additional Contributions

Ready to join?

Decide how much to contribute

Choose the funds to invest in

Click on the myChoices button below

Contributions

Smart Pensions, contribution rates and examples

Annual Allowance

Lump Sum Allowance and Lump Sum & Death Benefit Allowance

Documents

My Money documents

NGP documents

What other savings and investment products are available?

Cash ISA

Stocks & Shares ISA

Investment Account

Access your account with MyAviva

Tools

Shape my Future

The Mid-Life MOT app

Life Expectancy Tool

People like me

I am a member of the Career Average Benefits (CAB) 2011 section of the BBC Pension Scheme and I know this has a normal pension age of 65.

I have only been with the BBC since 2008 and in my previous jobs the pensions offered were very limited.

Got a question? We are here to help

Contact Aviva

Guidance and Advice

MoneyHelper

Contact an adviser

GOV.UK

Login or register