5 Year Fixed Term Pension Fund Deposit Account

This account is available in issues, each with a certain start date and maturity date – five years later.  The fixed rate of interest your pension fund will earn during the term will be determined prior to each issue and available for you to check before you choose to open an account.

You can open an account at any time from when we announce the next issue until the actual start date for that five year term. However, we reserve the right to close the issue early if demand is higher than expected.  Any account opened will earn a variable rate of interest equivalent to the Bank of England Base Rate, until the start date, when the fixed interest rate will begin. If an application and funds are received after the start date, your money will earn a variable rate of interest equivalent to the Bank of England base rate until the start date of the next available issue when the fixed rate of that issue will begin. Please remember that each issue can have a different interest rate, you can check our website for details.

• Your deposit can be made by cheque or internal transfer from an existing account held in the name of the organisation or by CHAPS for same day transfer.
• No additional deposits can be made.
• Cheques must be drawn on an account held in your pension fund's name.  Building Society cheques must be stamped and signed by the issuing branch to confirm that they are from an account held in your pension fund's name.

These are the only ways we can accept deposits. Transfers of money into your account via the bank money transmission system — such as bank giro credit, standing order or dividend mandate — are not possible. This is because there can be delays and identification difficulties with these methods that we have no control over.

• No partial withdrawals are permitted throughout the five year term.
• If you need to withdraw your money before the end of the term, you can close your fixed rate deposit account, however you will be charged an amount equal to 365 days' interest. We will work this out at the rate at which we pay interest on your fixed rate deposit account.

At least 30 days before the end of the five year term, we will send you a letter advising of your options. These are:

• Roll over your current Term Deposit to the one existing at the time of maturity
• Transfer money to another savings account with Scottish Widows Bank
• Transfer money to your pension fund's nominated external account.

If we don’t receive any instruction from you, your funds will automatically be rolled over to a Scottish Widows Bank Variable Rate Account with interest payable at the Bank of England Base Rate. Please see the Terms and Conditions condition 5 for more details.

• Interest will accrue at the fixed rate from the start date and will be paid monthly, quarterly or annually.
• Deposits made during the offer period will earn a variable rate of interest at the Bank of England base rate, until the actual start date of the fixed term, when the fixed interest rate will begin. The interest for the variable rate period will be included in your first interest payment after the fixed rate commences, and will be paid net or gross depending on tax status.
• Interest will be paid gross for investments of £50,000 and over. Refer to section 2 of our Terms and Conditions for further information on taxation of interest.

You will receive annual statements. At the end of the term you will receive a closing statement and an interest certificate.

Yes, and this means:

• All signatories to the account are separately responsible for keeping to its terms. If any signatory does not keep to them, we can take action against the signatories either all of you singly or together
• We may give any information about the account to any signatory (even if you choose that all signatories must sign instructions to us).
• If you choose to allow any signatory to authorise transactions on the account, any signatory will be able to withdraw any amount in the account (which may be without the other signatories knowledge). We will not be obliged to make any enquiries about the purpose of any transactions.
• The account cannot later be put into just one of the signatories names, unless all signatories agree.
• If there is a dispute between the signatories about the running of the account, we may require all signatories to authorise all transactions until you all agree how the account is to be run.
• If more than one signatory is required to operate the account, instructions can only be accepted in writing. If only one signatory is required to operate the account, instructions can be accepted by telephone or in writing.

The 5 Year Fixed Term Pension Fund Deposit Account is very straightforward and easy to operate — whether you choose to do it by phone or post.

View the full Terms and Conditions.