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| Corporate :: Products |
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| Group Personal Pension (GPP) - is a collection of individual personal pension plans set up by an employer for employees. The administration of this is carried out on a group basis. These types of pensions attract tax relief and generally an employer contribution. |
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| Stakeholder Pension - The government introduced this type of pension in April 2002 and the aim is to encourage more people to make provision for their retirement, particularly low earners. It is generally paid into by the individual, the employer may (or may not) also contribute too. |
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| Final Salary Scheme - This scheme promises to pay a fraction of your salary for each year that you serve with the company (eg.1/60 or 1/80). This takes the form of a fixed amount of income that you receive at retirement. |
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| Money Purchase Scheme - The benefits for a member of a Money Purchase Scheme are dependant on the amount and timing of contributions paid by, and in respect of the individual. |
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| Contracted in Money Purchase (CIMP) scheme - involves the individual to be contracted into the State 2nd Pension (previously SERPS). A CIMP is decided upon by the employee. |
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| Contracted out Money Purchase (COMP) scheme - involves the individual to be contracted out of the State 2nd Pension (previously SERPS). A COMP is operated by the employer. |
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| Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) - This is a form of personal pension with a far wider range of investments available to the individual than a standard contract. This can include individual shares, gilts & commercial properties and private equity. SIPPs are also used to deliver a more flexible and sophisticated investment solution where your Opal adviser can actively review your investment portfolio so you benefit from reacting to changing economic conditions. SIPPs also allow us to deliver flexible retirement solutions where work may not be ceasing and fixed income may not be appropriate for you. |
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| Small Self Administered Scheme (SSAS) and Executive Pension Plan (EPP) - These are examples of contracted in money purchase schemes for a small number of employees. They offer greater flexibility and control of the scheme assets than a standard scheme and they are generally used to meet specialist requirements of company executives. It is unusual to set up a new scheme of these types but many companies have legacy ones that can be advised upon.
There are also a number of registered and unregistered pension schemes that a company may hold as a result of previous pension regulations issued by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). If you hold any of these, rest assured our experts at Opal Benefits can advise on all of them. |
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| Group Private Medical Insurance (PMI) - enables an individual to receive necessary treatment at their convenience and potentially aid a speedy return to work. PMI can cover the cost of surgery, treatment and accommodation during ill health along with outpatients’ treatment including such things as day surgery, Physiotherapy and Osteopathy. The insurers within this market provide varying levels of cover to suit different requirements.
PMI can form an essential part of any employee benefits package, and could assist successful organisations in attracting and retaining employees. It can also aid in helping employees to return to work quicker. |
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| Group Death in Service/Life Assurance - pays a multiple of the employee's salary to a nominated beneficiary as a tax free lump sum in the event of the employee's death. |
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Spouse's/dependent's pension - on the death of an eligible employee, spouses/dependents (who are covered by the scheme rules) will be eligible for a pension until their death. The amount of the pension can be expressed in a number of ways, including a percentage of the employee's salary, fraction of the employees prospective pension and a multiple of salary. In the last case the multiple will be used to by an annuity to provide a pension
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| Group Critical Illness Cover - allows employers to protect their staff should they develop a critical illness. Usually, when an employee is diagnosed with a specified critical illness or permanent total disability, typically a multiple of salary is paid as a lump sum by the insurer, this would go towards helping to ease financial difficulties associated with this life changing event.
CIC is another popular benefit to be added to an employee benefits package, and can provide a clear advantage in recruiting and retaining key staff. |
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| Group Income Protection (GIP) - provides employees with a regular monthly income should they become ill or injured resulting in an inability to work. Many insurers offer professional support to claimants in rehabilitating them back to work.
This addition to the employee benefits package could prevent your employees from going into financial difficulty during their absence from work. |
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| Group Dental Insurance - Group Dental Insurance enables an employee to receive some money back on the cost of Private Dental costs. |
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| Group Travel Insurance - protects an individual during unforeseen circumstances whilst travelling, such as injury, hospital bills, lost luggage or airline problems.
Travel Insurance is a cost effective way of ensuring peace of mind throughout an employee’s trip. |
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International Benefits - More and more organisations are expanding, resulting in the need to relocate their employees abroad. As a result, the need for International Benefits is increasing. The prospect of working overseas can be daunting for some employees, especially if there are no benefits in place for them and the country they are working in has limited public services.
International Benefits cater for various insurances including healthcare, personal accident or income protection to name but a few. |
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| Employer Assistance Plans (EAP) - Employee Assistance programs (EAP) offer a freephone that offers employees help on issues such as finance, marital problems and work issues in a confidential environment with a qualified practitioner.
These programmes provide an outlet for employees in their time of need. |
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| Flexible Benefits - employees are given a benefit allowance in order to choose the benefits they receive, such as subsidised transport, childcare vouchers or a mobile phone package along with the general benefits like PMI or GIP. There is often a basic benefit which employees receive automatically, which can be added to using their allowance. |
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Keyman Insurance - Protects businesses from loss of income in the event that a key member of staff or director is incapacitated or dies |
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| Corporate :: Services |
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| Personal one to one meetings - Personal 1:1 meetings provide an ideal platform for employees to discuss retirement options with an Independent Financial Adviser. These meetings usually take 45 minutes to complete. They also create an opportunity to have any questions answered or make informed personal choices around pension contributions, fund choice and nominating a beneficiary. |
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| Group Presentations - during a Group Presentation, the benefits of planning for retirement are outlined which improves understanding of how much to invest and which funds to select. They also present an ideal opportunity to dispel the myths surrounding pensions and have questions answered. |
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| Fund switches - as the value of your funds increases and decrease, it may be necessary to switch funds, taking into account your attitude to risk. These include a number of funds that make up any Lifestyle Investment Programmes. |
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| Market Review - insurance rates are often guaranteed for up to 3 years, depending on the type of scheme it is. When the existing rates are close to expiring, a market review is a sensible idea to ensure the employer is getting the most competitive rates and terms and conditions from the market. This involves the intermediary approaching the market that insures a particular benefit with information on the existing policy and requests insurers to quote. |
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| Scheme Renewal - some types of insurance like Group Income Protection have a unit rate that the annual premium is based on and these are usually guaranteed for two years. After a policy year has passed the insurer will want to complete a renewal of the scheme. This includes the employer providing the insurer with up to date membership data and the production of accounts detailing any premiums or reimbursements due, plus the estimated premium due for the forthcoming year. The insurer will also inform the insured of any medical underwriting requirements at this time. |
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| Claims - for certain benefits including Group Income Protection and Group Life Assurance, claims are made through the intermediary. The intermediary should ensure that all parties are up to date with the progress of any claim and that the process goes as smoothly as possible for the insured and the insurer. |
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Medical Underwriting - The process used by insurers to assess the medical wellbeing of members who exceed the free cover limit and late joiners to a scheme. Typically this process may include the following: completion of a health declaration, General Practitioner's Reports, an Independent Medical, Electro Cardiograph, Blood tests and/or HIV Saliva test.
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Free Cover Level (FCL) an insurer will guarantee to cover members of a scheme up to a certain salary or benefit level. Members whose salaries exceed the Free Cover Limit will need to go through the medical underwriting process. |
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| Corporate Investments - many companies often keep a lot of capital held within bank accounts. More adventurous investments such as property, bonds and shares can be an alternative, some of which have attractive tax breaks. |
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| Business Protection - protects your organisation from adverse financial effects resulting from the death or critical illness of a key person, partner or shareholder. Losing these key people could damage turnover or profit. Typically a life or critical illness policy is set up on key individuals to protect the company. |
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| Partnership/Director share Purchase - protection for families and co-owners in the event of a partners/directors death, are of great importance. Each party agrees the value beforehand of his/her share, and a combination of term assurance policies are set up to ensure that in the event of their death, the surviving owners have a sum in place to buy out the family of the deceased. |
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| Employee services |
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| Personal Pension - is a tax efficient way of saving for your retirement. Monthly or lump sum contributions can be paid into a fund, and at a selected retirement date, a regular income and lump sum is provided. The amount of money contributed can vary depending on the personal circumstances of the individual. |
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| Pension Consolidation - people often have a number of deferred pensions either from a previous employer or personal arrangement. Consolidating them could mean that you have a simpler, easier to manage arrangement. |
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| Buying your own Home or Investment Property - when buying a property, a mortgage is often used in order to fund the purchase. The market is reviewed in order to gain competitive rates, terms and conditions. This can be lengthy and confusing process which Opal's advisers aim to simplify. With online access to research and thousands of mortgages the assistance from a qualified financial adviser can be invaluable. Opal’s advisers are completely independent and offer impartial advice specific to your needs.
For those who already have a mortgage, Opal can review the market to ensure you have the most competitive arrangement, and could potentially help you pay off your mortgage earlier than previously expected.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Opal make a standard charge of £275 in application for its work. For Opal's mortgage advice, it can be paid by commission from the lender or a fee typically 0.5% of the loan amount. |
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| Mortgage Protection - once you have decided on a property and taken on a mortgage, it is equally important to protect your investment. Various insurances exist to either repay the mortgages in full or pay the monthly interest, in the event of sickness, death or unemployment. |
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| Private Medical Insurance - enables an individual to receive necessary treatment at their convenience and potentially aid a speedy return to work. Private Medical Insurance can cover the cost of surgery, treatment and accommodation during ill health along with outpatients’ treatment including such things as day surgery, Physiotherapy and Osteopathy. The insurers within this market provide varying levels of cover to suit different requirements.
Private Medical Insurance gives individuals the peace of mind that you will be looked after throughout an illness or injury. |
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| Life Assurance - pays a lump sum in the event of your death. Many types of assurances exist designed to either repay a mortgage or protect your dependents. |
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| Income Protection - provides you with up to 75% of your income until you retire or return to work should you become ill or injured resulting in an inability to work. This benefit would maintain your financial commitments during absence from work. |
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| Critical Illness Cover - in the event of being diagnosed with a specified critical illness or total permanent disability, a lump sum would be payable by the insurer, which can ease some of the financial problems you are likely to experience with the potential loss of earnings, medical expenses or change of lifestyle. |
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| Personal Investments - many indivuduals keep their money in bank accounts. Alternative investments with attractive tax treatment exist such as ISA's, bonds and shares. |
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Treating Customers Fairly - (TCF) is an initiative that is centred on the interest of the clients. It derives from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and is a principles based regulation.
Opal’s approach to TCF is measured against:-.
- Giving the client what they have paid for
- Not taking advantage of the client
- Offering the client the best products available on the market
- Resolving mistakes as efficiently as possible
- Show flexibility, empathy and consideration towards client
- Exhibiting clarity in all client dealings.
Opal is very interested in your thoughts on this subject and welcomes your input. Please complete the enquiry form and have your say.
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Opal Fees and Charges - The primary basis for all of Opal’s work is clarity of charges along with being open and honest in all that it does. The ‘Principle Statement’ is driven by the need for openness especially when it comes to fees & commission.
Opal is a fee based organisation however, a significant number of benefit products still allow for commission for clients that prefer to use this option. |
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