Personal Pension Terms & Conditions

The CIRCA5000 Personal Pension Terms & Conditions

This is an important document which sets out the terms and conditions of your CIRCA5000 Personal Pension and how it will be operated. You should read the whole document. If, having read this document, you do not understand any aspect of it or you have any questions, please contact CIRCA5000, whose contact details are at the end of this document.

You should also read carefully CIRCA5000’s Terms of Business, which form the legal agreement between you and CIRCA5000 and the Key Investor Information Document (“KIID”) and the pre-sale illustration for your chosen investment(s).

1. Introduction

1.1 This is a pension plan that allows you to save for retirement in a tax-effective way.

1.2 This document sets out the main Terms and Conditions of the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension that operates under the GRSL SIPP Scheme (the “GRSL SIPP”). Gaudi Trustees Limited is the Trustee of the Scheme. Gaudi Regulated Services Limited is the Scheme Administrator and will administer the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension in accordance with the Scheme Trust Deed and Rules. The Terms and Conditions are subject to the provisions of the Trust Deed and Rules. If there is any inconsistency between the details set out in this document and the provisions of the Trust Deed and Rules, the Trust Deed and Rules prevail. You can ask us for a copy of the Trust Deed and Rules.

1.3 Your application to join the pension plan, confirms your agreement to these Terms and Conditions.

1.4 These Terms and Conditions, together with your completed application and any documents specified in the application declaration, form a legally binding agreement between you and us (Gaudi Regulated Services Limited and Gaudi Trustees Limited).

2. Understanding this document

2.1 Certain terminology is used throughout these Terms and Conditions; unless otherwise stated the meaning of the words are defined below.

2.2 References to “Gaudi”, “we”, “us”, “our” or “ourselves” in these terms are references to both Gaudi Regulated Services Limited, in their capacity of Scheme Operator and Administrator and Gaudi Trustees Limited as Trustee.

2.3 References to “you” or “your” are to you as an investor in and a member of the Scheme following acceptance by us of a properly completed application and receipt of the first payment into your pension plan. It also, where appropriate, includes your personal representatives after your death and any person who is entitled to receive benefits (other than lump sum benefits) following your death.

2.4 The singular includes the plural and vice versa. The masculine includes the feminine.

3. How the scheme is structured

3.1 The Scheme is a registered pension scheme under the Act.

3.2 You are only entitled to receive payments from the Scheme in the form of authorised payments as defined under the Act.

3.3 The Scheme has been established and is governed by a Trust Deed and attaching Rules. Within the Trust Deed, Gaudi Regulated Services Limited has established the Scheme within the meaning of Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004. Gaudi Trustees Limited (the “Trustee”), as Trustee of the Scheme, has appointed Gaudi Regulated Services Limited (the “Administration Company”) to administer the Scheme.

3.4 The Trustee will hold the individual fund in its name and the Administration Company will administer the fund in line with the Trust Deed and Rules, and the Act.

3.5 Gaudi Regulated Services Limited (the “Scheme Operator”) is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to ‘establish, operate and wind-up personal pension schemes’. The Scheme Operator will administer the Scheme in accordance with the Scheme Trust Deed and Rules.

3.6 The reference source for any conflict between these Terms and Conditions, the Trust Deed and Rules or any other documentation will always be the Act.

4. Advice

4.1 Nothing provided to you by Gaudi, whether verbally or in writing, should be construed as financial, investment or tax advice as defined by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, unless expressly stated.

4.2 Unless we tell you this is not the case, you will be treated by us as a retail client as categorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

4.3 On reaching age 50, you can use Pension Wise from MoneyHelper, a free and impartial government backed service, to help you understand what your pension benefit choices are and how they work. This service can be accessed via https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise.

4.4 It is strongly recommended that prior to accessing your pension benefits you seek advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser or obtain guidance from Pension Wise.

5. Membership of the scheme

5.1 By agreeing and accepting the application declarations you are making certain declarations about your eligibility to join the Scheme and claim tax relief as well as agreeing to open your pension plan and to become a Scheme member on these Terms and also accept the Trust Deed and Rules.

5.2 Membership of the Scheme is dependent on you supplying suitable documents or other evidence in order that your identity can be established by CIRCA5000 in order to ensure compliance with Anti-Money Laundering legislation and any other regulations that may apply from time to time. CIRCA5000 reserves the right to use online systems and checks to verify your identity and address.

5.3 Membership of the Scheme is at the discretion of the Administration Company.

5.4 Your membership will formally commence from the point at which the first payment into your pension plan clears irrespective of whether this is a transfer from another scheme or a contribution. At this point any applicable fees will be deducted. Once all such fees have been deducted the balance is available for investment.

5.5 You can end your membership of the Scheme by reducing your pension fund to zero value by transferring your pension fund to another registered pension scheme

5.6 Your membership will also end on your death, but your pension plan will remain open until such time as all of your pension fund has been paid out in the form of authorised death benefit payments.

5.7 The Administration Company can end your membership if, for any other reason than given in 5.5 and 5.6, your pension fund is of zero value, for example, due to the deduction of charges, the failure of a pension fund investment or other authorised payments which may include payments made in accordance with a divorce or bankruptcy court order.

5.8 The pension fund will be deemed to be of zero value where your pension plan’s investment and cash holdings are of zero value and there is no expectation of any further value arising, as determined at the discretion of the Administration Company.

5.9 You membership may also end in the event that the Scheme is wound up in accordance with the Rules of the Scheme under which the Scheme Operator has discretion to provide your benefits by way of purchase of an annuity, payment of an authorised lump sum or transfer to another pension scheme.

6. Contributions

6.1 If you are eligible to make UK tax relievable contributions, you may make contributions to your pension plan, either on a single or regular basis. There is £5 minimum contribution.

6.2 We do not accept personal contributions that are not eligible for tax relief. When completing the application declaration, amongst other things, you are confirming that your contribution is eligible for tax relief i.e. your contributions in any tax year will not exceed the higher of the basic amount or 100% of your relevant UK earnings. It is your responsibility to ensure your contributions do not exceed this limit. Personal contributions from age 75 onwards are not eligible for tax relief and are therefore not accepted.

6.3 You are responsible for monitoring your contributions in relation to the Annual Allowance and for payment of any Annual Allowance charge that may apply. If your contributions across all of your pension arrangements in any tax year exceed the Allowance applicable to you (the “Annual Allowance”, the “Tapered Annual Allowance”, which applies to high earners, or the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, which applies once you start drawing benefits flexibly), you may be subject to an Annual Allowance charge payable directly by you to HMRC. Depending on your personal circumstances you may be able to use carry forward of unused Annual Allowances from previous years to offset the charge.

6.4 Contributions can be made by debit card only. This includes contributions made via the CIRCA5000 ‘Round up’ facility. Regular contributions can be made on any specified business date in the month and may stop and start at any point without penalty.

6.5 We will treat all personal contributions as being eligible for tax relief, in accordance with clause 6.2. We will claim basic rate income tax relief from HMRC on each contribution you make and add it to your pension plan on receipt. HMRC may take several months to process the tax relief claim and the money claimed is not available for investment until we receive it from HMRC.

6.6 You are responsible for claiming any tax relief above the basic rate of income tax to which you are entitled, directly from HMRC. This is paid to you and not added to your pension plan.

6.7 If at the end of a tax year your contributions have exceeded the amount on which you are entitled to tax relief, for example due to lower-than-expected earnings, you should inform us as soon as possible. We will refund to HMRC the excess tax relief that your pension plan has received from it and reserve the right to make disinvestments if there is insufficient available cash. You can apply to us for a refund of your excess net contribution; we will only accept requests for a refund at the time of notification. We may, at our discretion, agree to refund to you the excess net contributions provided there is sufficient available cash in your pension fund to do so. The amount refunded will not be adjusted to take account of any investment loss or growth within your pension plan relating to the excess contribution. You will be notified of any applicable charges.

6.8 If you are liable to an Annual Allowance charge and you qualify and give notice under ‘Scheme Pays’ legislative provisions for your pension plan to pay some or all of the charge to HMRC, you agree that you will only give such notice where there is sufficient cash available in your pension fund to pay the charge. If you do give notice and there is insufficient cash available in your pension fund then the Administration Company may direct the Trustee to dispose of assets within your pension fund sufficient to pay the charge. You agree and understand that if there is insufficient cash within your pension fund that you are personally liable to pay the charge and indemnify us against any liability to do so.

6.9 Your Pension Input Period, as defined by the Act, will start on the first day you make a contribution and will end on the following 5th April. Subsequent periods will then run from 6th April to 5th April in future years.

7. Transfers in

7.1 The Administration Company may, at its discretion, accept transfers of benefits from other registered pension schemes, subject to the Trust Deed and Rules, and the Act.

7.2 We will not accept transfers of defined benefits or safeguarded rights of any size.

7.3 For all transfers it is your responsibility to ensure a transfer of pension benefits is in your best interests. Consequently, you should consider taking advice from a suitably qualified financial adviser. As described in the Advice section above, we do not provide advice. Our acceptance of a transfer is in no way an endorsement of the suitability for you of the transfer.

7.4 Transfers in of crystallised funds are not currently allowed.

7.5 An acceptable transfer can be made in the form of cash. Alternatively, where the investments held under the transferring scheme are also available to be held under this pension plan, you may request for the transfer to be made in the form of an in-specie transfer of those investments, which will be facilitated, where possible, in accordance with FCA regulations. If any investments transferred are available under this pension plan with lower fund management fees, you will be given the option to convert the transferred investments to the lower priced version.

7.6 We will not give disinvestment instructions to the existing pension scheme provider. Where you request a cash transfer from an existing pension scheme you take responsibility for arranging disinvestment of any assets held within that pension scheme, if required under the terms of that scheme. We accept no liability for delays in concluding the transfer as a result of disinvestment instructions not having been received or actioned by the transferring pension scheme provider.

7.7 The Administration Company reserves the right to refund a transfer (whether in part or whole) which has been made in error without your authority.

8. Cancellation rights

8.1 When you initially join the Scheme or receive transfers into your pension plan, you are entitled to a 30 calendar day cancellation period, which gives you the right to change your mind in the following circumstances:

8.1.1 When you initially join the Scheme you have the right to cancel your new pension plan. The cancellation period begins on the date on which you formally become a member of the Scheme, which is the date the first payment into your pension plan clears, whether this is a contribution payment or transfer of benefits from another pension plan.

8.1.2 Each time you make a new transfer of pension benefits into your existing pension plan you have the right to cancel each transfer. The cancellation period begins on the date on which the transfer is received into your pension plan.

8.2 If you cancel your pension plan:

8.2.1 Any contributions will be returned less any tax relief claimed on your behalf, which will be returned to HMRC.

8.2.2 Any transfers received will be deemed as having been cancelled and the relevant clauses in this section must be complied with in order to cancel your pension plan. Any transfers requested but not received will be stopped where possible.

8.3 Where you decide to exercise your right to cancel in respect of a transfer, we will attempt to pay the funds back to the scheme or arrangement from which the funds have been received. The previous scheme or arrangement may refuse to take back the funds, or may only accept them on revised terms, which are not acceptable to you, in which case you will be responsible for nominating a new registered pension scheme to which the funds can be transferred.

8.4 Where investments are made during this 30-day cancellation period, and we receive a valid notice of cancellation, your investments will be automatically disinvested. We will not be liable if the amount realised is less than the cost of acquiring the assets and we will be entitled to charge your pension plan an amount to cover our costs. We will notify you of the costs involved. Where costs have been incurred by third parties, the amount incurred will be deducted from any amount returned.

8.5 We will only refund a maximum of the net contributions made. Any money that is in excess of the net contribution will fall within the General Fund under the Scheme and will be paid to our chosen charity.

8.6 Where you decide to exercise your right to cancel, we are entitled to retain any fee for setting up your pension plan, but do not normally do so.

9. Banking arrangements

Payments in to and out of the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension will be made via a bank account held with Lloyds Bank Plc, by the Custody Provider on behalf of the Trustee. The bank account is segregated from those of the Trustee. The account is a pooled account so that in the event of a bank’s failure your claim will be for a share of the cash held in all such accounts held at the bank. No minimum balance will be retained.

10. Pension plan investments

10.1 Investments will be held in the name of a nominee on behalf of the Trustee who remains the beneficial owner. For overseas investments these may be held by an overseas custodian.

10.2 Any investment income, including interest, or capital gains from your pension plan investments will be held by the Trustee on your behalf and will form part of the assets and, therefore, value of your pension plan.

10.3 You are only permitted to invest your pension fund in the investment options made available via CIRCA5000 and you give your instructions for investment via CIRCA5000.

10.4 The investment options that are made available to you, which may be changed from time to time, are subject to them being and remaining permitted investments.

10.5 The Investment Provider undertakes to ensure that any investments made available meet the requirements of the Operator and Trustee regarding permissibility. Where the Investment Provider is in any doubt as to the permissibility of any investments, they will refer the matter to the Operator and Trustee who may instruct the Investment Provider to not make any further payments into such investments and to disinvest from such investments. You will be informed of any such actions but your permission for such actions to take place is not required.

10.6 The Operator and Trustee of the Scheme has the discretion to determine whether any investment is a permitted investment under the Rules of the Scheme.

10.7 For the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension the permitted investment range is currently restricted as follows:

10.7.1 Cash held in the Bank Account.

10.7.2 Investments made available via the CIRCA5000 app.

10.8 Gaudi Regulated Services Limited reserves the right to amend the permitted investment range at any time.

10.9 We cannot be held liable for any losses arising from any change to the investment options made available nor where further investment is suspended or disinvestment is required due to an investment no longer being permissible.

10.10 The Administration Company will only act in accordance with directions from you, other than where, in the opinion of the Administration Company the following sub-clauses apply, in which case the Administration Company has discretion to direct the Trustee to dispose of investments without consultation with you or your prior agreement:

10.10.1 where, in our opinion, the continued retention of an investment would or may be unlawful;

10.10.2 where, in our opinion, the continued retention of the investment would or may impose tax or other costs which your pension fund may not be able to meet;

10.10.3 the investment needs to be disposed of to meet any tax liability or other liabilities or costs (including our own incurred in the administration of your pension plan);

10.10.4 the investment is no longer a permitted investment;

10.10.5 to comply with a court order; or

10.10.6 to pay out death benefits.

10.11 It is only possible to invest cleared funds. There are, however, certain situations where funds are received in respect of a contribution or transfer that subsequently fail to clear once investments have been made. In these circumstances, we may dispose of the assets without consulting you. We will not be liable if the amount realised is less than the cost of acquiring the assets and we will be entitled to charge your pension plan an amount to cover our costs. We will notify you of the costs involved.

10.12 Where appropriate and as required, you authorise the Administration Company to accept the terms and conditions of third-party investment providers on your behalf.

10.13 We are not responsible for the investment decisions you make or those of your financial advisers or investment manager.

11. Borrowing

Borrowing including overdrafts and accounts going overdrawn, is not permitted.

12. Transferring out

12.1 The Administration Company on behalf of the Trustee has discretion to transfer the value of your pension fund to another registered pension scheme or qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme. This will be done as soon as practicable upon request and without penalty by us. Any accrued administration fees and tax charges will be levied prior to transfer together with any costs incurred in disposing of pension fund assets. The transfer will be made subject to current legislation and HMRC rules.

12.2 We will not transfer benefits in accordance with these Terms and Conditions unless we are satisfied as to each of the following:

12.2.1 we have proper authority to make the transfer;

12.2.2 we are in receipt of all the necessary documentation;

12.2.3 we have received all the fees due to us;

12.2.4 all liabilities and costs have been satisfied by your pension fund;

12.2.5 the conditions for transferring set out in regulation, have been met; and

12.2.6 making the transfer is not likely to prejudice any protected benefits, or be unlawful or be made to an unrecognised or unregistered scheme or be made to a scheme suspected of being involved in a scam or pensions liberation.

12.3 We do not accept liability in respect of delays in completing the transfer due to carrying out all reasonable checks in accordance with regulations or with the provisions of this Transferring out section nor where we refuse to transfer due to our findings.

12.4 In some circumstances it may be necessary for us to delay the transfer of funds, for example, where an investment is no longer readily realisable. Such circumstances could lead to you having to defer transferring or taking benefits. We will advise you where this is likely to be the case.

12.5 Where you instruct us to transfer your pension fund in-specie we will instruct the Custody Provider to liaise with your new pension provider and they will proceed on this basis subject to receiving confirmation that the new custodian(s) are prepared to hold the investments you have requested to be transferred in-specie. The Administration Company does not accept any liability in respect of delays in the completion of your transfer arising as a result of delays in the re-registration process.

12.6 Where you instruct us to transfer your pension fund in the form of cash the Custody Provider will provide disinvestment instructions to the asset manager(s). The Administration Company does not accept any liability in respect of delays in the completion of your transfer arising as a result of delays in the disinvestment process.

12.7 If you are transferring your pension plan in full, your pension Bank Account will be closed. To avoid unnecessary delays our standard procedure is to not wait for any closing interest to be added before making the transfer payment to your new pension scheme. When closing interest of under £5 is received we will donate it to our chosen charity. If it is £5 or more we will make a further transfer payment of the amount received to your new pension scheme. You will have the opportunity to ask us to delay the transfer payment to your new pension scheme until any closing interest has been received.

13. Payment of benefits

13.1 You will be eligible to receive pension benefits on attaining normal minimum pension age but may be paid earlier if ill health conditions, as defined by the Act, are applicable.

13.2 The CIRCA5000 Personal Pension does not currently offer a facility to provide pension benefits.

13.3 If you suffer from serious ill health, as defined by the Act, a Serious Ill Health Lump Sum may be paid from this pension plan. There is no minimum age.

13.4 You, or we at our discretion, may at any time use your pension fund to purchase benefits by way of an appropriate policy or contract with an insurance company.

13.5 We will not pay benefits in accordance with these Terms and Conditions unless we are satisfied as to each of the following:

13.5.1 we have proper authority to pay the benefits;

13.5.2 we are in receipt of all the necessary documentation;

13.5.3 we have received all the fees due to us;

13.5.4 all liabilities and costs have been satisfied by your pension fund; and

13.5.5 all outstanding transfers have been received by your pension fund.

13.6 On your death your fund can be used to provide your beneficiaries, selected at our discretion, with a lump sum. If death occurs before your 75th birthday then the death benefit payments will generally not be subject to tax unless the death benefits have not been settled within the two years of notification of your death. If death occurs on or after your 75th birthday then the death benefits are generally subject to tax at the recipient's applicable rate of income tax. You are recommended to nominate and keep updated your chosen beneficiaries; while it cannot be binding, your wishes will be taken into consideration.

13.7 If you wish to start taking benefits from your CIRCA5000 Personal Pension you will need to request us to transfer some or all of your pension fund to another registered pension scheme you have selected that can provide your required form of pension benefits. This process will be subject to the Transfer Out provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

14. Valuations & reporting

14.1 You will be able to view the value of your pension plan whenever you like via the CIRCA5000 app . The value will be that held by the Investment Provider and as reported to them by the asset manager(s).

14.2 Once a year we are required to send you a `Statutory Money Purchase Illustration’ based on the current value of your pension plan. It will provide you with an estimate of what your pension plan may be worth in today’s terms by the time you reach your selected retirement age.

14.3 If your contributions exceed the Annual Allowance or Money Purchase Annual Allowance, if applicable, we are required to send you a Pension Savings Statement. You are required to use the information in the statement to report the excess contribution to HMRC who will then levy the appropriate tax charge on you.

14.4 We will provide all of the above documents to you via the CIRCA5000 app unless otherwise advised.

14.5 You agree to review the above documents on receipt and advise us immediately of any errors or discrepancies. We cannot be held liable for any loss as a result of errors or discrepancies that you should reasonably be aware of but failed to notify us of.

15. Indemnity & liability

15.1 If you carry out an action in respect of your pension plan that is unlawful or contrary to these Terms and Conditions or the Trust Deed and Rules, the Act or other legislation, or any other action, including an unauthorised payment, that results in a liability or cost to your pension plan or the Scheme, you are required to indemnify us against any such liability or cost and we are entitled to recover any such claims, costs and expenses from your pension fund.

15.2 Where insufficient cash is held within the Bank Account, we may require you to dispose of assets or investments within the pension fund to meet the shortfall. If there is still a shortfall to cover the costs or liability, we may require you to pay us the amounts due.

16. Taxation

16.1 You are entitled to receive tax relief on your personal contributions to the pension plan, subject to the limits prescribed by the Act and current legislation. Where you exceed these limits, or if for any other reason tax relief is not available on your contribution, we may deduct from your pension fund a sufficient amount to account for the excess tax relief and repay it to HMRC. You are required to inform us where you believe you may have contributed more than the limit.

16.2 The Act also sets a limit as to the combined total of pension benefits that can be built up within registered pension schemes without incurring additional tax charges. This limit is known as the Lifetime Allowance. Where your combined pension benefits exceed this figure, subject to any protection you may have in place, a tax charge will be incurred at the point you crystallise your benefits, to the extent that your crystallised funds exceed the Lifetime Allowance. At age 75 where you still have funds under this pension plan, you are required to inform us of the percentage of the Lifetime Allowance you have already used up in order that we may calculate whether you have exceeded the Lifetime Allowance and the extent of any tax charge due. Where a tax charge is incurred, we will deduct from your pension fund the necessary amounts to meet the tax charges related to the Lifetime Allowance being exceeded. We will tell you where this is the case and inform you as to the tax charge amounts.

16.3 We may also be liable from time to time to other tax charges, including a scheme sanction charge in relation to your pension plan if a tax chargeable payment is made. Where such tax charges are incurred, other than through any fraud, negligence, or breach of regulatory duty on our part, you agree to us deducting the necessary amounts from your pension fund to meet the tax charges due. Where your pension fund is unable to meet the payment of the tax charge, we may require you to pay us the amounts due.

17. Fees, charges & expenses

17.1 Please see the separate ‘Fees Document’, which is an appendix of CIRCA5000’s Terms of Business, for details of all fees and charges, and associated policies. CIRCA5000’s Terms of Business form part of these Terms and Conditions and therefore you will be deemed to have agreed to the charges and fees when accepting these Terms and Conditions through applying for the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension.

17.2 We receive payment for the administrative work we undertake in respect of the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension under separate commercial agreements and therefore we do not charge you or your pension plan directly for the work we undertake. If a situation were to arise where we were unable to continue to receive payments via the separate commercial arrangements then we reserve the right to commence charging you or your pension plan directly for the continued administration of your pension plan. We do not expect this to happen but if it does we will issue amended Terms and Conditions including details of our charges and giving you 30 days’ notice.

17.3 There may be rare situations where an additional fee is required for carrying out work not covered by the fees detailed in CIRCA5000’s Terms of Business. Where this arises you will be notified before any work is carried out to agree this additional fee.

18. Information, communication & notices

18.1 We require you to provide us with all accurate information that we may reasonably require in order to administer your pension plan and fulfil our obligations under these Terms and Conditions.

18.2 All communications, whether from you or us, must be in English.

18.3 Unless otherwise specified in these Terms and Conditions, communications (including instructions) for the purpose of these Terms and Conditions should be given via email at hi@circa5000.com.

Legal notices should be sent to:

18.4 Our communications with you, including confidential information will normally be via the CIRCA5000 app. However, we reserve the right to send communications directly to you via the email address or your permanent residential address you supplied as part of the application. You are required to provide details of any change to your email address or permanent residential address and therefore you will be deemed to have received any communication we send directly to you via either of these addresses.

18.5 We may:

18.5.1 telephone you at any reasonable time to discuss your pension plan without having been expressly invited by you to do so;

18.5.2 in good faith rely on any communication which we reasonably believe to have been issued by you or your agent;

18.5.3 rely upon any information provided by you in accordance with these Terms and Conditions;

18.5.4 require you to make an instruction to us in writing before acting upon it;

18.5.5 decline to accept or act upon any communication which we reasonably believe not to have been issued in accordance with the provisions of these Terms and Conditions, or if we reasonably consider that compliance with such communication would be impracticable or would give rise to a breach of any applicable law or regulation. In such circumstances we will use our reasonable endeavours to tell you promptly.

18.6 We deem any communication received after 5.00 pm on a business day, or on a day other than a business day, to have been received on the following business day.

18.7 Where, in these Terms and Conditions, a period of notice is to be given to you, that period of notice will be calculated from the date on which the notice was sent to you. The exception to this is the cancellation notice for which the period of notice commences from the date you can reasonably be assumed to have received it.

19. Data protection

19.1 We need to know basic personal information in order to provide the services you have engaged us to provide.

19.2 Gaudi Trustees Limited and Gaudi Regulated Services Limited are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Our Privacy Statement, as outlined below, is to let you know:

• how and why we collect personal information;
• what we do with it;
• when and why we share it with other organisations;
• how long we keep it; and
• the rights and choices you have with regard to your personal information.

20. Privacy statement

20.1 Gaudi Regulated Services Limited (“GRSL”) and Gaudi Trustees Limited (“GTL”) will be known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal information you provide to us. The company registration number for Gaudi Regulated Services Limited is 06638918 and the registered address is: 2 Oakridge Office Park, Whaddon, Salisbury, SP5 3HT.

20.2 The lawful bases we rely on for processing your personal information are:

• Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by emailing sipp@gaudiltd.co.uk.
• We have a contractual obligation.
• We have a legal obligation.
• We have a legitimate interest.

Contacting us regarding your privacy

20.3 If you have any questions about how we have handled your personal information or wish to raise a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at sipp@gaudiltd.co.uk.

20.4 If you are not satisfied with our response, or believe we are processing your data unfairly or unlawfully, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”). For further information about the ICO and their complaints procedure https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.

You may give us information about you by completing application forms (paper versions or our online services) or by contacting us by phone, email or letter.

How we collect personal information

The personal information we gather may include, but is not exclusive to:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• National Insurance number
• Pension reference number
• Gender
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Bank account details
• Medical information (in certain limited circumstances)
• Any further information required as part of a product application

Why we need it

We need to know basic personal information in order to provide you with the services you have engaged us to provide and to ensure that your pension is administered as efficiently as possible. This includes such information as is required to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements.

We will not collect personal information from you that we do not need in order to provide the services we have agreed to provide to you.

We may use your information for testing our systems, if we do this your personal information will be anonymous so that it cannot be identified. We hold personal information securely and limit access to those who need to see it.

What we do with it

The personal information we collect may be transferred to, and stored at a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), this could be to another company within the Gaudi group of companies or to external service providers working on our behalf.

Where any such processing takes place, appropriate controls, such as adoption of agreements containing the appropriate standard clauses, will be put in place to ensure that the personal information is protected to the same standard as if it were in the UK.

How long we keep it

In most circumstances we will retain personal information for the lifetime of a pension or product or for up to seven years after the end of the relationship with us e.g. where a plan is transferred to another provider or closed following the payment of benefits. This is to ensure we comply with our retention obligations, as set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and other regulatory and legislative requirements.

Certain circumstances dictate that we retain some specific information for longer, e.g. pension transfer information, HMRC tax records, etc.

Our retention obligations are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that we do not keep personal information longer than we are legally obliged to.

Sensitive personal information

It may also benefit you to notify us of any health condition or disability you have, so that we are aware of these conditions and how they affect you. This will allow us to take any reasonable steps to accommodate specific needs or requirements you have when providing our services to you. This type of information is known as “special category information”, also referred to as ‘sensitive personal data’, we require your explicit consent to process this data.

What are your rights?

Under data protection legislation, you have several rights regarding the use of your personal information as follows:

If at any point you wish to either confirm whether your personal information is being processed and/or access the information we hold on you, you can request to see this information, we will respond to any request within one month.

You are entitled to have your data corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

You are entitled to have information deleted if it is no longer needed or there is no longer a legitimate reason for the processing.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information (note that this only provides you with the right to raise your objections, and is not a blanket right to have any and all processing ceased).

21. Events beyond our reasonable control

21.1 As a result of an event beyond our reasonable control (force majeure), we may be unable, wholly or in part, to carry out some or all of our obligations in relation to your pension plan. In this event, unless you might reasonably be expected to be aware of the circumstances, we will to the extent practicable in our opinion, give you prompt notice of that Event with reasonable particulars of it and, insofar as known, the probable extent to which we will be unable to perform or be delayed in performing the relevant obligation(s).

21.2 For the purposes of these terms, an Event beyond our reasonable control includes:

21.2.1 nationalisation, expropriation, prohibition, intervention, direction or embargo;

21.2.2 imposition by any governmental or quasi-governmental authority of currency restrictions, exchange controls or other charges or restraints affecting your pension plan or the investments and assets allocated to it;

21.2.3 inability or delay in obtaining governmental or quasi-governmental approvals, consents, permits, licences, authorities or allocations;

21.2.4 acts of war (declared or undeclared), terrorism, insurrection, revolution, civil disturbance, riot, blockade or other disturbance;

21.2.5 strikes, lockouts, other industrial action or other interferences with work;

21.2.6 failure or disruption of any relevant stock exchange, including depositories, settlement systems or markets;

21.2.7 widespread failure or disruption of computer systems, including electronic mail systems; and

21.2.8 earthquake, storms, floods, lightning, fire, explosions or similar natural events.

22. Termination & variation

22.1 These Terms and Conditions, as varied from time to time, will continue until your membership of the Scheme ceases.

22.2 We may amend any of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

22.3 Where an amendment to these Terms and Conditions is made, we will give you at least 30 days’ notice, except where either of the following applies:

22.3.1 Where changes in applicable laws or the rules of the relevant regulatory bodies or authority are required to take effect earlier than that date, in which case we will issue the notice of variation as soon as reasonably practicable; or

22.3.2 Where we consider it to be to your benefit to implement the amendment to these Terms and Conditions immediately.

23. Complaints & compensation

23.1 You can address any complaints about our services by email or in writing, to the Chief Operating Officer, at the address shown in the ‘Information, communication and notices’ section above. The complaint will be dealt with in line with our complaints procedure, a copy of which is available on request. If the matter is not dealt with to your satisfaction, you can refer your complaint to:

Telephone number: 0800 917 4487

www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk

The Pensions Ombudsman provides an Early Resolution Service, which may help resolve any complaint promptly. Please see:

https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/files/ERS%20factsheet.pdf.

Or alternatively to:

Telephone number: 0800 023 4567

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Making a complaint will not prejudice your right to take legal proceedings.

23.2 We contribute to and are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”). The FSCS is there to provide compensation to individuals if an FCA regulated firm they are engaged with is unable to meet claims made against it. There are limits that apply to the amount of compensation you can receive. Full details about the compensation scheme can be found on their website www.fscs.org.uk.

23.3 Some, but not all, investments held by your pension fund may also be similarly covered by compensation schemes. It is your responsibility to establish where this is and is not the case.

24. Governing law

These Terms and Conditions will be governed by and constructed in accordance with English Law.

25. Contacting CIRCA5000

The Scheme Administrator of the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension is Gaudi Regulated Services Limited.

The Trustee of the CIRCA5000 Personal Pension is Gaudi Trustees Limited and the Operator is Gaudi Regulated Services Limited.

The contact details for CIRCA5000 are:

Email: hi@circa5000.com.

There is currently no dedicated phone helpline.

CIRCA5000 is a trading name of CIRCA5000 Ltd. CIRCA5000 Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 846067). CIRCA5000 Ltd (No. 11200977) is registered at 3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.

Seccl Custody Limited is registered in England and Wales (No. 10430958), and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 793200).

“Gaudi” refers to the applicable entities of the Gaudi Group including Gaudi Limited (No. 6502014), Gaudi Regulated Services Limited (No: 6638918) and Gaudi Trustees Limited (No. 7898388) each being registered in England and Wales at 2 Oakridge Office Park, Whaddon, Salisbury. SP5 3HT.

Gaudi Regulated Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. (FRN: 488015).

You can check out these details on the Companies House website at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house and the FCA’s website at www.fca.org.uk/register.