Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Unless your query relates specifically to your policy, please review these questions before contacting us.
With Profits Questions
What is a bonus?
Is there any difference between bonuses on life and pensions policies?
How much bonus will I receive?
How does this year's bonus compare with last year's?
Where is my money invested?
Why have I never received an annual notification of bonuses?
Administration Questions
How should I notify you of a change of address?
How long does it take to respond to correspondence and email?
If I have a unit-linked policy, what price will I receive if I cash in the policy or it reaches the final payout date?
I have lost my policy document – what do I do?
The policy belongs to my parent, but they are now in a Nursing Home, what should I do?
The policyholder has died, what documents will I need to make a claim on the policy?
I have an annuity, when can I expect to receive my P60 for my tax return?
When will the bonus notices be issued?
When will the Annual General Meeting (AGM) be announced?
They are additions to the benefits that are paid under the policy and are the way in which your policy shares in the profits of Reliance Mutual.
They can either be annual (reversionary) bonuses or final (terminal) bonuses.
A reversionary bonus may be added to the policy annually. Once added it cannot be withdrawn. However future bonus rates are not guaranteed and can be changed or removed at any time.
The annual bonuses will be paid in full on the maturity or normal retirement date of your policy or on earlier death, provided you have paid all premiums due and have not altered your policy.
A final bonus is an additional bonus which may be paid on termination of the policy due to death or maturity. The amount is determined when the event occurs. This bonus is not guaranteed and can be changed or removed at any time.
Is there any difference between bonuses on life and pensions policies?
Annual and final bonuses attaching to pensions policies are paid in the same manner as the basic benefit, that is as an addition to the basic guaranteed pension.
Life assurance policies receive the guaranteed sum assured together with any annual and final bonuses in cash when a claim arises.
How much bonus will I receive?
The amount declared depends on the progress of the underlying fund in which premiums are invested. This depends mainly on the returns earned from the assets in which the fund is invested. Profits from all the business written in the fund are available to be distributed as bonuses.
In setting bonus rates, returns are smoothed so that part of the short-term fluctuations in investment values are not reflected in payments. The aim is that policy benefits and underlying asset values will be broadly similar over the long-term.
The amount of total annual bonuses accumulated so far is shown on your bonus statement. Bonus statements are issued in March each year for most policies.
How does this year's bonus compare with last years?
For all sub funds annual bonus rates are the same as last year. Annual bonuses had been set to zero in WPSF5 and WPSF6 before these businesses were acquired by Reliance Mutual. Unless there are significant changes in the investment returns available from fixed interest securities, it is unlikely that annual bonus will change in future years.
Final bonuses are used to determine the overall level of policy payouts.
In RMWPSF policy payouts have fallen by up to 10% compared with a similar policy maturing last year. Although equity markets have improved during the latter part of 2009 the smoothing policy in this sub-fund prevented the full effect of the falls in 2008 and the early part of 2009 from being reflected in the previous final bonus rate, and a further cut has been necessary from March 2010.
In WPSF2 and WPSF3 the partial recovery of the markets has enabled payouts to be increased by 5% and 10% respectively.
In WPSF4 the recovery in the markets was offset by the need for additional reserves to allow for the cost of providing guarantees for which the primary cause is policyholders living longer than originally anticipated, giving a fall in payouts of about 7%.
In WPSF5 the rise in the value of equities was offset by the increased cost of providing guaranteed annuities resulting in small increases for some policy terms and types of policies and some decreases in the others.
Sub funds 2,3 4 and 5 are running down and the surpluses are being distributed to policyholders.
In WPSF6 measures taken during the year to improve the financial health of the fund and a reduction in the exposure to direct property investments has enabled us to increase policy payouts. For life policies the proportion of special bonus payable has increased from 65% last year to 100% and for pension poliices it has increased from 35% to 95%, both with effect from 1 March 2010.
Future annual bonuses and all final bonuses are not guaranteed and the rates may be changed without notice.
Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future.
Your premiums are combined with those from all the other policyholders in your sub fund and are invested in a wide range of securities including:
- UK shares
- Overseas shares
- Fixed interest securities
- Property
- Cash deposits
Why have I never received an annual notification of bonuses?
- Industrial Branch policyholders do not currently receive annual bonus statements. The main contact has traditionally been between the agent who calls at the door to collect premiums, and thus is able to answer questions face to face. The nature of this operation is changing, and we are giving consideration to sending bonus information by post at some time in the future.
- Annual notifications of bonus are also not normally sent in respect of annuities in payment, unless the amount due to be paid changes.
- Only with-profits policies receive bonuses. You may have a non-profit or unit-linked policy.
- If you used to receive bonus statements, it may be that we no longer hold your current address. You can get in touch with us to update your address by registering as a member via the member registration, by calling us on 01892 510033 or by writing to us at Client Services, Reliance Mutual Insurance Society, Reliance House, 6 Vale Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1RG. Calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
How should I notify you of a change of address?
If you have registered as a member, you can use the preprinted form via the members’ area of the website, call us or write to us via the Contact us page.
How long does it take to respond to correspondence and email?
We endeavour to ensure that all payments and unit-linked valuations are promptly dealt with, however our overall service level target is to ensure that we respond to all queries within 10 working days of receipt. Where there are unavoidable exceptions we will notify you of this.
If I have a unit-linked policy, what price will I receive if I cash in the policy or it reaches the final payout date?
For a cash in value we will use the price on the day we receive your valid instruction.
For a final payout, we will use the price on the date the final payout is due. Some individual policy conditions may vary this.
I have lost my policy document – what do I do?
The reason we request policy documents is so that they are no longer available for use as security for loans. If you are making a claim and sign the discharge form that you cannot find the policy document this will not hold up your claim. If you require a copy for information purposes then we can provide this.
The policy belongs to my parent, but they are now in a Nursing Home, what should I do?
You should seek legal advice as to the best way to protect their interests. This may include considering a Trust, Power of Attorney or assignment of the benefits.
The policyholder has died, what documents will I need to make a claim on the policy?
To make a claim under a policy when a member dies you will require to send us the policy document (if available), the Grant of probate and the Death Certificate. We will then contact you with any further requirements.
I have an annuity, when can I expect to receive my P60 for my tax return?
P60s are typically sent to clients about 6 weeks after the end of the Tax year
When will the bonus notices be issued?
Bonus notices need to be issued at least 6 weeks before the Annual General Meeting. Typically they are sent at the end of March/start of April.
When will the Annual General Meeting (AGM) be announced?
The AGM is normally announced around the end of March or early April, at least 6 weeks before it is held.