Please take time to read this important information carefully before you start to use this website, as these Terms of Use will apply to your use of the Site.
These Terms of Use set out the terms and conditions on which we provide the text, software, database, format, documents, graphic and written work and all other materials published on this website www.btpensionsportal.com (the “Site”) and the basis on which we allow access to it.
By using the Site, you confirm that you accept these Terms of Use and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must not use the Site.
Note that no information contained in the Site alters any member’s benefits or entitlement under the Scheme’s trust deed and rules which can be amended from time to time. If there is any difference or conflict between the information set out on the Site (including the retirement planning tools) and the provisions of the Scheme’s current trust deed and rules, the Scheme’s current trust deed and rules will take precedence.
1. Information about us
1.1 The Site is hosted and maintained by BT Pension Scheme Administration Limited registered office One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London, EC3N 2LB on behalf of the Trustee of the BT Pension Scheme. The Trustee of the BT Pension Scheme is BT Pensions Scheme Trustees Limited. BT Pension Scheme Trustee Limited is registered in England and Wales with registered number 06009363 and registered office at Lloyds Chambers, 1 Portsoken Street, London, E1 8HZ
1.2 BT Pension Scheme Administration Limited administer the BT Pension Scheme on behalf of BT Pensions Scheme Trustees Limited.
1.3 References in these Terms of Use to “we” and “us” are references to both the Trustee of the BT Pension Scheme.
2. Privacy
2.1 We take your privacy seriously. Please read the Privacy Policy to understand how we use and protect the information that you provide to us.
3. Accessing the site
3.1 You should access the Site through the homepage at www.btpensionsportal.com, www.btpensions.net or through the BT intranet. If you access online forms or services directly you may not see important material and information including links to important legal or regulatory information which should be read in conjunction with these Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and other relevant information. We will not be liable if a user suffers loss or damage as a result of failing to see relevant legal or regulatory information displayed on the Site.
3.2 Throughout the Site there are words highlighted in bold, underline and /or colour that are links that will take you to another page of the Site or part of that page. Depending on your screen resolution, the text and materials on one page of the Site may not fit entirely into one screen. Where this occurs, you should use the vertical and/or horizontal scroll bars in order to access the entire content of the page. If you do not do this you may not see important material and information. We will not be liable if a user of the Site suffers loss or damage as a result of failing to use and access the Site properly.
3.3 You should ensure that your access to the Site is secure. Therefore you should, where possible, access the Site via your own personal device which is kept up to date with the latest anti-virus software and firewalls.
3.4 You should ensure that you securely log off the Site when you have finished accessing your personal pension information.
3.5 You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Site and for ensuring that all persons that access the Site through your internet connection are aware of these terms of Use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.
4. Availability of the site
4.1 We do not guarantee that the Site, or any content on it, will always be available or that you will have uninterrupted access to it. For example, the Site may be temporarily unavailable or restricted for administrative or other reasons. Access to the Site is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to amend, update, suspend or withdraw all or any part of the Site without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason the Site is not available at any time or for any period.
5. You must keep your account details safe
5.1 If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code (e.g. membership reference number), password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. You should ensure the confidentiality and proper use of your user identification code and password and not disclose it to anyone else. You should restrict access to any devices used to access the Site, or any other device which stores your details. You should not leave any device unattended whilst that device is logged on to the Site.
5.2 We may have to suspend the use of your user identification code and password from time to time if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms of Use, or due to security or other concerns, and we will inform you of this as soon as we can. Please then request a new user identification code and password following the procedures advised by us.
5.3 If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us at member@btps.co.uk.
6. Amendments
6.1 We amend these Terms of Use from time to time. Every time you wish to use the Site, please check these Terms of Use to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. These terms were most recently updated on 30 April 2018.
6.2 We aim to update the Site regularly and may change the content at any time to reflect changes to the Site, our members’ needs and the Scheme’s priorities. However, any of the material on the Site may be out of date at any given time and we make no commitment to update the content and materials on the Site.
6.3 If you choose to keep a hard or soft copy of all or any of these pages (including parts of pages) please ensure that you are relying on the most up-to-date version of that information available, by accessing the Site and refreshing or updating any cached copy of the Site or relevant part of it.
7. Do not rely on information on the site
7.1 The content on the Site is provided for general information and illustrative purposes only. The information on the Site does not take into account your personal circumstances and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment, pension-related, or other decisions. It does not, and is not intended to, amount to advice on which you should rely.
7.2 Any estimate, calculation table or facility on the Site has been provided for guidance only and should not be relied upon. Any actions or decision taken as a result of using such information are taken entirely at your own risk. Before making any investment or pension-related decisions you should seek independent financial advice. Information and figures provided by the retirement planning tools on this portal are illustrative only and are based on the information you enter or information held by BT Pension Scheme Administration Limited (the Scheme’s administrators) and on various estimates and assumptions about the future.
7.3 In particular, information and guidance provided on the Site may be based on current factors which are subject to change at any time as they take into account, for example, age, inflation, increase in earnings and current market conditions. The values cannot be guaranteed and your actual pension will be dependent upon the rules and regulations in force when your pension comes into payment, which will include any overriding HMRC or other legislative requirements.
7.4 We strongly recommend that you speak to an independent financial adviser (“IFA”) before making a decision either in relation to your investments, your pension choices or on the basis of the content on the Site.
7.5 Whilst we have taken reasonable care to make sure that the information and functions contained or displayed on the Site are complete and correct, we do not warrant or represent that the information or functions on the Site is or are free from errors or omissions, or that the information contained or displayed on the Site is accurate, complete or up-to date. We therefore strongly recommend that you do not rely on the information or functions available on the Site. We will not be liable or responsible for any reliance placed by either any visitor to the Site, or by anyone who may be informed of the Site’s contents, on the information or functions available on the Site.
8. How you may use material on our site
8.1 Note that no information contained in the Site alters any member’s benefits or entitlement under the Scheme’s trust deed and rules which can be amended from time to time. If there is any difference or conflict between the information set out on the Site (including the retirement planning tools) and the provisions of the Scheme’s current trust deed and rules, the Scheme’s current trust deed and rules will take precedence.
8.2 We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in the Site, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
8.3 You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from the Site for your personal use. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on the Site must always be acknowledged.
8.4 You must not use any part of the content on the Site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
8.5 If you print off, copy or download any part of the Site in breach of these Terms of Use, your right to use the Site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.
9. We are not responsible for websites we link to
9.1 Where the Site contains links to other websites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We make no representations, and give no warranties concerning the content of those websites, and the fact that we have provided a link to a particular website should not be interpreted as endorsement or affiliation by us in respect of that website or information you may obtain from it.
9.2 We have no control over the contents of those third party websites or resources.
10. Your instructions
10.1 As you are responsible for the reliability and accuracy of the details you provide to us in relation to the Site, when you use the Site please be sure to check the details you enter, or which we hold on the Site, carefully. If any information is incorrect please inform us as soon as possible.
10.2 You will be deemed to have authorised us to act on any purchase, sale, switching, contribution, redemption or redirection instructions initiated or sent through the Site without further written confirmation to us. These instructions will be treated as your instructions even if you can prove they were not initiated or sent by you or with your authority, provided that we or our employees were not guilty of negligence, fraud or wilful default. This authorisation remains in force until we have received notice from you of its termination (given in writing or by means of the Site). Such notice will not affect the completion of transactions already initiated by us pursuant to this authority.
10.3 We may need to obtain from you written confirmation of any instruction sent through the Site.
11. Limitation of liability
11.1 All warranties and conditions, whether implied by statute, common law or otherwise (including but not limited to satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose), are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. In particular, the Site is provided on an "as is, as available" basis and we do not guarantee the availability, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of the Site or any of its content. All implied warranties are excluded to the extent that they may be excluded as a matter of law.
11.2 Nothing in these Terms of Use shall limit or exclude our liability to you in respect of (i) death or personal injury; (ii) fraud including, without limitation, fraudulent misrepresentation; or (iii) liability which may not otherwise be lawfully limited or excluded.
11.3 As we provide the Site to you without charge, we accept no responsibility and will not be liable (to the fullest extent permitted by law) for any losses, costs, damages or expenses, incurred as a result of negligence or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with, any interruption, suspension or loss of use of the Site.
11.4 We do not represent or warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or free of bugs, viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other impairing or harmful components.
11.5 As we provide the Site without charge to you, we accept no responsibility and will not be liable (to the fullest extent permitted by law) for any direct or indirect loss, cost, damage or expense (in each case whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise) which you suffer:
- (a) as a result of your use or inability to use the Site, or as a result of your reliance on any content or materials displayed on or accessible through the Site; or
- (b) as a result of any inaccuracies or omissions in the Site that arise in connection with:
- (i) any inaccurate or incomplete information provided by you;
- (ii) the acts or omissions of any person other than us, including, without limitation, the incorrect use of the Site by you, or your failure to correctly input any data and/or information;
- (iii) any data transmission, machine or software error; or
- (iv) your operating error.
12. We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them
12.1 You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our site. You should use your own virus protection software.
12.2 You must not misuse our site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our site, the server on which our site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our site. You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use the Site will cease immediately.
13. Rules about linking to our site
13.1 You may not create or allow any links to the Site to exist on any websites. You may create a link to the Site as a "favourite" on your personal computer for as long as you have access to the Site.
13.2 Our site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our site other than as set out above.
14. Severance
14.1 Each provision in these Terms of Use is enforceable independently of each other provision. The validity of a provision will not be affected if any of the other provisions are invalid. If any provision is void, but would be valid if some part of it were deleted, then the provision in question will apply with such modification as may be necessary to make it valid.
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
15.1 These Terms of Use, their subject matter and their formation, (and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with any of them) are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.
16. Contact us
16.1 To contact us, please email member@btps.co.uk, or call:
- from within the UK: 0800 731 1919
- from outside the UK: +44 (0) 203 023 3420
16.2 Please note the phone lines are open Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5:00pm (excluding Bank Holidays).