Paying into a Royal London pension: top-ups and contributions

How to pay into a Royal London pension: a workplace plan via your employer's payroll, a personal pension by direct debit; both take one-off top-ups.

How do I pay into my Royal London pension?

It depends on which kind of plan you hold. Royal London says a workplace pension is "set up by your employer", with a portion of your salary paid in automatically each payday. Its personal pension is one it chooses to sell through financial advisers. Unsure whether paying more into your Royal London plan fits your wider finances? Ask an FCA-authorised adviser by phone, for nothing, with this page's form.

Either way, the options are the same two: a regular payment that repeats, and a one-off payment whenever you like. Royal London's own contributions page covers both, and the steps below follow it.

Paying into a Royal London workplace pension

Royal London says regular contributions "are paid monthly to us by your employer", as a percentage of salary or a fixed amount. They come out of your net salary, or through salary exchange, where you give up part of your pay and your employer pays that amount in; how salary sacrifice works has the detail. Royal London's advice is to "speak to your employer" if you want to change the amount or swap a bonus for a pension payment. Pausing or lowering payments can leave less to live on later, and what happens if you pause your pension contributions goes through the effects.

A one-off payment is separate from payroll. Royal London invites workplace members to use its single contribution form, and says you can pay "at any time". Anything you add is invested in line with your current instructions unless you say otherwise, and Royal London points out that the money stays invested until at least age 55, rising to 57 from 6 April 2028, so it is worth weighing the options before paying. Paying extra into a workplace pension looks at whether it is worth doing.

Royal London says the online route for a one-off payment depends on the type of plan you have, and your employer can tell you which of its three workplace types you hold, and Royal London pension plans explains them.

Paying into a Royal London personal pension

Royal London's personal pension is Pension Portfolio. Its page says it distributes personal pensions "through financial advisers", who "may charge for their services" on fees agreed upfront, and it names an adviser as the next step for anyone who thinks the plan could suit them. Regular contributions to Pension Portfolio are taken from your net salary, monthly or yearly, by direct debit. For a one-off payment into a personal pension, Royal London asks you to phone it; its contributions page prints the number.

You can choose a fixed amount, or have it rise each year with your salary, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) or a set level between one and ten percent. Royal London says it "always" recommends speaking to a financial adviser before changing regular contributions. How an adviser is paid is covered in finding a pension adviser, and how setting up a plan works generally in how to set up a personal pension, with the self-invested kind covered in what a SIPP is.

Contributions are investments, so their value can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you pay in. The fund choices, and the charges taken from them, are on Royal London pension charges; once you are old enough to draw money, how to access a Royal London pension has the steps.

What is the Royal London pension minimum contribution?

For a personal pension, Royal London gives the minimum regular contribution as £100 a month or £1,200 a year. If you have already made a one-off payment, the minimum falls to £50 a month or £600 a year.

A workplace plan follows different rules. For automatic enrolment, GOV.UK gives the legal minimum, from April 2019, as 3% from the employer, 5% from you and 8% in total, though in some schemes you can pay less if your employer puts in enough to meet the 8%. It adds that these "could be higher" because of the scheme's own rules, and that in most such schemes contributions are worked out on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax. Which pay counts is explained in how pension contributions are calculated, and the minimums in the workplace pension minimum. Royal London's contributions calculator, linked from its pages, lets you test a higher regular amount against your own retirement picture.

How much tax relief do Royal London contributions get?

Under GOV.UK's rules, the most you can get relief on is 100% of what you earn in a year. Royal London describes relief at source: a basic rate taxpayer gets 20% added automatically, so £80 paid in is topped up to £100. If you pay Income Tax above 20%, you claim the extra yourself: GOV.UK points to the Self Assessment tax return, and Royal London's one-off contribution guide adds that you can phone HMRC instead. Royal London gives the earnings test and a no-earnings figure: you can pay in up to 100% of your earnings, or £2,880, which becomes £3,600 with tax relief.

If your workplace plan uses salary exchange, you already get the full tax saving on regular payments. Royal London suggests asking your employer what happens to a one-off payment, because extra relief might need claiming back for that. The rates differ in Scotland, so pension tax relief is the place to read them, and tax relief on a lump sum deals with a single large payment.

The annual allowance for 2026/27 is £60,000, according to Royal London's guide, and above that a tax charge could apply; an employee also needs the earnings to match a large payment. The limits apply across all your pensions together, not plan by plan. For a one-off payment to count towards 2026/27, Royal London must have the funds by 6pm on Monday 5 April 2027. The annual allowance and carry forward set out those limits. Planning a bigger Royal London top-up? Topping up heavily before 5 April? An FCA-authorised adviser measures such a payment against your allowances in a no-fee phone conversation, arranged through this page's form.

More on paying in, answered

Does a ProfitShare award count as a contribution?

Royal London says it does not, so it does not use up your annual allowance or the amount you can pay in each year. It is added in April, and Royal London cannot guarantee it every year.

Can my employer pay into my Royal London personal pension?

For the general position on employers paying into a personal pension, see whether an employer can pay into a personal pension. What an employer is able to pay into a Royal London personal plan is a point the adviser will cover on the call-back, with no fee, after you complete the enquiry form.

What if I stop my Royal London contributions?

Royal London says you can change workplace contributions at any time. A workplace member can also opt out during a one-month window after automatic enrolment, with contributions taken in that time refunded. After that, money already paid stays invested.

Can I pay into a Royal London pension without an adviser?

Workplace members pay through their employer and can use Royal London's single contribution form for one-off payments. For a personal pension, Royal London says it sells through advisers, and names speaking to one as the next step for a new plan, though its page for existing plan holders gives a phone number for payments.