Andere gebeurtenissen

Yes, you can request an advance on the accrued pension reserves if the pension rules specifically allow this.
To find out your accrued reserves, consult your benefit statement. You can also log on to mygroupinsurance.vivium.be and go to the "My Contracts" screen, where you will see the amount under "How much have I already saved?".

What can I use the advance on my supplementary pension for?
An advance payment can only be used to acquire, build, improve, repair or convert a real estate property located in the European Economic Area (EEA), or to repay a current mortgage loan.

How much is the advance on my supplementary pension?
The minimum amount granted by Vivium as an advance is €5,000. Vivium charges a start-up fee of €150 for each new advance or increase.

What is the interest rate on the advance on my supplementary pension?
During the term of the advance, the guaranteed interest rate on the borrowed pension reserves is retained, so that your final group insurance capital is not affected.

Do I need to repay the advance on my supplementary pension?
No, this is not compulsory, but you can repay all or part of the withdrawn advance at any time (in instalments of at least 10% at a minimum of €2,500).

What charges do I have to pay if I receive an advance on my supplementary pension?
The withdrawal of an advance always results in a monthly charge by mandatory direct debit that covers the interest due on the advance payment. This is 1% more than the guaranteed interest applicable to your pension reserves and cannot be less than 2%.
When your lump sum is paid out when you retire or in the event of your death, the advance that is still outstanding at the time will be deducted from the net amount to be paid out.

If the pension rules specifically allow it and your bank accepts this type of pledge, you can pledge both the pension capital and the death capital to the bank where you take out a mortgage loan. The bank granting the loan will then become the "accepting beneficiary". In that case, Vivium will make the payment to the bank upon your retirement or in the event of your death.

Pension lump sum
You can take out a mortgage loan and repay it in one go upon your retirement together with the pension lump sum to be paid out.
This means that during the term of the loan, you only have to pay the interest on the loan.

Lump sum in the event of death
Instead of taking out mortgage protection insurance, you can pledge the lump sum in the event of death as security for your mortgage loan. If you die before your loan's maturity date, the net lump sum in the event of death resulting from your group insurance will be used to repay your loan.

No, you cannot deduct the interest paid on an advance payment for your own family home on your tax return.

For interest paid on another property in Belgium or abroad (such as a second home or investment property), it is best to consult your tax adviser.

Your former employer will inform Vivium when you leave the company. Vivium will provide you with the following within one month:

• An exit letter explaining what you can do with your savings ("accrued reserves").
• An updated benefit statement showing the insured cover that will continue until the end of the contract without further premium payments.

The exit letter will explain all your options for your saved amount. You will then have 30 days to choose between the following options:

1. You leave the saved amount where it is
   
   If you leave the saved amount where it is, the "accrued reserves" will remain without any changes to your (former) employer's pension commitment.
   
   This is called “paid-up status”: no further deposits will be made, but you will receive the saved amount plus interest when you retire.
   If you choose this option, you do not need to take any further action.
   TIP: Do check if your group insurance still provides death cover.
   You can do this by taking a look at the last benefit statement (your group insurance overview) that you received when you left the company.
   
   If your group insurance no longer offers any death cover, there will be no payment if you die before your retirement. To avoid this, you will still get an additional option to obtain death cover. You must inform Vivium of your choice within 30 days.
    
2. You assign the saved amount ("accrued reserves")
   
   The saved amount (the "accrued reserves") will then leave your former employer's group insurance. From then on, there will be no further entitlement with respect to your former employer. Vivium does not charge any fees for such an assignment. You have the following three options:

2.1 You assign the saved amount to the Vivium reception structure.
There it will be assigned to a new Vivium contract in your name, where it will continue to accrue a fixed interest until the maturity date of your original group insurance, according to the conditions of the reception structure.

If you die before that maturity date, we will pay out the current value of the contract to the appropriate beneficiary as defined in the group insurance before you left the organisation.

The general terms and conditions of the reception structure are available here.

2.2 You assign the saved amount to the group insurance of your new employer.
This ensures that all your accrued reserves are managed by the same insurer from an administrative perspective. You can ask your new employer how the pension institution responsible for managing your new group insurance will use your reserves. It is important to know the interest rate for the accrual of the reserves in the new group insurance. The interest rates used may be different.

2.3 You assign the saved amount to a pension institution who distributes the total profit amongst its affiliates and limits the costs.
If your new employer does not offer group insurance or if you want to centralise the (different) amounts you saved with your previous employers, you can also assign your money to a pension institution who distributes the total profit amongst its affiliates and limits the costs (also known as 'common insurance institution').

Such a pension institution will include your established reserves in a new contract in your name.

You can obtain information on the terms and conditions and from the pension institutions in question listed on the FSMA website.  

If you want to use one of these three options, you must inform Vivium within 30 days.

No, you cannot continue saving yourself within the group insurance tax system after you have left the company. The premium payment will stop automatically.

It is also impossible to assign the money from the group insurance to an individual pension contract, as the taxation is different.

If you would like to continue to build up your pension after you leave the organisation, you can do so individually under a pension savings or long-term savings contract. Contact your broker if you wish to do this.

In some group insurance policies, your family status will have an impact on the insured cover. For example, the insured capital in the event of death may be different for married couples than for singles. Whether this is the case for your group insurance will be mentioned in the pension rules. You can request the pension rules from your employer or read them on www.mypension.be.

If there is a change in your family status, you must inform your employer.

Your employer will then inform Vivium and Vivium will adjust your group insurance as mentioned in the pension rules.

Marriage
If you marry, your spouse will automatically become the beneficiary in the event of your death according to the standard beneficiary rules.

Divorce
Note: If you have ever adjusted the beneficiary by explicitly mentioning the name of your partner at the time, you must contact Vivium in case of a divorce in order to have this changed. For example, if the beneficiary in the event of your death is "my spouse John Mullock" rather than the more generic "my husband", the name of your ex-husband will have to be deleted or replaced by something else in the event of a divorce. If not, your ex-partner will remain your beneficiary. If you want to make such a change, you can do so with this form.

Your employer will inform Vivium of the change in your number of working hours.

If you switch to a part-time employment contract, your group insurance will be reduced accordingly. For more information, read the pension rules on www.mypension.be or request the pension rules from your employer.