Life insurance provides financial protection for you and your family. It’s available for employees, Adobe-paid temporary employees and interns ages 16 to 64 and is provided by Adobe in partnership with Generali at no cost to you.
Enrolment
Life insurance provides financial protection for you and your family. It’s available for employees ages 16 to 64, and is provided by Adobe at no cost to you.
Review the Group Life Insurance [PDF] overview for more information.
Considerations
- The annual pension counts toward the £1.5 million maximum. Employees with significant salaries may want to talk to a financial planner for advice on setting up their benefits in a tax-efficient way.
- Don’t forget! You must name your beneficiaries and keep them up to date. You can do this via My Adobe Benefits.
Cover
Life insurance is provided by Generali. Cover is 4 times your base annual salary at the time of death, up to a maximum of £1.5 million and will be paid out to your beneficiaries as nominated or in line with the rules, terms, and conditions of the policy.
Nominate a beneficiary
- Go to My Adobe Benefits and nominate your beneficiary(ies). You can also change them at any time while you are employed by Adobe.
- Select Benefits Selection > Nominate Beneficiaries for Life Insurance > Edit.
- Complete Dependants and Beneficiaries section.
- Download and complete the Beneficiary Nomination Form, sign it, scan or take a photo of it, and upload it.
- Select Add to cart > Checkout > Confirm selection.
A confirmation message should pop up if you’ve successfully submitted your selections.
Death In Service pension
If you die in service, Adobe offers an additional benefit for your named beneficiaries. This benefit scheme closed on 1 April 2021 and only applies to employees hired prior to that date.
Eligibility: Employees hired on or prior to 31 March 2021 are eligible for the Death In Service pension cover.
Dependant eligibility: You must declare your beneficiary(ies) on My Adobe Benefits in order for them to be eligible to receive a benefit in the event of your death.
Benefit: 20% of your annual salary paid yearly to your named beneficiaries over the age of 18 for the rest of their life. If the beneficiary is age 17 or younger, the benefit will end at age 18, or age 23 if the beneficiary is a full-time enrolled student.
Life insurance FAQs
Does this benefit count towards my lifetime allowance?
Yes. The plan is a registered life assurance scheme and must comply with benefit restrictions as imposed by HMRC. Benefits that exceed HMRC’s lifetime allowance (£1,055,000 in 2019/20 and expected to be inflation linked in future) will usually be subject to a taxation charge at the point of payment.
The lifetime allowance tax charge is 55% on lump sum payments, 25% on benefits taken as an income but is only due on the excess above the lifetime allowance.
Example: An employee passes away with a pension fund of £800,000 and a life assurance lump sum of £600,000. The total of £1,400,000 is due as a lump sum payment to their spouse or partner. A 55% lifetime allowance tax charge is applied to £345,000 (£1,400,000 minus £1,055,000) which, at 55%, amounts to a tax charge of £189,750.
This tax charge would be deducted directly from the payment, i.e., the spouse or partner would not need to settle any tax bill directly, they would simply receive a total net payment of £1,210,250. Any members who have a lump sum plus pension benefits that are likely to be in excess of the lifetime allowance should be aware of the potential charges due and factor this into any estate planning decisions. You may wish to seek external financial advice.
Is this a taxable benefit?
HMRC does not currently classify life insurance as a benefit in kind, and therefore it is not taxable.
Does my insurance cover include the Death In Service pension?
The Death In Service pension is a closed scheme that applies only to employees who joined Adobe prior to 31 March 2021. If you joined Adobe on 1 April 2021 or after, you are not eligible for this cover.
What happens if I leave Adobe?
Your membership in the plan will cease on the day you leave Adobe.