A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Royal London Pension Scheme

Managing a workplace pension scheme with Royal London requires accurate, timely data at every stage of the employment lifecycle. Royal London provides CSV templates for each key process—adding new workers, updating records, recording leavers, assessments, and contributions.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through each file type, when to use it, and the fields you’ll need to include. You can also check the official Royal London import guide here: Royal London Import Data User Guide (PDF).

1. New Worker Data

Use this file whenever you hire a new employee who needs to be enrolled in the pension scheme.

Main fields include:

👉 This file ensures every new joiner is properly set up in the pension scheme from their start date.

📂 Here’s the template: New Worker Data Template

2. Updating Worker Data

Use this file every 2–3 months (or whenever details change) to keep records accurate.

Main fields include:

👉 Keeping this up to date ensures that Royal London holds correct worker data.

📂 Here’s the template: Updating Worker Data Template

3. Leaver Data

Submit this file whenever a worker leaves employment or stops contributing.

Main fields include:

👉 This ensures Royal London stops collecting contributions for the leaver.

📂 Here’s the template: Leaver Data Template

4. Assessment Data

If Royal London performs worker assessments, you’ll need this file. It determines if a worker is eligible for auto-enrolment.

Main fields include:

👉 Useful for workers who may become eligible in the future (e.g. turning 22 or increasing earnings).

📂 Here’s the template: Assessment Data Template

5. Contribution Data

At the end of each pay period, submit worker and employer contributions.

Main fields include:

👉 This file is critical to ensure contributions are collected and invested on time.

📂 Here’s the template: Contribution Data Template

How to Manage It Manually

If you’re managing your Royal London pension scheme without Givver, here’s what the process looks like.

1. Importing Files

• Export payroll data as a CSV file from your HR or payroll system.

• Go to the Royal London portal and select Import file.

• Choose your CSV and then select the relevant template. If none exists, you’ll need to create one.

• You can import multiple files at once; the system validates each in parallel. Royal London Import Data User Guide (PDF).

2. Creating Templates

• A template maps the headings in your CSV file to Royal London’s required fields.

• If your file doesn’t match an existing template, tick Create new template from the file you’re importing.

• Use dropdown menus to align your file’s headings with Royal London’s mandatory fields (such as payroll reference, date of birth, NI number).

• Save your template with a clear name. Any file with the same structure can be imported automatically in the future. Royal London Import Data User Guide (PDF).

3. Handling Errors

Royal London provides two types of error handling:

• On-screen errors → if the file can’t be imported (e.g. duplicate headings, wrong format).

• Error file → if the file imports but contains invalid data, Royal London generates a downloadable file highlighting the errors row by row. Royal London Import Data User Guide (PDF).

Common problems include:

• Duplicate or mismatched headings.

• Dates not in DD/MM/YYYY format.

• Leading zeros dropped from payroll references (Excel issue).

• Invalid NI numbers, postcodes or email addresses.

• Blank rows left in the CSV.

👉 Correct the file and re-import until you get the ✔️ green tick confirming success.

Manual Submission vs. Givver

If you manage your Royal London pension scheme yourself, you’ll need to prepare each of these CSVs, check formatting carefully, and upload them into the Royal London portal. Errors are common and often require manual fixes before files can be accepted.

With Givver, you don’t need to worry about submissions. Our technology takes care of preparing and submitting all pension files to Royal London. That means:

• New workers are automatically added.

• Updates are kept accurate.

• Leavers are notified on time.

• Assessments are maintained.

• Contributions are submitted every pay period.

You save time, avoid errors, and stay fully compliant.

Final Note

To make this easier, we’ll also provide Google Drive links to the actual templates:

• New Worker Data Template

• Updating Worker Data Template

• Leaver Data Template

• Assessment Data Template

• Contribution Data Template

These files reflect exactly what Royal London expects, so you can see the format in practice.