Your Ashby benefits
Pension, life cover, income protection, private medical and dental — all set up for you. Kota is your home for all five, with Smart Pension for pension detail and the Bupa app for medical and dental claims.
What to expect on the day
Kota will email your Ashby work address with everything you need to access your benefits.
Your Ashby benefits are ready
Hi [Employee name],
Your Ashby benefits are ready from day one. You’re automatically enrolled, so your pension, life insurance, income protection, private medical and dental cover are already in place. You don’t need to do anything to switch them on.
There are a couple of things only you can do, though. Activate your Kota account to take care of them:
- Add your partner or children to medical and dental. They are not added automatically. You have 30 days from your start date to add them (or 30 days after a life event, such as marriage or a new baby).
- Change your pension contribution if you want to pay in more than the standard rate. If you don’t make a change, you’ll stay on the default contribution.
Medical and dental claims are made through the Bupa app. You’ll find the details you need in Kota.
Your four simple steps
- 1Open the welcome email from Kota sent to your Ashby work address.
- 2Follow the link to activate your account and set your password.
- 3Add any dependants to medical and dental within 30 days, and change your pension contribution if you want to.
- 4Use the Bupa app whenever you need to make a medical or dental claim.
You are covered from your first day at Ashby, even if you activate your Kota account later.
Dependants and pension contribution changes are not set up automatically. You'll need to do these yourself in Kota.
What arrives and when
Five senders, one simple order. Here's what each email is and what to do.
- On your first dayFrom Kota“Your Ashby benefits are ready”Activate your account and set a password
- Shortly after you joinFrom Smart PensionInvitation to set up your Smart Pension online accountActivate it to view your pot, pick funds and nominate pension beneficiaries
- Shortly after you joinFrom BupaMembership details and access to the Bupa appDownload the Bupa app and register with your membership number
- Life & income protectionFrom UnumNo invitation — cover is automatic through Ashby's company policyOptional: complete a beneficiary nomination for life cover
You're covered from your first day, even if you haven't opened any of these emails yet.
You have 30 days from your start date to add dependants to medical and dental.
These emails arrive automatically once you've been added to Ashby's payroll — you don't need to request anything.
Kota is your home
Kota is your home for all five benefits. You'll use Smart Pension for detailed pension management and the Bupa app for medical and dental claims.
- See all five benefits in one place
- Change your pension contribution (salary sacrifice) — syncs to Smart Pension and Ashby payroll
- Add or remove a partner or children on medical & dental (within 30 days of joining or after a life event)
- View life and income protection cover
- Download policy guides
- Chat with the Kota team
- View your pot and its growth
- Choose or switch investment funds
- Nominate pension beneficiaries
- Download pension statements
- Opt out (within the opt-out window)
- Make medical and dental claims
- Find a consultant or dentist
- Track claims
- View your membership card and full policy details
Cover is automatic. For a claim, or if you're off sick long-term, speak to Ashby's People team first and they'll contact Unum.
What you get
Five benefits, all paid for by Ashby. Kota is your home for all of them.
Money set aside for your future, topped up by Ashby every payday. You're enrolled automatically.
- Contributions taken straight from your pay
- Ashby contributes on top of what you put in
- Change your contribution rate whenever you like
- Track your pot in Kota or the Smart Pension portal
- Provider
- Smart Pension
- Who pays
- You + Ashby
- Type
- Workplace pension
- Yours to keep
- Yes — moves with you
A tax-free lump sum paid to the people who depend on you, if you die while working at Ashby.
- Cover worth 4× your basic annual salary, paid as a tax-free lump sum
- Maximum benefit of £3,000,000 per person
- Cover updates automatically as your salary changes
- Cover ends at age 70
- Continues during long-term sick leave until cover cease age, and for up to 3 years for other authorised absence
- Insurer
- Unum Limited
- Cover
- 4× basic salary
- Max benefit
- £3,000,000
- Ages
- 16–70
- Who pays
- Ashby (fully)
- Tax
- Tax-free lump sum
A monthly income if you can't work because of illness or injury, assessed against your own role.
- Pays 66.67% of your basic annual salary as a monthly income
- Payments start after 13 continuous weeks off work (the deferred period)
- Assessed against your own occupation — not 'any job'
- Pays until you return to work or reach age 70, whichever comes first
- Benefit amount is fixed and doesn't increase while in payment
- Insurer
- Unum Limited
- Cover
- 66.67% of salary
- Deferred period
- 13 weeks
- Pays until
- Return or age 70
- Ages
- 16–70
- Who pays
- Ashby (fully)
Fast access to private consultations, diagnostics and treatment — pre-existing conditions are covered, with no medical questions to answer.
- Medical History Disregarded underwriting — pre-existing conditions covered
- £0 excess — nothing to pay before cover starts
- Out-patient consultations, therapies and diagnostic tests paid in full, no annual limit
- Mental health treatment and out-patient complementary medicine (physio, osteopathy, chiropractic) included
- NHS cash benefit if you choose NHS treatment instead of going private
- Guided Care hospital access — Bupa directs you to a hospital from their network
- Optical, Accidental Dental Injury and Prescription Cash Benefit included
- Claims are made through the Bupa app
- Insurer
- Bupa Insurance Ltd
- Scheme
- Bupa Select Complete
- Underwriting
- Medical History Disregarded
- Excess
- £0
- Hospital access
- Guided Care
- Dependants
- Partner & children
Money back on check-ups, hygienist visits and treatment — at any dentist you choose. Everyone is on the same single level of cover (Choice 3).
- Single level of cover (Choice 3) — nothing to choose
- New patient exam fully covered at a Bupa Dental Care practice, or up to £70 towards it at any other dentist
- Routine examinations up to £50 per visit, unlimited visits per policy year
- Scale & polish up to £55 per visit, unlimited visits per policy year
- Small x-rays (bitewing/intra-oral) up to £10 each
- Restorative treatment up to an annual allowance per person
- Emergency dental up to £1,000/year (4 emergencies at £250 each)
- Dental injury treatment up to £5,000 per policy year
- Oral cancer diagnosis & treatment covered with a fee-assured consultant at a Bupa facility
- Claims are made through the Bupa app
- Insurer
- Bupa Insurance Ltd
- Scheme
- Dental Choice — Choice 3
- New patient exam
- Fully covered at Bupa
- Emergency
- Up to £1,000/year
- Dental injury
- Up to £5,000/year
- Dependants
- Partner & children
Still not sure? Ask Kota.
No question is too small. The Kota team know your benefits inside out and are happy to help — reach them however suits you.
Good to know: Cover levels shown are as quoted and are subject to final acceptance by the insurers. Full terms, limits and exclusions are in each policy guide, available in the Kota app. This page is a summary, not the policy.