How to Complete and Submit the Fidelity SIPP Application Form

You can complete the Fidelity SIPP application form online through Fidelity International’s website or on paper by downloading the PDF from their document library and posting it to their Tadworth processing centre. Either route asks for the same core information: your personal details, National Insurance number, how you want to fund the account, your initial investment choices, and, if you are over 55, a record of any earlier flexible pension withdrawals. Have those ready before you start and the form itself takes one sitting.

Who Can Apply

Fidelity accepts SIPP applications from UK residents, Crown servants working abroad, and the spouse or civil partner of a Crown servant.¹ Crown servants and their spouses stay eligible for pension tax relief while overseas because their Crown employment earnings still count as relevant UK earnings under the Finance Act 2004.² Fidelity will not open a SIPP for a US person.

Two other versions of the form exist for situations the standard application does not cover. If your employer will fund the pension, use the Employer SIPP form. If a partner or family member will be the main contributor on your behalf, use the Third Party SIPP form.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather the following before opening the form:

Your National Insurance number.
Debit card details for a single lump-sum payment, or your bank or building society details if you want to set up a regular savings plan by Direct Debit. Pay by Bank is also available for lump sums.
If you are over 55, details of any earlier flexible withdrawals from a defined contribution pension. These trigger the money purchase annual allowance, which cuts your annual money purchase contribution limit to £10,000, and the form asks about them for that reason.³
If you hold fixed protection or individual protection from the old lifetime allowance regime, the details of that protection. Declaring it on the form prevents unexpected tax charges later.
If you are transferring an existing pension, your current provider’s name, your policy number, a recent statement, and an estimated transfer value.¹

Your full legal name, date of birth, and permanent address on the form need to match your government-issued ID exactly. A mismatch stalls the account opening at the verification stage.

Filling In the Form

Online

New customers go through Fidelity’s guided SIPP opening flow on the website. If you already hold a Fidelity ISA or general investment account, log in and add the SIPP from inside your existing dashboard rather than starting fresh. The online route walks you through personal details, how you want to contribute, and your initial investment selection in a single session, and finishes with a digital agreement.

On Paper

The PDF application pack is in Fidelity’s document library. The paper form covers the same ground as the online version: personal details, National Insurance number, contribution instructions, transfer details if any, and investment choices.

You pick your starting investments on the form itself. You can select specific funds, or you can hold the money as cash while you decide. Holding cash is useful if you are trying to get a contribution in before the end of a tax year and want to choose investments afterwards.

Personal contributions on the form are entered as the net figure. If you pay in £800, Fidelity claims £200 in basic-rate tax relief from HMRC and adds it to your pot, making the gross contribution £1,000. Higher-rate and additional-rate taxpayers claim the extra relief separately through self-assessment; the form does not handle that side.

Submitting the Form

Online applications submit through Fidelity’s secure portal at the end of the flow. Paper applications go by post to:

Fidelity
PO Box 391
Tadworth
KT20 9FU⁴

Identity Verification

Once your application arrives, Fidelity runs anti-money-laundering and identity checks. Online applicants normally verify by uploading or presenting a UK driving licence or passport of any nationality. If the automated check cannot confirm your identity, or if your ID is a non-UK national identity card or a Northern Ireland driving licence, you verify by post.⁵

Postal verification needs three things: a completed confirmation of identity form, a certified photocopy of your ID document, and a document proving your address. Acceptable address documents are a bank statement less than three months old, a council tax bill for the current year, a recent utility bill (mobile phone bills are not accepted), a mortgage statement from the past twelve months, or an HMRC tax notice for the current tax year.⁵ Armed forces members can substitute a letter from a commanding officer on headed paper, issued in the last three months, confirming their residential address.

Adding a Pension Transfer

If you want to move an existing pension into your new SIPP, include the transfer details on the application. Timelines depend on the method and on your current provider. A cash transfer, where the outgoing provider sells your investments and sends the proceeds for Fidelity to reinvest, averages around 10 days when the other provider supports electronic transfers, and up to 45 days when they still use paper. A re-registration transfer, where your existing investments move across without being sold, averages around 12 weeks.⁶

The pace is largely set by the relinquishing provider. If yours charges exit fees or needs specific discharge paperwork, sorting that out before you submit the Fidelity form avoids back-and-forth once the request is in flight.

After the Account Opens: Naming Beneficiaries

Once the SIPP is open, file an Expression of Wish online. This tells Fidelity’s trustees who you would like to receive your pension savings if you die. You can name up to 20 beneficiaries (individuals, charities, or trusts) with a percentage share for each, and up to 10 nominees such as a spouse, dependent family members, or friends.⁷

The Expression of Wish is guidance rather than a binding instruction. Fidelity’s trustees keep the final say over distribution, which is what keeps the pension outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes under current rules. Without one on file, the trustees have to rely on your executor to identify possible beneficiaries, which slows things down and takes your voice out of the outcome.⁷

1
Fidelity International. Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)
2
HM Revenue & Customs. PTM044100 – Contributions: Tax Relief for Members: Conditions
3
MoneyHelper. The Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) for Pension Savings
4
Fidelity. Fidelity SIPP Application Form
5
Fidelity International. Anti-Money Laundering
6
Fidelity International. Transfer Your Pension to Fidelity’s SIPP
7
Fidelity International. Expression of Wish