Help with Pension

ejnallstars

My father has been sent details of his pension entitlement from his old company pension.

It list amounts for 1. Protected rights and 2. non-protected rights

Can someone please explain if he is entitled to both of these payments or is it an
option he has to choose?

Any help would be appreciated.

John.

EdInvestor

He is entitled to both.

The protected rights part relates to the amount he will receive from his company pension in lieu of the the second state pension, from which he was contracted out( that is, his company guaranteed to pay it instead of the Govt).

There are two state pensions: the basic one which he will still get separately and the second one ( formerly known as SERPS) , which you can either get as an add-on to your state pension directly from the Govt, or as part of your company pension, as in your father's case, if you were contracted out.

The other "non protected rights" bit is his company pension.

ejnallstars

Thanks for your help.

Given that he is 62 do I take from that he can only claim the 'non-protected rights' part at the moment and the 'protected rights ' part when he turns 65?

Thanks again.

John.

EdInvestor

No, you can take a pension from both parts from the age of 50 ( 55 from 2010).This has recently changed: before, you had to be 60 to take your PR pension, but this (and other restrictions - eg you can now take 25% tax free cash from your PR pension) have now been removed.

ejnallstars

Thats good news.

Thanks for all your help.

John