Can We Take a Lump Sum

sandraroffey

it was my only pension and amounted to something less than 8k total. had only been paying £50 a month for less than ten years. honestly cant remember but its peanuts and probably costs them a lot more than they are giving me each month, to adminster it. was so disappointed. and really,quite angry. especially as when i was requesting it under the triviality rules, transfering it somewhere else and THEN using triviality rules, was never mentioned!!!! could have used that to pay off a credit card. and a few other bits that would have made my life a big lot easier. but hey ho.

dunstonh

sandraroffey wrote: »

it was my only pension and amounted to something less than 8k total. had only been paying £50 a month for less than ten years. honestly cant remember but its peanuts and probably costs them a lot more than they are giving me each month, to adminster it. was so disappointed. and really,quite angry. especially as when i was requesting it under the triviality rules, transfering it somewhere else and THEN using triviality rules, was never mentioned!!!!

Was this using pre 2006 triviality rules or post 2006 triviality rules?

providers are only required to tell you what their options are. Not what other providers may do. They leave that for the adviser to tell you.

If its post 2006 and under 1% of the lifetime allowance then Pru have allowed it and there is no logical reason why they wouldnt.

sandraroffey

i was 60 in september 2007. and i do believe that rules changed at the beginning of that year. BUT, like i said i cant remember very much about it all, i think (and i will sort out the paperwork soon, i promise) that i started drawing it before i was 60

sandraroffey

just found a letter prudential sent to me on 24th march 2008. it says ' i am sorry that you are unhappy that we will not consider your request to commute your annuity for a lump sum payment. although HM revenue and customs have made a change in legislation that allows annuities to be commuted to a lump sum, they have confirmed that it is at the discretion of each annuity provider. we made the decision that we would not allow small annuities to be commuted and we feel that our decision is in line with most other annuity providers in the market. whilst i acknowledge that exchanging your annuity may provide some short term benefit, the purpose of an annuity is to pay an income for life. the government wants people in the uk to provide for themselves in retirement rather than rely on state pension. we therefore feel that our decision to continue to pay small annuities will, ultimately, help people in the uk provide for themselves in retirement'.

what a load of................. an income for life????? £32 a month????? who are they kidding.

trina2010

be careful with this one when listening to info here..

everyone is telling you to keep the amount under £18,000 forgetting the fact that the lifetime allowance is dropping and from April 2012 the amount will drop to £15,000 max for trivial commutation. So if hes planning to take it now £18,000 is currently the figure, but this time next year it will be lower.

dunstonh

i am sorry that you are unhappy that we will not consider your request to commute your annuity for a lump sum payment.

That reads as if they had already crystallised the pension. So, it was no longer a pension but an annuity.

Whilst the rules do allow for a annuity to be changed under triviality, hardly any do it and the only one that I have known do it was ironically Prudential but it was after your date.

everyone is telling you to keep the amount under £18,000 forgetting the fact that the lifetime allowance is dropping and from April 2012 the amount will drop to £15,000 max for trivial commutation. So if hes planning to take it now £18,000 is currently the figure, but this time next year it will be lower.

The triviality limit is not being reduced with the lifetime allowance. The 1% link is being dropped and replaced with a fixed amount of £18k.

tesuhoha

One last question. My husband's 65th birthday will be in March 2015. Does that mean that on 6th April 2015 he can claim the triviality payment as it will be the financial year after he has stopped work?

jem16

tesuhoha wrote: »

We have had a pension forecast and he will get the full state pension.

What will his full state pension amount to? Does he get any SERPS/S2P in addition to his basic?

He plans to work past 65 and the mortgage will be fully paid so we should be able to survive.

tesuhoha wrote: »

One last question. My husband's 65th birthday will be in March 2015. Does that mean that on 6th April 2015 he can claim the triviality payment as it will be the financial year after he has stopped work?

The 6th April is certainly the new tax year but I thought you said he plans to work past 65?

tesuhoha

He is saying that he will work past 65. I am just asking this in theory as his job is physical, a plumber and he may not be able to carry on when he reaches that age. I am just looking at all eventualities. Trying to decide whether it is worth saving or taking it now.

He only gets the basic state pension but it is the full one as he has always paid his NI contributions regularly. I can't remember exactly how much as we had an online forecast. I suppose I could log on and have a look at it but it means digging out the paperwork for the password etc.

jem16

tesuhoha wrote: »

He only gets the basic state pension but it is the full one as he has always paid his NI contributions regularly. I can't remember exactly how much as we had an online forecast. I suppose I could log on and have a look at it but it means digging out the paperwork for the password etc.

I was only really thinking how much extra he would get tax free as that is dependent on how much income he would have coming in from his state pension.

Is he a self employed plumber?