GAR Pension - do I have one (Guaranteed Annuity)

usignuolo

For a while in the late 1980s I was self employed and I took out a personal pension plan which started in March 1988. I believe this may fall into the category of a GAR ie guaranteed annuity - which the pension provider does not need to advise you of.

My personal pension was with Abbey Life which has long since bitten the dust and is now looked after as an orphan fund by some group or other. They do not provide any advice to policy holders. The pension will be due in September 2012 and I am trying to decide what to do with it.

I have the original paperwork and have been looking to see if I have a GAR with it, but I find the wording pretty unintelligible, what words should I be looking for to indicate if I have one of these policies?

Aegis

usignuolo wrote: »

For a while in the late 1980s I was self employed and I took out a personal pension plan which started in March 1988. I believe this may fall into the category of a GAR ie guaranteed annuity - which the pension provider does not need to advise you of.

My personal pension was with Abbey Life which has long since bitten the dust and is now looked after as an orphan fund by some group or other. They do not provide any advice to policy holders. The pension will be due in September 2012 and I am trying to decide what to do with it.

I have the original paperwork and have been looking to see if I have a GAR with it, but I find the wording pretty unintelligible, what words should I be looking for to indicate if I have one of these policies?

Easiest bet might be to just call them up and ask them about any guarantees which apply to your policy. They may not provide advice, but they are required to give you information about your policy.

Otherwise the key word is "guaranteed", but there are a number of possible guarantees applying to old pension schemes.

dunstonh

I believe this may fall into the category of a GAR ie guaranteed annuity - which the pension provider does not need to advise you of.

They do tell you. it is on your policy document and they will remind you if you ask them if you have it and some will remind you if you have them when they issue their figures.

The eaisist thing to do is ask them "do i have guaranteed annuity rates and if so, what are they?"

bilbo51

dunstonh wrote: »

The eaisist thing to do is ask them "do i have guaranteed annuity rates and if so, what are they?"

Agreed. And being a belts and braces sort of a chap I would write to them so to have their reply in writing.