previously contracted out of serps

kevrev55

I am 57, I have a CIS Personal Pension Policy with a value of £11,972
I have not contributed to this policy since 1991 and have since then built up a decent pension through the Local Government scheme. Up until 2012 I was not allowed to cash the CIS pension in. I have now received notification from CIS that my policy is now to be treated as all other personal pensions since SERPS no longer applies from 6th April 2012 - does this mean I can now cash in this policy?

dunstonh

does this mean I can now cash in this policy?

No. You cannot cash a pension in.

xylophone

I should think that this refers to the abolition of protected rights?

There was an FT article about this by Josephine Cumbo on 3 February 2012 but giving the link does not work unfortunately- if you type Savers gain better access to protected rights into Google, you should be able to pick it up?

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:BDnlNsglM_4J:www.co-operativeinvestments.co.uk/cfscombi/pdf/PP_Product_Guide_MKT2613.pdf+end+of+protected+rights+CIS+policy&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShTTLIeJk7HYl8Ma4_9Vt7CtrZy-40-yQx1JA18YRdJwtr-SN6j4HY8FQpBiRS2pZ98Dp2-01kcAZwZsX_lUWoWXAyhlCBgQZf9sEQqnNGMgEiWLFAMggMVHH6tksdxF7Gagxnp&sig=AHIEtbTIvmXlHKjZYEAKbVkwMVgILysXZQ

Will your LGPS pension and/
or your state pension give you over £20000 secured income at retirement? Might "flexible drawdown" be a possibility? http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/annuities-and-income-drawdown/flexible-drawdown

There is an example here http://www.thepensionadviser.co.uk/articles/36/flexible-drawdown/

Some information here http://www.pension-drawdown.co.uk/index.php/pension-drawdown/flexible-drawdown

You cannot just "cash in" the policy - you need to have regard to the rules regarding accessing your pension benefits.

jamesd

kevrev55 wrote: »

I have now received notification from CIS that my policy is now to be treated as all other personal pensions since SERPS no longer applies from 6th April 2012 - does this mean I can now cash in this policy?

Not all of it but it is now just like any other personal pension and from age 55 you can take up to 25% as a tax free lump sum. the remaining 75% can be left invested, used to produce an income with income drawdown (stay invested, take income from investments) or annuity purchase (usually a poor choice at such a young age).

SERPS was abolished years ago, replaced by S2P. Contracting out into personal pensions was abolished from April 2012. Protected rights (for the government, not you) ceased to exist and the money became just like any other personal pension pot at the same time.

There are some good and bad reasons for taking income or lump sum from this money. Good ones can be things like wanting to use the income to make more pension contributions, investing the lump sum within a S&S ISA. Bad ones tend to be things like using the lump sum to reduce a mortgage balance.