deferred pension question

clogger

I have a deferred pension, final salary, (large overseas based company, uk and European arm not doing too well) worked there 35 years, I am 53 now and left with vol redundancy in 2011. Been working part time and job seeking since leaving, living on redundancy money and savings and part time earnings could continue doing so for a good while. Wife also works part time. To be totally realistic I am never going to be a high wage earner again having swopped that manual craftsman life for more choice and flexibility. (kids grown up, mortg free)
What sort of pension protection does a deferred pension have if the worst case senario happened ie company pulled out of the uk or worse? I don't think the protection is the same as for a pension that is being paid already or have I got that wrong, is it true that in such circumstances a deferred pension could not then be taken early as is the case at the moment?
Its something I try to put out of my mind because I know the sensible thing to do is to leave it as long as possible, but I have the feeling that it might be preferable to take a small pension now (pre qualified to take before 55) on the grounds that small is better than ending up with a pension thats locked in till I am 65, I had a quote from the scheme and the v small pension plus a decent part time job would be fine to live on, or the option to take even smaller small pension but with quite a substantial lump sum.

xylophone

What sort of pension protection does a deferred pension have if the worst case senario happened ie company pulled out of the uk or worse?

http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/DocumentLibrary/Documents/What_is_the_ppf.pdf might be worth a look.

mania112

If the company left the UK, that should (normally) make no difference.

The pension is a separate entity, will remain and the international 'arm' of the company will remain liable to top up the pension pot as necessary.

If the company went completely down the pension again is a separate consideration. It may have enough money within to pay its members, if not (and the company can't top it up) there is a protection fund (link shown above) which promises 90% of your pension will still be paid.