old salary pension

jamesd

No mortgage makes it relatively easy to go bankrupt. An alternative that has somewhat lower longer term consequences is a debt relief order, which is available to those who don't own their own home, owe up to £15,000, have less than £300 in assets (savings, property etc.) and a car worth no more than £1,000. It's also cheaper than bankruptcy.

Perhaps the main thing to know is that you do have methods to deal with the debts that don't involve losing your pension or much of its value.

thecrem

Okay so now i am unemployed, uhhhh.....
And am being pushed to draw out lump sum from my pension here.....company says they cant give me lump sum until in 4 years time.....i cant wait this long.....i am seeking employment and am certain will get something in weeks time if not will work on jobs with less money.....my standards are high for job and salary.......

jamesd

I suggest that you tell whoever is pushing you to take the pension money to stop giving you daft ideas.

In general a creditor cannot force you to pay more than you can afford and going to court to get a CCJ will at worst get an order that compels them to accept whatever that is, assuming you just tell the court your circumstances.

You can't be compelled to take the pension, not even by the Official Receiver in bankruptcy when you're below the normal retirement age of the pension scheme, as it seems you are.

Your obligation at the moment is to work out what you can afford to pay on your current income and divide that amount between the firms you owe money to, in proportion to the amount you owe each of them. If that's a token £1, that's what they get to accept.

Good luck with the job hunt!

atush

And get over to the Debt forum- they are the ones who can help you.

You cannot touch your pension, and dont let anyone tell you that you can.

thecrem

Hi, okay so i have to drawdown some cash from my pension funds now. as need to....have applied with company called agepartnership, who has offered to take the transfer of pension from old company and they invest it into e..g bank a/c where i can see it like online banking..after receiving portion of it as cash lump sum.......I know they are fees and charges..but am desperate..........I cant wait till april next year.....as no one will give me credit.......only concern is this company Age Partnership......are they reputable and okay or NOT....

thecrem

hi, or can anyone recommend another company , reliable and FCA registered etc......this company Age Partnership said funds will be in Scotish Widows ..bank etc............

lvader

Go for bankruptcy, go on benefits, leave your pension exactly where it is and retire at the normal retirement age. Drawing from your pension now to pay off debt would be monumentally stupid.

atush

If they are under 55, this sounds like pension liberation so a scam/

the OP will go from being in debt, to losing his pension and STILL being in debt as HRMC will want 55% of the money back on top of the other debt.

Sounds like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, and I am not sure why they are asking. After all, the OP did not take a single bit of advice given before?

xylophone

The OP is aged 56- as far as I understand it, he has a deferred Final Salary pension - given his age it is likely to have a GMP.

He appears to have asked the Trustees of his former employer's scheme whether it would be possible to take an actuarially reduced pension now and they seem to have refused?

He appears to be dealing with this company http://www.agepartnership.co.uk/about-us/ which says that it is FCA regulated.

It appears that he is now seeking a transfer out of the FS/DB Scheme because of a pressing need for cash.

If Age Partnership is regulated I am assuming that they will be requiring the OP to obtain the advice of an IFA - I have drawn the OP's attention to https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/65873118#Comment_65873118

atush

Sorry, thought he was 54.

Anyway, he asked for advice and we gave it. But they went on anyway and didn't even look for help on the Debt free board.

hopefully they will need an IFA. Who will no doubt say what we did and charge him for it.