West Midlands Pension fund

c.margerison

Hi
I have just started to take my WMP (im 60 year old male and still working full time) I had a few options to choose from ie different tax free lump sum amounts. so I choose and have been getting a a monthly payment. I was under the impression that these were the only options with this Deferred benefits pension is this right ...could I have transferred it to a flexible scheme?


its a small pension pot I got £8000 tax free lump sum and £98 (before tax) per mth.


many thanks

Silvertabby

West Midlands is LGPS, so transfers to other pension schemes are possible (subject to certain rules regarding length of service and age).

However, most LGPS's don't automatically offer the CETV (transfer value) along with normal retirement options - if you had wanted to look at a transfer, the onus was 100% on you to ask for one.

That ship has now sailed, though, as LGPS benefits can't be transferred to another scheme once payment has commenced. If it's any consolation, the transfer value would have been quite poor as the LGPS use transfer factors set by GAD rather than the generous private scheme factors you may have seen mentioned on these boards.

c.margerison

thank you for replying. I did call them before taking this pension to ask for my options and like you have said transfer option was not mentioned! so I take it nothing can be done about it now?


any idea what the value would have been or how to work it out?

Silvertabby

c.margerison wrote: »

thank you for replying. I did call them before taking this pension to ask for my options and like you have said transfer option was not mentioned! so I take it nothing can be done about it now?


any idea what the value would have been or how to work it out?

No, once a pension has been brought into payment there is no going back unless you can prove maladministration, which doesn't appear to be the case here.

I can't tell you what the transfer value would have been as it's a complicated calculation based on GAD factors, age, service, marital status, etc. However, as I said before, it won't have been as much as you may have thought - especially after the receiving scheme had trousered their 'share'.

As things stand, you have had £8K tax free and will receive your index linked pension for the rest of your life.

xylophone

Are you still contributing to a pension scheme?

You might increase your contributions using your pension income?