Accessing small value DWP frozen pension

Fuzzy16

I joined DWP in 2000, the job was privatised a few years later and my classic pension transferred over with my new employers,in fact this happened a few times. Last year after yet again another transfer of employer my pension was taken over by MyCSP. So I work for the private sector.

Rewind to 1988 when I began a part time job (20 hours a week) with the DWP, 4 years later the job was put out to contractors and the pension I was contributing to was frozen.

I requested a statement last year and have a yearly income of £342, and lump sum of £1000 to be paid on my 60th birthday, which is this November. I believe the whole pot to be worth £6000, hence I would rather claim the WHOLE pot.
According to MyCSP after a phone call I can't, unless I drop my hours!
Abatement was mentioned, which I knew nothing about, after looking at their guidance that shouldn't affect me as I work for the private sector, confused, yes.

I have no intention of dropping my hours, can't afford to just yet, so, does anybody know how I can go about emptying this small pot?
Thanks in advance

Dazed_and_confused

Do you actually have a pension "pot" or is this a defined benefit (DB) pension?

There is not pot with DB schemes.

Fuzzy16

I am finding the whole pension thing very confusing, I can tell you it was a classic pension, and it mentions deferred benefits on the statement.

Dazed_and_confused

Classic is a civil service pension.

Sorry to disappoint you but you haven't got a "pot".

You have a guaranteed pension payable for life. Which will be inflation protected in some way.

You may be able accept a reduced pension in return for an increased lump sum however the usual response to this on this board is that this option isn't great value for money. Each £1 of pension you give up will entitle you to £12 extra lump sum.

Remember it is £1 per year for the rest of your life you are giving away in return for a one off £12.

There are probably limits to how much of the pension you can convert into extra lump sum

hyubh

wildz wrote: »

I joined DWP in 2000, the job was privatised a few years later and my classic pension transferred over with my new employers, in fact this happened a few times.

Do you mean, you transferred out of the PCSPS? Or rather, you stayed a member under 'Fair Deal'?

Last year after yet again another transfer of employer my pension was taken over by MyCSP.

Not sure how those two things can be connected - MyCSP are the administrators of the Civil Service Pension Scheme. It doesn't matter who you are employed by, your Civil Service pension will be administered by them (or whoever else the Cabinet Office decide to outsource to in the future).

Rewind to 1988 when I began a part time job (20 hours a week) with the DWP, 4 years later the job was put out to contractors and the pension I was contributing to was frozen.

To be clear, are you saying you have two Civil Service pensions, one from 1988-1992, and a second from 2000...?

I believe the whole pot to be worth £6000, hence I would rather claim the WHOLE pot.
According to MyCSP after a phone call I can't, unless I drop my hours!
Abatement was mentioned, which I knew nothing about, after looking at their guidance that shouldn't affect me as I work for the private sector

Do you however work for a 'Fair Deal' employer, and are actually eligible for active membership of the Civil Service scheme? Conversely, maybe the MyCSP administrator has got confused, and has assumed that is the case...? However, if they have, what has happened to the Classic pension earned from 2000...?

hyubh

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

Classic is a civil service pension.

Sorry to disappoint you but you haven't got a "pot".

You have a guaranteed pension payable for life. Which will be inflation protected in some way.

I took the OP as looking to take a trivial commutation of their 88-92 Classic benefits, however I agree, it's unclear if that is actually an option given the later service.

Fuzzy16

Yes I have 2 pensions, one that was frozen in April 1992, and began a classic in 2000, I transferred under TUPE with various companies, last year MyCSP began administering my pension. I don't know what fair deal employer is.

xylophone

You have a deferred defined benefits Civil Service Classic pension relating to service from 1988-1992.

You have been told that the pension is valued at £6000?

You have a current Civil Service Classic Pension to which you are still contributing?

The Normal Retirement age in both schemes is age 60 but you do not wish to retire or "partially retire"?

You have read

https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/95435/pr1_v10_dec15.pdf

and

https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/classic-scheme-guide/#

Fuzzy16

Yes
Yes also

No I do not want to retire yet or partially, can't afford to unfortunately,not mortgage free yet.

xylophone

You decided not to aggregate in 2006?

Even though this is the case, you cannot take the deferred pension under the special rule for occupational schemes detailed here?

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/content/publications-files/uploads/Taking_small_pensions_Detailed_SPOT008_V1.5.pdf

You could choose to aggregate if you took partial retirement but cannot afford to do so because your pension and lower salary for reduced hours would not be enough to meet your expenses?

Have you obtained a new state pension statement for future planning?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

hyubh

xylophone wrote: »

You decided not to aggregate in 2006?

Is unaggregated periods of Classic membership (except for flexible retirement situations) even a thing...? May be wrong, but I thought the LGPS was relatively special on that score, even for public sector.