PCLS from AJBell Youinvest

ffacoffipawb

I am 55 next month, hurrah, and I can now access my PCLS.

I am doing this because I am over LTA already (allowing for DB from 60 and also my works DC pension which will be the last one taken to absorb LTA charges, I am just under LTA ignoring this) so any LTA charge would get worse as LTA only increases with CPI and I would hope to do better than that.

Anyway, has anyone here claimed their PCLS from Youinvest? How easy was it and how long does it take?

Thank you.

PS: Youinvest's forms are not available for download before age 55 which is annoying as I would have liked to see what I need to do in advance.

xylophone

Have you seen

https://www.youinvest.co.uk/sites/default/files/useful-forms/AJBYI_SIPP_Guide_to_accessing_your_pension.pdf

To start accessing your pension, just log into your account online, and select ‘Access my pension’ from the ‘My account’ menu.
If applicable, we’ll ask you to give us details of your available lifetime allowance, and any protection you may have for your pension.
Before we can pay any money to you, you may need to provide us with evidence of your age. We’ll let you know if this is the case.

Linton

Mrs Ls request for the PCLS was acknowledged on the 17th September 2013 and the money was payed into her bank account on the 20th September 2013. I have no reason to believe A J Bell are any less efficient than they were 5 years ago.

cjking

I am going through this at the moment. I posted off the application 1.5 weeks ago, they started looking at it last Monday, and on Tuesday I got a email/letter saying they would get back to me once they had valued my pension.

I'm a bit puzzled by this, as it apparently implies that valuing is more complicated than simply looking at the balance at a selected moment. I now have the idea that they monitor the value over a period of days/weeks, computing some sort of average value, which they possibly get clearance from HMRC to use as an official value. I don't know if I think this because of something I've read in the past, or if my brain has completely made it up to explain why valuing my pension takes longer than it does for me to login to my account and look at the balance.

I've ignored their warning (in what looks like form letters) that things may take longer if I haven't converted a quarter of my pension to cash. I don't want to sell shares until I know how much I have to raise, and since I plan to reinvest most of the money outside my pension, I don't want to be out of the market for an unknown period of time.

Linton

cjking wrote: »

I am going through this at the moment. I posted off the application 1.5 weeks ago, they started looking at it last Monday, and on Tuesday I got a email/letter saying they would get back to me once they had valued my pension.

Mrs L's letter said the same thing, it was still paid 3 days later.

.....

I've ignored their warning (in what looks like form letters) that things may take longer if I haven't converted a quarter of my pension to cash. I don't want to sell shares until I know how much I have to raise, and since I plan to reinvest most of the money outside my pension, I don't want to be out of the market for an unknown period of time.

That will delay things. You should have had the cash available immediately. If you are selling shares it will take at least 2 days for the cash to reach the SIPP. Selling funds can take at least a week. They cant pay you until the cash has been received.

cjking

I will be selling an ETF, I can cope with 2 days. If I'd sold in advance, I would have been out of the market for a week and a half already.

ffacoffipawb

Thanks all.

My SIPP has been 35% cash for a few weeks, plenty for the 25% PCLS.

The access my pension option is not available until you attain 55 so I cannot see what forms they need completing at this stage.