Thomas Cook Pension merger and cash in

baggies1

Hi,

we have been contacted by Thomas cook about our old pension scheme and a planned merger. As part of this some are being offered their pot in cash back.

We know some who have done this but our pot is above the 18k threshold we understand (not by a great deal it might be said) and advised that therfore we dont qualify.

This is a frustration for myself and my wife. Essentially we are not the most healthy people and dont expect to reach whatever the golden milestone will be by 2039.
We would rather pay off our mortgage. We have about 9 years left. Even if we lived to claim the pension it would be a pittance.

Does anybody know if there are options we might have interns of being able to cash out?
We have a number of credit cards outstanding and if they can be paid off we can increase our mortgage payments.

Any thoughts on this welcome, thanks in advance.

xylophone

our pot is above the 18k threshold

Are you both TC pensioners?

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

You have to be at least aged 60 or aged 55 if benefits are taken after 6 April 2015.
 You have to add all the benefit values of all company pensions/personal pensions/stakeholder pensions/retirement annuities/buy-out plans (but not any state pension) together. If they do not exceed £30,000 (before 27 March 2014 the limit was £18,000), trivial commutation may be a possibility.
 All benefits in the pension arrangement must be extinguished.
 It will not be possible unless the pension scheme’s rules allow trivial commutation.




Is the above relevant to your situation?