Old Pensions?

Silver1000

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? & does anyone if pensionbee is a good company any help very grateful. S

xylophone

https://www.pruadviser.co.uk/knowledge-literature/knowledge-library/defined-benefits-defined-contributions/#:~:text=Defined contribution schemes usually offer lump sum and income death benefits.&text=Death benefits are usually tax,within the member's lifetime allowance.
The recipient(s) of death benefits are usually chosen at the discretion of the pension scheme trustees or administrator. However, a member / pension holder can nominate whom they wish to receive the benefits, by completing a nomination of beneficiaries form (sometimes called an "expression of wish") and the trustees will usually take this into account.

Key features of the Pension Bee Personal Pension. (download pdf)

You may nominate the individuals you wish to receive benefits and your wishes will be taken into account. The amount payable to your nominated beneficiaries will depend on the value of your Pension at the time of death. You may complete a new nomination at any time. 

hemeloid

Pension companies having this discretion is what (I believe) allows payments to remain outside the estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, therefore, going elsewhere is unlikely to change this. 

Albermarle

Silver1000 said:

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? & does anyone if pensionbee is a good company any help very grateful. S

As above , it will make no difference but I think it is only in rare cases with special circumstances that the pension trustees would not follow your wishes in terms of a beneficiary .
If your pension is old it may be worth considering moving it anyway . Especially when you come to want to start taking the pension , more modern pensions usually offer more options. 
There is nothing wrong with Pension Bee as such . Simple to operate but only a small choice fo funds ( not an issue for many people ) and not the cheapest . Fine for an inexperienced investor with a not too large pot.

dunstonh

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, 

That is normal.  That way they avoid inheritance tax.

so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? 

It is not the provider.  It is legislation.   If you go with a provider that will accept a binding nomination then you are looking at IHT being deducted.

Are your nominations so outlandish that the trustees would feel the need to overrule them?   They rarely do overrule.  It only tends to be in scenarios where someone forgot to update a nomination and it no longer reflects their circumstances or the nomination is outlandish.

Silvertabby

As dunstonh says.  I have only known LGPS trustees to overrule one nomination form.  The listed beneficiary was an ex girlfriend, but the fund member had gone on to marry someone else and start a family.

Silver1000

dunstonh said:

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, 

That is normal.  That way they avoid inheritance tax.

so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? 

It is not the provider.  It is legislation.   If you go with a provider that will accept a binding nomination then you are looking at IHT being deducted.

Are your nominations so outlandish that the trustees would feel the need to overrule them?   They rarely do overrule.  It only tends to be in scenarios where someone forgot to update a nomination and it no longer reflects their circumstances or the nomination is outlandish.

Thanks I just nominated my kids and was worried that how they worded the letter that they would not get it. It's not a big amount and there's 3 of them. 
To be honest it was with L&G but has been taken over by Reassure which I don't know much about, anyway thank again. 

Brynsam

Silver1000 said:

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? & does anyone if pensionbee is a good company any help very grateful. S

I think for the reasons explained above you are worrying about nothing, but if your absolute priority is a binding nomination, then transfer the funds to NEST. Their forms are binding - but any payment falls within the scope of IHT.

dunstonh

I just nominated my kids and was worried that how they worded the letter that they would not get it. It's not a big amount and there's 3 of them. 

Then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.  That is a sensible nomination.       However, a scenario where it may be amended is if you had another child and forget to amend and instead of a 1/3rd split amongst three, the would consider a 1/4 split among four.   Or if one of the children passed away,  they may adjust to 1/2 to the remaining two.

To be honest it was with L&G but has been taken over by Reassure which I don't know much about, anyway

In reality, do you know much about L&G?  Their brand profile may be slightly higher but they haven't been active in individual pensions for a long time and the fact they sold their book to Reassure tells you how much you were wanted by them.    Reassure are have many brands on their books which you would recognise.  However, they are being bought by Phoenix.   Phoenix is big player that originated from Pearl Assurance.  They have a large range of historic brands as well that you would probably recognise.

Albermarle

Brynsam said:

Silver1000 said:

I have an old pension from a company I left but I have kept on paying in to it, I got sent a letter saying that my nominations were not legally binding & they would consider them but might decide not to pay the person's named, so I was thinking of leaving doses anyone know who the best provider is? & does anyone if pensionbee is a good company any help very grateful. S

I think for the reasons explained above you are worrying about nothing, but if your absolute priority is a binding nomination, then transfer the funds to NEST. Their forms are binding - but any payment falls within the scope of IHT.

Seems a bit odd that just one provider does this different to all the others . Any idea for the reasons behind that ? Maybe because the unusual way it was setup by the government ?

xylophone

 Seems a bit odd that just one provider does this different to all the others . Any idea for the reasons behind that ? Maybe because the unusual way it was setup by the government ?

See
https://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/nest/my-nest-pension/what-happens-to-my-pension-when-I-die.html  re "nomination" as opposed to "letter of wishes".

With the former, the payment forms part of the deceased's estate (and is therefore taken into account for IHT) whereas with the latter, (which gives discretion to the Trustees), it doesn't.