Increase to Minimum Pension age from 55 to 57 on 6th April 2028

MoneyGeoff

Also good for those who wanted to transfer their Sipp. Looks like they can go ahead now as long as they do it before 5 April 2023.

m_c_s

It does not seem clear to me although I have not read all the documents.
SIPPs currently have normal minimum pension age of 55 so surely they are not protected since the age of access will follow Government policy. It seems to me that in order for a pension scheme to be unqualified protected there has to be very explicit mention of 55 in the policy. 

Alexland

hugheskevi said:

• A very important and significant clarification on what constitutes an unqualified right to take pension from age 55:

Even with that clarification there could still be an unclear area in some scheme rules where they might say access at 55 unless later if required by changes to law as some schemes may have drafted their rules to avoid offering access earlier than legally allowed at the time so it gets a bit circular.

tibbles209

So now there is going to be a lot of confusion as to which pensions count as having an unqualified right and which don't.

My Vanguard SIPP documents for example state "you can access your pension savings with Vanguard from the minimum pensionable age (currently age 55, unless you are suffering from ill health)". Would this count as an unqualified right from age 55? I suspect not unfortunately but there is enough grey there to not be certain. 

Alexland

I would say your above Vanguard terms are not an unqualified right at 55 as they clearly link to minimum pensionable age giving 55 almost as an example of the current value.
I am more hopeful with the Fidelity terms posted by MDMD on page 4 of this thread as they clearly say 55 with a later note that the terms may generally (not specifically access age) require amending for changes in the law.

tibbles209

I think you're probably right Alexland. In which case, do these new rules allow me to transfer to another SIPP provider with more favourable wording before 5th April 2023 to gain an unqualified right at age 55?

MDMD

Alexland said:

I would say your above Vanguard terms are not an unqualified right at 55 as they clearly link to minimum pensionable age giving 55 almost as an example of the current value.
I am more hopeful with the Fidelity terms posted by MDMD on page 4 of this thread as they clearly say 55 with a later note that the terms may generally (not specifically access age) require amending for changes in the law.

Yes, I am a bit more hopeful than I was in February based on the above information as there doesn’t seem to be anything that permits or makes a change based on underlying pension legislation, just one based on generic legal changes:

Legal Requirement means any applicable law or regulation (including rules made by the FCA or any other regulatory body); a decision by a court, ombudsman or similar body; or any industry guidance or codes of practice which we follow

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/static/pdf/personal/pensions/sipp/fidelitysipp-kfd-clientterms.pdf

hugheskevi

tibbles209 said:

do these new rules allow me to transfer to another SIPP provider with more favourable wording before 5th April 2023 to gain an unqualified right at age 55?

Yes. The Con Doc response states on page 9:

The Government will publish draft legislation to introduce a window to give individuals an opportunity to join pension schemes which offer a PPA (i.e. the scheme rules on 11 February 2021 already confer an unqualified right to take pension benefits below age 57 and they join that scheme by 5 April 2023).

Thus introducing a lottery about which schemes used a particular phrasing, which could confer a significant commercial advantage.

It is somewhat similar to the lottery around RPI/CPI phrasing in scheme rules when the rules on revaluation and indexation were changed a decade ago.

hugheskevi

MDMD said:

Alexland said:

I would say your above Vanguard terms are not an unqualified right at 55 as they clearly link to minimum pensionable age giving 55 almost as an example of the current value.
I am more hopeful with the Fidelity terms posted by MDMD on page 4 of this thread as they clearly say 55 with a later note that the terms may generally (not specifically access age) require amending for changes in the law.

Yes, I am a bit more hopeful than I was in February based on the above information as there doesn’t seem to be anything that permits or makes a change based on underlying pension legislation, just one based on generic legal changes:

Legal Requirement means any applicable law or regulation (including rules made by the FCA or any other regulatory body); a decision by a court, ombudsman or similar body; or any industry guidance or codes of practice which we follow

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/static/pdf/personal/pensions/sipp/fidelitysipp-kfd-clientterms.pdf

I think the key document to consult would be the Fidelity Deed, but fortunately that is also consistent in use of language, saying benefits cannot be taken before age 55 with no reference to legislation.

Alexland

hugheskevi said:

Thus introducing a lottery about which schemes used a particular phrasing, which could confer a significant commercial advantage.

Looking at the consultation response para 2.14 the government doesn't intend to publish any more detailed guidance and are just leaving it to the scheme trustees and their legal advisors to determine if the unqualified right exists within their rules which could lead to inconsistencies where a scheme with stronger wording might still decide an unqualified right doesn't exist but one with weaker wording decides it's good enough...

hugheskevi said:

I think the key document to consult would be the Fidelity Deed, but fortunately that is also consistent in use of language, saying benefits cannot be taken before age 55 with no reference to legislation.

We (and the kids) have our SIPPs with Fidelity and the rules seem to be about as good as you are likely to find for this situation. The fact they cap their charges on our adult SIPPs in exchange traded asset(s) at £45 pa and currently charge nothing for the kids in fund(s) is the icing on the cake!