Pension Ludicrousy

Mick_Clarke

I have a protected tax free pension and am retiring, rather than take annuity, I am looking to put into drawdown, I was told that I could inform drawdown provider to tell pension provider to pay enhanced amount and then transfer rest to drawdown. Drawdown provider says that I have to employ an advisor to enable a drawdown to be set up to maintain enhanced tax free. Pension provider states that they can pay enhanced amount to me and transfer rest to drawdown.
Provider and Drawdown company are different departments of the same company.
Please make sense of this for me.
I have registered a complaint at the confusion.

xylophone

This thread may be of interest. Does it have any relevance to your situation?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6026867/section-32-pension-about-to-close-what-to-do

It appears that in the end, matters were resolved to the OP's satisfaction.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77171920#Comment_77171920

You might try a PM?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/profile/Blackavar

dunstonh

  Drawdown provider says that I have to employ an advisor to enable a drawdown to be set up to maintain enhanced tax free.

If your chosen provider only retails via an intermediary then that is correct.

If your chosen provider doesn't retail via an intermediary then it is incorrect.

Unless there are safeguarded benefits, such as a GAR.  If there are, then an adviser will be required if the fund is valued over £30k.

Provider and Drawdown company are different departments of the same company.

It doesn't make too much of a difference as a new plan is a new plan regardless of whom the provider is.   It can have clerical implications though.  For example, Aviva Life & pensions is different company to Aviva wrap.  All modern business goes on the Aviva wrap platform.  (and that ignores all the historic Aviva policies that used to be under AXA or Friends Provident, amongst many others).   They even use the external Origo transfer systems to transfer money between them.

So, don't get too hung up on logo in the corner. 

Please make sense of this for me.
I have registered a complaint at the confusion.

What is your complaint?  What are you confused about?