Non Tax Resident - Access Pension pot

kimboWBR

Hi,
I lived in the UK during the 90s and have a small pension pot there - about GBP70,000. I now live in Australia and am not a UK tax resident or British citizen. The money is invested in an old account with Zurich (ex Abbey National). They charge me 3.9% fees and don't offer draw down. I looked into my options and settled on a SIPP with Fidelity and investing in one of their funds. I had planned  to slowly withdraw cash below the tax threshold over the next few years - I'm 65 btw. Having just spoken to Fidelity, I cannot open a SIPP because I don't live in the UK. We have a Lloyds account in the UK. My wife is British but is not a tax resident if that helps.
I have sought out financial advice in the UK through my ex-accountant who has good contacts, however even though he put me in touch with a firm that operates internationally, they really didn't seem to offer anything more than I could find out myself. For instance they didn't know the rule about not opening a SIPP if you live abroad. 
I'd appreciate any advise you may have regarding alternatives to a SIPP or some other way to get my money out of Zurich into another pension vehicle without triggering a taxable event. Ideally we'd like to move it into a plan where we can draw down the money over time. 
Appreciate any help you may be able to offer.
cheers from Sydney.

Marcon

See https://www.gov.uk/transferring-your-pension/transferring-to-an-overseas-pension-scheme which gives details of how you could transfer to a QROPS in Australia.

You should be able to set up a SIPP to accept a transfer, although you won't be able to make further contributions: https://www.youinvest.co.uk/faq/am-i-eligible-sipp

Alternatively, open an international SIPP which would be able to accept the transfer and any future contributions you wish to make.