What is SIPP fixed protection?

kerrick

"fixed protection” 2016 allows SIPP holders to effectively claim a previous higher lifetime allowance of £1.25m on their SIPP.

The source of this statement gave no explanation so I have read about fixed protection on gov.uk website and searched for explanations on pension sites but cannot find a clear explanation.

Can anyone here explain in simple terms, what are the criteria for claiming £1.25m LTA instead of the current £1.073m?

My SIPP is over half way to the £1.073m limit but I am still contributing the maximum possible so with growth could exceed the current LTA in a few years.

dunstonh

There is no such thing as SIPP fixed protection.  It is just fixed protection with a year suffix  to indicate which version.  It can be applied to most pension types.

There are two current types of protection. Fixed and individual

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pension-schemes-protect-your-lifetime-allowance

HappyHarry

kerrick said:

"fixed protection” 2016 allows SIPP holders to effectively claim a previous higher lifetime allowance of £1.25m on their SIPP.

The source of this statement gave no explanation so I have read about fixed protection on gov.uk website and searched for explanations on pension sites but cannot find a clear explanation.

Can anyone here explain in simple terms, what are the criteria for claiming £1.25m LTA instead of the current £1.073m?

My SIPP is over half way to the £1.073m limit but I am still contributing the maximum possible so with growth could exceed the current LTA in a few years.

There are two types of protection available currently; Fixed Protection 2016 and Individual Protection 2016. Both can allow you a higher lifetime allowance than the standard £1,073,100.

Unfortunately, neither are available to you.

To qualify for Fixed Protection 2016 you must have had no pension accrual since April 2016. You say you are still contributing the maximum possible, so therefore would not be eligible for this protection.

To qualify for Individual Protection 2016, you must have had a pension pot value in excess of £1m as at 5th April 2016. It appears you are no where near that, and so you would not be eligible for this protection either.