Cashing in an Annuity

Paulsky

Back in 2013 I had a very small old pension pot of around £1,600.  I tried at the time to cash this out, but for some reason it never happened, and I ended up with an Annuity, paying me the fantastic sum of £4.25 per month. I think this was originally with Scottish Life, now its Royal London. 

With all the recent economic pains, I thought I would again try to end the Annuity and cash out the small amount, help to pay the energy bill over the coming winter etc. However, Royal London say its impossible, I've got an Annuity and I'm stuck with it. 
But, I thought I had read that Annuities below £10,000 could be cancelled and withdrawn, at the discretion of the company. 
I am fully retired and receiving state pension and a small amount of Pension Credit, so a little boost such as this would certainly help over the winter. Any advice appreciated.

lisyloo

Are you getting the winter fuel allowance this winter?
have you looked into getting a warm front discount?

if it’s discretionary and they’ve said no then I’m not sure there is any recourse.

Paulsky

Yes, we will get the winter fuel allowance and the warm home discount, we think. 
One of the reasons I tried to cash out this Annuity was that a relative actually did the same with a pot worth £3,000, that had been paying her out around £10 a month for five years. That though, was with Canada Life I believe.

lisyloo

As far as I can tell it's only possible if your provider allows it, which explains why your relative could but you can't.

Sorry

Paulsky

Thanks Lisyloo. it is what I expected but hoped I was wrong. Though I did get a £50 cheque from them, as I had to write three times before they replied. It's also obvious from the reply that they don't really read the letters, as a couple of other questions I had for them were not even mentioned in the reply. I cc'd my final letter to the CEO, probably why I ended up with a reply and £50. (Which we have donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust). 
Thanks again.

lisyloo

Customer service is generally very poor in this country. It seems to have gone downhill thru the pandemic (or perhaps that’s just coincided with general automation).