Freetrade Sipp accessing funds.

Janeyfs

Due to the cost of living squeeze I have decided to access all that I have in a small SIPP with Freetrade. I have contacted them requesting the money as a 'small pot'  but have received a reply advising me that I have to transfer my SIPP to an alternative provider as they don't provide this service. 
Does anyone have experience of this?
Am I better to sell the stocks and shares etc and just transfer as cash to avoid charges on US stocks?
Any advice on which providers to transfer to, to access my money as quickly and cheaply as possible. I'm concerned that if I'm paying fees for this and that I might be left with hardly anything! Thanks in advance.

sebtomato

A SIPP is a pension, and there are rules to access the money and also how much you can invest into a pension after that.

They probably can't be bothered to go through those rules, so they are advising you to transfer to another provider first, which will take several weeks. Such provider will probably force you to have calls with advisers before you can actually access the money.

Albermarle

Presumably if you just withdrew it all, it would not be an issue? I assume that the issue is that you requested to withdraw it under 'The small pot rule' ( to avoid MPAA limit ?) and Freetrade do not offer this facility.

There are many pension providers that offer this facility. Transfers are free and if done in cash it will usually take one to four weeks.

Janeyfs

Thank you for your reply Albermarle. I think it applies to any type of withdrawal. Freetrade say: 'While you cannot currently draw benefits from the Freetrade SIPP and will have to transfer to another pension plan to do this...' in their features section.
 I think because it is only a couple of thousand pounds I didn't want it to be mostly swallowed up in fees for transferring and withdrawal. If the transfer is free, presumably the fees would be for withdrawal? I will call a few pension providers and ask. I was interested if anyone had done this or knew the process well and could pass on their experience together with any info on pension plans with low fees for this really.

GeoffTF

Here is a comparison of charges:

https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

Vanguard charges 0.15% per year, which will be small on a few thousand pounds.

Linton

I know nothing about Freetrade but for the main SIPP providers fees should not amount to a significant % of the value of the pension and there may well not be any.  In particular I would expect transfers-in to be free. Have have you checked what the fees would be? Just look on the websites of the main SIPP providers.

You are 55 or older? If not you cannot take out any money from a SIPP.

Albermarle

I think some pension providers have an extra charge if you transfer in and then withdraw it quickly. So just have a good look at the full charges list.