Take pension before 55 years old

hammers1970

Hi, I am 53 years old and need to take my pension now, the pension is not worth a lot about £3000, the reason being is that I was seriously ill last year where I nearly lost my life, I was off sick for 10 weeks (only receiving SSP) but since being back to work, I have only managed one full week in 8 months. This has left me behind on all bills, the most important being my rent. I’ve had to sell my car and anything else I had which was worth anything, I’ve got nothing left now, unfortunately I can’t get a loan and have exhausted all other means of getting some cash, so the only thing I have is my pension, which would be the cash injection I need to cover my rent arrears, otherwise I’ll have to leave and I have nowhere else to go.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Devongardener

Unfortunately you can’t access your pension until you are 55.  Have you checked that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to?

barnstar2077

I am sorry to hear that you have been experiencing such tough times recently, there is a benefits board on here that can hopefully offer you a few ideas.

hammers1970

Hi, thank you for your comments, it’s not looking good for me then, unfortunately I cannot get any benefits.

jamesd

Ask your local council housing team for help. They are the people with a legal obligation to find you somewhere to live if you're evicted and councils have sometimes paid arrears as a cheaper option.

MallyGirl

Please do not try and use someone who says they can get you access before 55 - it will be a scam and you could lose it all and then still end up owing HMRC. To get early access via the ill health route you need to have less than a year to live which doesn't sound to be the case.
i am sorry to hear that you feel this is your only solution- maybe try visiting citizens advice bureau in case there is an option you don't know about

Marcon

MallyGirl said:

Please do not try and use someone who says they can get you access before 55 - it will be a scam and you could lose it all and then still end up owing HMRC. To get early access via the ill health route you need to have less than a year to live which doesn't sound to be the case.

'Less than a year to live' only applies if someone is trying to take the whole of their pension as a tax free lump sum on grounds of 'serious ill health'.

Otherwise ill health pensions can be paid at any age (there's no minimum), providing there is medical evidence supporting the application.

To qualify for ill health early payment, OP would need to meet the particular definition of 'ill health' specified in the rules of their own scheme, so that's what they need to check. 

MallyGirl

good to know - I have only come across the first type (sadly)