Retirement fund and debt

Gracey23

Do my creditors have a right to limit what I pay into a private pension? 

MattMattMattUK

Gracey23 said:

Do my creditors have a right to limit what I pay into a private pension? 

We might need slightly more context, but in theory yes if you are unable to pay your debts, which they would do via an attachment to earnings. You cannot use pension contributions to avoid paying your debts. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Similar question answered here.

Pension and debt — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Brie

Potentially.  

They will want to see what you have in the way of income and expenditure.  I don't think there is a standard item of "private pension" on the expenditure side as normally these sorts of payments would come out of the excess money you have available after you've paid all your bills.  

So if your monthly income was £100 and your monthly bills came to £80 and you wanted to put the remaining £20 into you pp then your creditors are not going to be happy.  They would normally expect a portion of your excess income to be allocated to each of them on a pro rata basis which is what they will normally accept.  As a result they will be more likely to push to send any overdue bills to collection and potentially for a ccj.

Obviously very few of us have an income of £100 a month, more like 10+ times that.  But for situations where debt solutions are being determined a total excess of £75 is considered the norm and even that would be expected to go to your creditors.  A very small amount would be allowed to be accrued as "savings" which a pp might be considered to be.  

Schwarzwald

Gracey23 said:

Do my creditors have a right to limit what I pay into a private pension? 

I guess question is if waht is left after you pay into your pension pot is sufficient to serve your repayments to creditors? 
if not, i would argue YES they are/should be, or asked differently:

why do you think you have the right to prioritize your pension contributions OVER repaying your creditors first?

Gracey23

Well the reality is I had to build my life from scratch when I was 25. I don't have any priority debt and the large debt attached to me is a joint debt from a previous marriage. My only support in life is what I can give myself. No assets, no inheritance n the way, no savings, and I'm nearly 50. I've been paying back what I can towards the debt for 12 years. I've been single for 8 years supporting a child on a low income.  If I don't save for retirement ( only have about £6000 ) I'll probably have nowhere to live and unable to provide the basics for myself.   That's why I asked the question.   Life isn't always that simple.  I had no control over my finances when I was married but my name was obviously on everything. Please try not to judge.

Gracey23

I don't qualify for an IVA and if declared bankrupt I lose my job.  No family to help either.   Again, please don't judge. 

Murphybear

Hi

im sure none of us are judging

I just wanted to say that this country can be quite good to pensioners, there’s plenty of help out there if you know where to look.   I live in sheltered housing, there are 33 independent flats and big communal areas.   We have a court manager who looks after everything.  The properties are rented at lower rents than private equivalent and housing benefit is welcomed. It is a Housing Association with charitable status and we have a say in how things are done.   I mention this so you know you won’t be left on the  scrap heap when you retire with no home and little money.   There are top ups to a basic state pension as well.  

Schwarzwald

people are not judging.
but you give very little context, so people respond partly by needing to make assumptions.

you also have asked for advise some 6 months ago and were given advise, eg seek a settlement with the bank.
did you follow through with it?
what was the outcome?
It might be easier to stick with the initial threads instead of opening new ones which lack info and context.

Grumpelstiltskin

OP stared a number of threads on Debt Free Wannabee and she was advised to do a self managed DMP where she could chose who to pay and how much to pay them.

Grumpy_chap

Gracey23 said:

Do my creditors have a right to limit what I pay into a private pension? 

I don't think this is in the correct area of the forum "House buying, renting & selling".
The thread might be better moved to either "Pensions, annuities and retirement planning" or "Debt-free Wannabe" areas might be more suited.