Can I be forced to take my Pension

DRS1

@zagfles had a thread on this topic some years ago.  I am not sure it came to a conclusion but perhaps they have news on what happened?
Deferring GMP past GMP age when not in employment — MoneySavingExpert Forum

1957DfurdPensionist

My first ever real pension scheme was with a major financial services insurer.  For the first 20 years they managed it in-house.  It all ran very smoothly.  After the outsourcers got involved., mistakes, misinterpretations and downrighpp service crept in especially when the outsourcers changed more than once.  Guess who "manages" it now?  Guess what the NRA was?  The confusion reigned in the years up to my 60th birthday as they had been writing with illustrations indicating my NRA was 60 due to gender equalisation requirements.  Unbelieveably when I got to 59 and a bit, someone discovered the NRA was still 62 for me and blandly wrote to me.  As the sponsoring employer still existed I complained about the clear maladministration to the trustee directors who were employer nominated.  No real apology was ever forthcoming.  I could have made a case for compensation had a been relying on the earlier date.  As it was I let it slide.  The Pension Ombudsman would probably have been the one to contact for that?

I am now nearer 70 and still haven't taken the pension.  However, the sponsoring employer was sold in two parts a few years ago with one of the two buyers retaining sponsoring liability.  It is nice to be a member of a final salary scheme that still exists, and indeed it still has 15,000+ deferred members and no active ones due to those who stayed working at the original employer getting sold down the river with a new scheme years ago.  The people running surviving final salary schemes are invariably not the people that set them up, nor do they think the same way.  That is, except perhaps when it is an exclusive scheme for "Executives" i.e. not for the hoi polloi at the coal face.  Ask to see the scheme rules as they applied when you left, and particularly the rule that supports what they are trying to force you to do.  If you still recognise the sponsoring employer, ask for details of how to contact the trustees directly.  You may be able to get details of individual trustee names on Companieshouse.gov.uk by searching for Trustees of XYZ company pension scheme.  But maybe you receive a regular trustees' newsletter advising you of the status of the scheme and how to contact them?

xylophone

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/issues-around-deferring-gmps-dave-king

is a recent article.

BetsyRose

I really find it hard to believe that such sex discrimination can still be allowed, especially not state retirement ages are equalised.

BetsyRose

The early retirement factor is 0.81 I think so quite hefty, and I was wanting to use the tax free allowance too.  I had all my calculations done for the quote at 62 FYI.

hyubh

BetsyRose said:

I really find it hard to believe that such sex discrimination can still be allowed

GMP is complicated because different GMP payable ages go with different accrual rates. But fundamentally, the practice of many private sector final salary schemes mirroring state pension ages was indeed 'discrimination' - namely, discrimination against men, and was ended because a bloke made a successful legal challenge to the European Court of Justice.

especially not state retirement ages are equalised.

'Equalisation' of scheme pensions was done and dusted literally decades ago, way before the government sorted out the state pension. It then took even longer to properly get a handle on the GMP issue - which it had to, because the law was (and to a large extent still is) pretty prescriptive on how schemes must treat GMP liabilities.

Silvertabby

BetsyRose said:

I really find it hard to believe that such sex discrimination can still be allowed, especially not state retirement ages are equalised.

We are getting there, but it's simply not possible to make all changes retrospective.  Cost being a major factor.
On the other hand, this wouldn't be welcomed in many cases.  Can you just imagine the fuss if, when the re-equalisation of State pension ages ruling was announced in the 1993 budget, this had been applied immediately/ retrospectively? 

zagfles

DRS1 said:

@zagfles had a thread on this topic some years ago.  I am not sure it came to a conclusion but perhaps they have news on what happened?
Deferring GMP past GMP age when not in employment — MoneySavingExpert Forum

It's not happened yet! My wife isn't yet 60. 

zagfles

Silvertabby said:

BetsyRose said:

I really find it hard to believe that such sex discrimination can still be allowed, especially not state retirement ages are equalised.

We are getting there, but it's simply not possible to make all changes retrospective.  Cost being a major factor.
On the other hand, this wouldn't be welcomed in many cases.  Can you just imagine the fuss if, when the re-equalisation of State pension ages ruling was announced in the 1993 budget, this had been applied immediately/ retrospectively? 

How does the LGPS work, if a woman with a deferred pension with GMP wants to defer past 60, does the LGPS allow it? Or do they need proof of employment, as the legislation seems to require?  

Silvertabby

zagfles said:

Silvertabby said:

BetsyRose said:

I really find it hard to believe that such sex discrimination can still be allowed, especially not state retirement ages are equalised.

We are getting there, but it's simply not possible to make all changes retrospective.  Cost being a major factor.
On the other hand, this wouldn't be welcomed in many cases.  Can you just imagine the fuss if, when the re-equalisation of State pension ages ruling was announced in the 1993 budget, this had been applied immediately/ retrospectively? 

How does the LGPS work, if a woman with a deferred pension with GMP wants to defer past 60, does the LGPS allow it? Or do they need proof of employment, as the legislation seems to require?  

Proof of employment, otherwise the GMP element would have to be paid.  That said, if the deferred pensioner refused to supply their bank details then there wasn't much we could do about it.

Assuming, of course, that the application of the regs hasn't changed since my retirement.