Pension Lump Sum Charges

Traveller45678

I have a private pension and want to draw down my tax free lump sum but my provider says I have to pay 3% of its worth to them for mandatory/statutory advice that I really don't want.  Do I have to pay this?

QrizB

Probably?

Is this an old pension with a legacy pension provider? Can you name them?

Could you move it to a different ension provider which doesn't make this charge?

Phossy

That doesn't sound right to me. Can you name the provider so the others can comment more fully.

Linton

There is no legal requirement to receive advice to draw down from a DC pension unless it has “safeguarded benefits”. The most common such benefit is a Guaranteed Annuity Rate (GAR).

Another possibility is that your pension is too old to offer drawdown as a standard option.  In that case you would need to transfer it elsewhere. Any modern personal pension such as a SIPP should be OK.

I suggest you get more details from your provider and let us know the result.

dunstonh

Traveller45678 said:

I have a private pension and want to draw down my tax free lump sum but my provider says I have to pay 3% of its worth to them for mandatory/statutory advice that I really don't want.  Do I have to pay this?

We need to break this down.

Mandatory advice is only required if the fund has safeguarded benefits and is over £30,000.     So, this would suggest you have safeguarded benefits.   If you don't have safeguarded benefits then advice is not mandatory.

If you are asking your provider to provide the advice, then they have every right to charge for that advice.  It's not normally the lowest cost way to obtain advice, and any outcome from that advice will use their own product range and their own brand investments.  Chances are that their product range and/or fund range isnt the best option but if you choose to use them, then that is what you get.

With some providers, if you don't have safeguarded benefits but want them to set up a new pension that supports drawdown as the existing one doesn't, then they will use their in-house sales team to set it up (usually on a non-advised basis).    They charge for that.    I think Prudential are probably the most common example of that.

Albermarle

Sounds typical of the Prudential.

OP - In these situations the easiest thing to do normally, is open up a new modern pension and transfer the old one into it. It is a pretty easy thing to do on line nowadays.

DRS1

Wouldn't you want to know what the GAR is and see whether it is worth hanging on to it?