Has anyone taken their B&CE Lump Sum Retirement Benefit (LSRB)?

Ninjago243

Hi all,
My husband has a legacy B&CE Lump Sum Retirement Benefit (LSRB) worth around £8,000, built up through employer holiday stamps between 1982 and 2001, now administered by The People’s Pension.

He’s still actively contributing to his pension and we want to make sure that taking the LSRB won’t trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) and limit his future contributions.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and taken their LSRB whilst still paying into a pension? We’d love to hear from anyone with experience of this, particularly:
—Did it trigger the MPAA?
—Did you receive a flexible access statement afterwards?
—Did everything go smoothly?
It’s quite an obscure legacy product so any experience or knowledge would be really helpful!
Thanks so much!

GrumpyDil

The general principle is that taking a tax free lump sum doesn't trigger the MPAA. I can't see anything on the online information which indicates differently but there do appear to be contact details on their pages.

xylophone

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/tax-and-pensions/money-purchase-annual-allowance-mpaa

What triggers the MPAA?

The MPAA is triggered if you take taxable money out of a defined contribution pension using a flexible payment option.  

It would appear that the LSRB is a specific, contracted lump sum payment, usually 100% tax-free

See p18

https://bandce.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Your-Options-at-Retirement.pdf

Your husband should check with the administrator but I can't see that taking the LRSB would count as taking taxable money out of a DC scheme using a flexible payment option.

dunstonh

Has anyone taken their B&CE Lump Sum Retirement Benefit (LSRB)?

Its been around for over half a century. So, the answer is yes to that.

now administered by The People’s Pension.

PP is the B&CE after a name change. There hasnt been a change of administrator.

—Did it trigger the MPAA?

Its not possible to.

—Did you receive a flexible access statement afterwards?

not sure what you are referring to there but its not drawdown so it wont get anything related to drawdown.

—Did everything go smoothly?

Never had a single issue.

It’s quite an obscure legacy product so any experience or knowledge would be really helpful!

Its a hybrid product but not obscure. Pretty much everyone in the building trade or linked trades had it back in the day.

Ninjago243

Thank you all for your help! It seems like it’s more straightforward than we were thinking. We have been in touch with a lot of people who’ve been very uncertain over the last couple of years about this lump sum so it’s very reassuring to hear your comments. We will of course be in touch with the Peoples Pension too. All the best!