Is this possible?

cazziej

Hello, my husband has a Pegasus Executive Pension with Scottish Widows from around 20 years ago. His employer used to pay into this, he did not contribute himself.

Every few years we get a statement telling us the value of the units, but I never paid much attention as he didnt really know what it was for, and as he hadn't paid into it thought it had lapsed.

He is now 44 and late last year he was awarded Ill Health Early Retirement from his job and now receives a small pension. He also receives higher right mobility DLA.

On the off chance, I wrote to Scottish Widows with his details and asking them if any money was due now he has retired. The response I got was as follows:

"Unfortunately for an impaired life retirement quote to be issued, your fund needs to be over £10,000.00. The current value of your policy is £7,374.55. This value is not guaranteed. At this moment we are unable to provide you with an impaired life retirement quote".

My question is, how is it likely to reach £10,000 if nothing is being paid into it? If we were willing to pay the deficit in i.e. £2,700 or thereabouts, could we then withdraw the money?

Any advice appreciated.

Best wishes

Carol

dunstonh

My question is, how is it likely to reach £10,000 if nothing is being paid into it? If we were willing to pay the deficit in i.e. £2,700 or thereabouts, could we then withdraw the money?

An ancient Scot Wid plan like that is probably closed for new business and you wont be able to pay into it. If it is in their with profits fund then I would estimate it getting past the £10k mark around 2020. It may be possible to transfer the pension to one that will allow an impaired life annuity but the £10k minimim is often quoted by providers. So choice may be limited.

Is the money actually needed? It may be better left alone.