Pension Pots

[tired mommy x]

I am about to turn 55 and have been giving some thought to my pensions.  I have three that are under £1000 and give practically no return as a pension so going to cash them in.  I have one that has a cash value of £11,000 and a transfer value of £16,000.  Just spoke to an advisor and I am a little confused now.  I understand the tax free amounts and the taxable amounts.  Would I be able to do a pension transfer for the £16,000 into another pension pot with another provider (getting the extra £4,000 bonus) and then cash in the value with the second provider?  Is there a time limit on how long it has to sit in a pension fund before being taken out?

 

Example - I have one for £800. Could I transfer the £16,000 into that one.  Then cash in for £16,800?  As opposed to cashing one in for £800 and one in for £11,000?

 

Thanks in advance.

[honeybee13]

I'd say an advisor is your best bet, as pensions can be complicated. You can ask the Money and Pensions Service which is a merged version of three free government advisory services.

 

https://moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk/

 

You probably know that there is the trivial commutation rule if all of your pension pots added up come to less than £30k. Anyway, an advisor is best and they should be able to advise you of what the costs might be if you transfer one pension pot to another. There are likely to be upfront charges that you would need to check out.

 

HB

[tired mommy x]

I have googled it thank you.  I realize I am taxed on it.  I am currently in dispute with HMRC regarding an overpayment of tax credits going back to 2004/2005 and 2008/2009/2010.  Will they have any rights on this money at tax point?  Can they take all the payment to offset the claimed amount?

[honeybee13]

Hi.

 

I don't know about the tax aspect but will ask a site team collegue if they can help with any of that.

 

When I said charges, I meant from the insurance company accepting the transfer.

 

Did you speak to MAPS about your options on transferring?

 

[tired mommy x]

I am just going to go with the cashing in of the policy as it is.  nobody can seem to answer my question.  Most advise it is down to the company it is going to.  Dont really want to tie the money up any longer.  Did you ask a site team colleague regarding the HMRC overpayment?

[honeybee13]

Yes I did, sadly they haven't been around to see it. I'll try again. 

[honeybee13]

Did you speak to MAPS? I'd have thought they would be able to help. 

 

HB

[slick132]

Hi TM,

 

Sorry for the delay but looking in as asked.

 

I can't comment in any useful way about your options for cashing in or transferring accumulated pension funds.

 

You'll not be surprised that I also suggest you seek appropriate advice from a pension specialist or an IFA.

 

You say you're in dispute about tax credits with HMRC. You don't say if it's been established that you owe them money and we don't need to know.

 

HMRC are unlikely to be made aware of you cashing in a pension policy when you do it but they may well be informed by the pension company after the payment is made. It's reported in the same way as payroll information is reported about salaries.

 

So you might want to bear this in mind if any TC debt is established.