Adviser  >  News  >  February 2010  >  2010 minimum pension age change cut-off dates

2010 minimum pension age change cut-off dates

Information on how this will affect Scottish Life customers.

On 6 April 2010 the minimum age that pension benefits can be taken increases to 55. There is no grace period so it's crucial that clients aged between 50 and 54 are safely in suitable arrangements by 6 April.

As a customer-focussed organisation we are putting in place cut-off dates for receiving annuity purchase instructions, both with us and via an Open Market Option (OMO), to give adequate time for requests to be completed before 6 April. This will help our customers to realise their retirement plans.

Key dates to note

Illustrations and purchasing an annuity/OMO

The deadline for requesting retirement illustrations for clients under 55 with existing Scottish Life plans is Friday 5 March 2010. And the deadline for submitting completed forms for purchasing an annuity/OMO for clients under 55 is Monday 15 March 2010. The forms must be received by our Customer Service teams by 15 March.

External transfers

We are also introducing deadlines for requesting external transfers to another provider's income drawdown plan for clients under 55:

  • 5 March 2010 - for requesting external transfer illustrations
  • 15 March 2010 - for submitting transfer forms. The forms must be received by our Customer Service teams by 15 March.

For OMOs/external transfers we recommend you check with the receiving provider as they are likely to have their own cut-off dates for receiving the transferred funds.

Clients who will turn 50 between 15 March and 6 April 2010 can still take their benefits/transfer to another company, provided we receive completed forms by 15 March.

Why we are introducing these cut-off dates

There are a number of compelling reasons why we're introducing the cut-off dates.

In depth

Get more information on the:

  • They have been selected based on experience of typical elapse times from issuing quotes to receiving necessary paperwork to pay out funds to other providers or to set up an annuity.

  • As a company we're dedicated to delivering on our customers' expectations. We pride ourselves on the quality of our customer service and won't do anything to jeopardise this. By implementing cut-off dates we're confident we'll be able to pay out/transfer the money before 6 April.*

  • The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has been coordinating an industry-wide approach to dealing with the minimum pension age change and has set a provisional cut-off date of 1 March for annuity and immediate vesting personal pension applications.

*Assuming all necessary information is provided by 15 March. We can't guarantee benefits will be payable if circumstances outside our control make this unachievable.

For professional advisers only