RE: Praise the lord!27 Jul 2025 11:42
Nettles, here's my situation.
I left Barclays bank in 2008, leaving a deferred pension in their Afterwork scheme.
It comorised 2 parts, an investment account andca capital account.
The investment account was invested in funds and the capital account was in cash, i e the word capital.
Now, upon reaching the age of 60, I was offered the opportunity to purchase an annuity, drawdown is not available.
I attempted to transfer these accounts to my Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP and the investment account of £34000 was transferred, but the capital account was refused on the basis that it was above £30000 and required financial advice because the capital value is guaranteed by being indexed each month by CPI until turned into an annuity.
Now, 25% tax free isn't an option for me, because I'm a tax resident of Spain and the Spanish tax authorities do not recognise the tax free element and tax it as income.
I tried again to transfer in 2019 and again it was refused.
Last Monday in the Daily Telegraph, a reader asked the pensions Doctor about the Afterwork Capital Account's status.
It was clearly decided that the capital account is a defined contribution scheme, not a defined benefit scheme, therefore no financial advice was required.
I phoned Hargreaves Lansdown and spoke to a pensions manager, they still wouldn't accept that it's a defined contribution scheme.
Finally, on Thursday, I received an email from Hargreaves Lansdown stating that it was indeed a defined contribution scheme and they would accept the transfer.
This process is now underway..
The investment account that was transferred of £34000 is now over £375000 courtesy of Rolls-Royce and hopefully higher on the 31st.
The capital account is valued at £49800 and had it been accepted at the same time as the investment account, it would be worth around £550000.
Obviously, I'm very aggrieved that Hargreaves Lansdown have cost me over £500000 through an incorrect interpretation of pension transfer legislation, but I can't sue, because I cant prove I would have made the same investment decisions, had the transfer been acceoted.