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Occupational Pension draw down
If someone draws down from their Occ Pen, would means tested benefits treat this as deprivation of an income as when they eventually receive a monthly Occ Pen it will be lower
I would suggest not. Once your client is 55 or over, they are entitled to draw from their pension pots as they choose (provided their scheme allows for this), though any income or capital derived from such will be taken into account. As benefits law allows them to do this, and they declare it to the DWP, I cannot see how they can then be treated as depriving themselves of said income at a later date.
I hope so but you never know what they may try Thank you
AgeUK has a decent factsheet on this…
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs91_pension_freedom_and_benefits_fcs.pdf
I would suggest not. Once your client is 55 or over, they are entitled to draw from their pension pots as they choose (provided their scheme allows for this), though any income or capital derived from such will be taken into account. As benefits law allows them to do this, and they declare it to the DWP, I cannot see how they can then be treated as depriving themselves of said income at a later date.
Just for the purposes of clarity (and apologies as I wasn’t clear), the above is assuming the client is below state pension credit age. The rules once a claimant is of or above this age are different and that is when the drawdown option can produce notional income, but it is my understanding that this does not apply if the drawdowns occur prior to reaching this age.