News
December 2007
Help for people whose pensions have collapsed
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Peter Hain has announced a substantial package of help for up to 140,000 people who lost savings when their employer-sponsored pension schemes collapsed.
The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) will be extended so that:
- all scheme members will be guaranteed 90 per cent of their accrued pension at the date their scheme began to wind-up. This will be subject to a cap of £26,000, the value of which will be protected
- assistance payments derived from pension accrued post-1997 will be increased each year in payment, in line with inflation
- assistance will be paid from each failed scheme’s normal retirement age, subject to a lower age limit of 60
- people who are unable to work due to ill health will also be able to apply for early access to payments from age 60
- members will be able to draw a tax-free lump sum, up to their full lump sum entitlement, if their share of scheme funds allows
- help will be extended to members of schemes wound up by qualifying solvent employers
More
information is on the Department for Work and Pensions website