No, once you've bought this compulsory purchase annuity, you can't cash it in or change your provider.
The payments will stop unless you have:
Inflation can reduce the value of your pension over time.
To protect against the effects of inflation, you can opt for an automatic yearly change in your income in line with inflation (remember - inflation, and therefore your income, could go down as well as up), or at a fixed rate of up to and including 8.5%. Because it's likely that your pension income will increase each year, choosing this option will reduce the income that you'll receive initially.
If you have been contracted-out of the State Second Pension (S2P), then your pension fund may include an amount relating to the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP), Section 9(2B) Rights or Protected Rights. The option to have a guarantee period is restricted to 5 years for these parts of the fund. The Protected Rights part of your fund can normally be taken at any age between 50 (55 from 6 April 2010) and 75.
Your regular income is guaranteed until you die. If you've chosen for your pension to change in line with inflation, then the level of income you receive could go down as well as up.
If you have chosen a guarantee period, your income will be paid until the end of this period, even if you die earlier.
If you have chosen to provide an income for any dependants, this will be guaranteed until they die, or in the case of a child until they reach age 23.
Standard Life has been looking after its customers for over 180 years, and currently over 7 million people worldwide rely on us for their financial needs.
Like most people, you want to know that your financial future is in good hands. Standard Life places a great deal of importance on getting your money to work hard for you; that's why we believe you can have confidence in us.
