05 April 2012
In a judgment made by the High Court, a person who has attained
retirement age (55 or scheme's retirement date if earlier) could
now be forced to claim their pension as income and pay creditors
for any debts owed. It was previously generally accepted that a
person couldn't be forced to start their pension and it could
therefore be protected from creditors.
When making the decision the Court held that:
"The proper interpretation in my judgment is that a bankrupt
does has an entitlement to a payment under a pension scheme not
merely when the scheme is in payment of benefit but also where,
under the rules of the scheme, he would be entitled to payment
merely by asking for payment."
A recent article by the Telegraph, indicated that this could now
permit creditors to go after the pension payments of 11,000
bankrupt people who are over the age of 55.
