Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the trivial commutation and small pots rules to require insurers to commute annuities into lump sum payments for consumers; and if he will make a statement.

The small pots and trivial commutation rules are permissive sets of tax rules which pre-date the pension freedoms reforms introduced in 2015. The rules may allow an individual to access their pension as a lump sum if they are at least 55 years old, or retiring at an earlier age because of ill-health, and the value of the payment does not exceed £10,000 for small pots, or £30,000 for trivial commutation. The rules limit what arrangements can be accessed in this way.

As the regulations are permissive, there is no obligation on providers to offer small pot lump sums to consumers. The Government has no plans at present to amend existing legislation to require insurers to commute annuities in payment.