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Question for Melanie. We did not EXCLUDE our army pension lump sum payout in our IVA proposal. At the time we didn't know we could do that, which i am so angry about, if i had known i would have made sure this was looked at. We are due the army pension payment May 2013 and finish IVA Oct 2013. there is no chance of extending our time in the army either. My question is, is there anything we can do to protect this money now? can we seek legal advice etc?? we need this money, as we will be homeless, jobless and my husband needs time to adapt to civvy life. I am worried sick please help.

Hi,

Do you have to take the lump sum then? Can you defer it for a few months?

Hopefully Mel will be on later to advise.

I am sure Lel will be able to advise --- but is there ay way you might be able to finish the IVA early with a lump sum F&F offer, possibly borrowed from relatives ?

I don't know there's much you can do given that creditors will see it as a nice little pot of cash. I am not sure you can exclude it completely anyway,why should you be allowed to?

Mel will know best but without a variation being proposed or a full and final offer being accepted to conclude early I am unsure what to advise.

Pity your iva firm didn't plan for this!

Paul

Some companies do ring fence pensions. If it is going to be needed to fund accommodation etc once the OP leaves the forces then I don't see why they cannot keep at least part of it.

I agree Jan,it should be treated as redundancy money would be for anyone else. I know Mel likes to get it excluded but I am not sure why? I know it is needed for re-homing a family etc but is this any different to a shop worker from tesco being made redundant after 22 years and having to relocate for a new job?

Paul

The Tesco worker would be allowed monies to relocate out of their redundancy.

Personally, I think that pensions should be ringfenced. I'm lucky in that I've been allowed to continue paying into mine even though it is a fair chunk each month.

I'd be gutted if I had to lose it.

Personally I feel pensions should be ringfenced. The bif difference between redundancy and pensions, is if you are made redundant there is an expectation that you will gain further employment at some stage, with pensions, thats it, you're retired and will need to live on the income generated from your lump sum.

That's very true. A lot of people don't get a huge lump sum and don't get much in the way of monthly pension so you do need it to help out, especially with the fact that the state pension goalposts are constantly moving.

What % of redundancy package are people allowed to keep whilst in IVA? if this is a a general rule, then surely a pension lump sum should also be treated the same? with the forces a solider has not worked in civvy job for over 22 years, so settling into that life will take time, and thats why they need the money to settle.

Hi,

You are usually allowed to keep up to six months worth whilst you seek further employment. Anything left after you find another job will have to be paid across.

Some companies do ringfence pensions, others don't.

So if u are allowed to keep 6 months redundancy, then surely a solider leaving the army will be allowed to keep 6 months of his lump sum pension whilst he seeks work? hope Melanie can advise. i am wondering does it vary from one IP to another? or do they all work to the same guidelines?

I have first hand experience of the difficulties experienced by soldiers leaving the Army after 22 years - most of them probably joined up before adulthood, and Army life is very different to civilian life.

Families need time to readjust, and jobs are not plentiful - and I am afraid that I do view this in a different light to a redundancy settlement although of course there are similarities.

For the original poster, the only thing I can suggest is that they put forward a case to creditors to retain some of the money - to cover new housing costs, and as a buffer until employment is found.

nepensioner wrote:

Personally I feel pensions should be ringfenced. The bif difference between redundancy and pensions, is if you are made redundant there is an expectation that you will gain further employment at some stage, with pensions, thats it, you're retired and will need to live on the income generated from your lump sum.

But the case in question is someone leaving the army after 22 years with plenty working life left in them. And receiving a pension immediately at ages as young as 40.

Paul

Not everyone departs the forces with a nice little nest egg and immediate pension though!! I left the RAF after 17 years and had enough of a lump sum to pay off a credit card and put a deposit down on a small house. Remembering as well that the resettlement grants are fairly generous(I seem to remember a chap doing a scuba diving course in australia for 3 weeks,all paid for by the RAF),and in most cases the point of leaving is known well in advance. I also think that ex forces have a distinct advantage in employment as certain things employers expect,punctuality,neatness,positive attitude etc are well drilled.

It is hard to adjust but in my experience the 6 p's spring to mind.

Paul

Paul