Can a pension scheme member access her pension savings before
retirement? Under any normal circumstances, the answer is No.
However, "pension liberation" schemes – or scams
– continue to attract many consumers.
Many of these are troubled people in difficult financial straits
who see their pension savings as a source of badly-needed
short-term cash, while some others are wealthy individuals who are
prepared to pay high taxes and commission fees in order to access
their savings early.
According to official figures, pension liberation arrangements
were confirmed to have received transfers amounting to nearly
£200m of savers' money by the end of 2011. Outside of
this official figure, much more has probably been paid over to
dubious companies and individuals who operate in a twilight world
which has repeatedly attracted the attention of the regulators, the
courts and, on occasion, the police.
