Have you or someone you know struggled to access their pension with a terminal illness? Get in touch at money@telegraph.co.uk*.
There are few sentences more devastating than being told you have less than a year to live.
Alongside acute trauma and the daily symptoms of their condition, many people are subsequently forced to consider how to provide for the loved ones they’ll soon leave behind.
It was perhaps with this in mind that Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, announced on Thursday that the Government would make it easier for people nearing the end of their lives to access their retirement savings early.
Currently, anyone with medical evidence showing they’re expected to die within 12 months can usually access their retirement pots immediately, even if they’re below the private pension age of 55. If they’re under 75, it’s also tax-free up to £1.073m.
From spring, however, the criteria will be widened to include anyone whose death “can reasonably be expected” during that period.
For Judith Bradfield, 71, the announcement hit close to home. She lost her sister, Alison Rattigan, affectionately known as Candy, to a brain tumour last year at the age of 63.
Ms Rattigan, a former mental health nurse, decided to take her £185,000 pension savings in June 2024, after a major brain operation, but she struggled to navigate the rules on terminal illness withdrawals.
She had also decided she didn’t want consultants to reveal her remaining life expectancy, so she couldn’t answer her provider’s questions on how long she was expected to live. All she knew was that her tumour was terminal.
As a result, she proceeded with a standard pension withdrawal and incurred a £60,000 tax bill that she could have avoided. She died 15 months later.
“She was battling a brain tumour and chose the taxable option to access her pension as soon as she could,” Ms Bradfield said.
“She was the nicest, sweetest person. She misunderstood because she was ill. She was dealing with it, and the final call was seven days after her brain operation.
“If someone’s declaring they’re ill, the first thing [the pension provider] should be saying is, ‘is there anyone else we can talk to at the same time?’”
