Protected Rights


You can now move your protected rights assets, as of 1st October 2008, due to the government lifting restrictions on where these assets can be invested.

For the first time you can now:  

  • Transfer your protected rights assets to a Personal Pension or SIPP.
  • Invest in a choice of thousands of funds, shares, gilts and bonds.
  • Switch your investments to cash at any time.
  • Take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise.
  • Consolidate all of your pension assets within a single pension plan for easier management.
  • Benefit from greater choice when it comes to retirement options.

With Investor Profile you can open your own online SIPP or Personal Pension Plan and consolidate all your existing plans in to one place, including your protected rights assets. Click here for more details.

For more information about Personal Pension Plans please click here.

For more information about SIPPs please click here.

For general information about pensions take a look at our Pension Facts 2009/10.


More about Protected Rights...
Protected rights assets are National Insurance contribution rebates that have been paid in to your pension if you have chosen to contract out of the State Second Pension (S2P) or the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) at any time since 1988.

Whilst the basic state pension is available to everyone, the top-up versions mentioned above are dependent on your National Insurance contributions record. If you have a full record then you can choose to either let the government pay your top-up pension, or you can choose to take matters in to your own hands and receive a rebate which will be invested in to your own personal pension.

The option to contract-out of the state top-up pension schemes was first introduced in 1988 and is expected to be taken away in 2012. After this time only rebates that have already been paid in to pension plans will be available for investment as the individual chooses. No new rebates will be paid after 2012.

These rebates are known as protected rights, due to certain restrictions that had been placed on them in the past, and were required to be held with insurance companies where the range of investments available was limited.

However they can now be transferred to a pension plan of your choice and you can check if your pension includes these protected rights assets by simply calling your pension provider or the HMRC Contracted Out Pension Helpline on 0845 915 0150.