We would like to remind all of our members that anyone who is intending to apply for Individual Protection 2014 will need to do so before 5 April 2017. Please note you can apply if your pension(s) were worth more than £1.25 million at 5 April 2014.

Individual Protection 2014 is in place to protect your lifetime allowance to the lower of:

• the value of your pension(s) at 5 April 2014
• £1.5 million

You can continue to build up your pension savings once you have applied for Individual Protection 2014, but will have to pay tax on money taken from your pension(s) that exceed your protected lifetime allowance. 

Before you start

You’ll need:

• an account for HMRC online services - you can set one up when you start your application
• to know what your pension(s) were worth on 5 April 2014 and a breakdown of the amount

If you don’t know this information, you can ask us or other pension scheme administrator who you have pension savings with. If you have more than one scheme, add the amounts from each scheme together.

How do I apply?

Members who want to apply for IP2014 protection must do this through the lifetime allowance online service, accessed through the guide Pension schemes: protect your lifetime allowance.

To apply, members will need an HMRC online services account. To create an account, or to login to an existing one, they should go to HMRC services: sign in or register.

Members can find more information about the lifetime allowance and protecting their pension savings on GOV.UK.

Although the deadline for IP2014 applications closes at midnight on 5 April 2017, individuals will still be able to log on and amend an existing application after this date.

Further information can be found on our Lifetime Allowance page.