Check your pension scheme member’s protected allowances
What you need to do if your member has protected their allowances and this entitles them to both a higher lump sum allowance and lump sum death benefit allowance.
Overview
From 6 April 2024, the lifetime allowance was abolished.
Your pension members may still be able to apply for protected allowances from the 2016 reduction in the standard lifetime allowance. These protections will then apply to their new allowances. The deadline to apply for Fixed Protection 2016 and Individual Protection 2016 is 5 April 2025.
You’ll need to send an Event Report even if the member is relying on protected allowances and both of the follow apply:
- the scheme administrator has made a payment of a lump sum or lump sum death benefit related to a relevant benefit crystallisation event
- the member has exceeded their available lump sum allowance
You’ll also need to make sure you give the right information to your members.
Protection before 2016 reduction
Before 2016 your members could hold one of the following protections:
- enhanced protection
- primary protection
- fixed protection
- individual protection 2014
- fixed protection 2014
Your members should give you the pension scheme administrator reference number for their protection and you’ll need to use this when testing their benefits.
Your members can find their reference number on their protection certificate or confirmation letter. Additionally, most members will be able to view it online through their Government Gateway user ID.
You may decide to ask your member for a copy of their protection certificate so you can confirm the value of their protected allowances.
Protection from 2016 reduction
The protection notification number is in the format:
- FP16 followed by 10 digits and 1 letter, for fixed protection 2016 (for example FP161234567890A)
- IP16 followed by 10 digits and 1 letter, for individual protection 2016 (for example IP161234567890B)
The deadline to apply for Fixed Protection 2016 and Individual Protection 2016 is 5 April 2025.
Temporary reference numbers are no longer valid. If your member has one they’ll need to apply for a permanent protection notification number.
Protected allowances look-up service
To check if your member has protected their allowances, you can use the protected allowances scheme administrator look-up service.
To use the look-up service, you’ll need:
- your member’s National Insurance number
- your member’s surname
- your member’s protection notification number
- your member’s pension scheme administrator check reference number
In most cases, your members can find these reference numbers through their Government Gateway user ID, even if they did not apply for lifetime allowance protection online.
If your members lose their protected allowances, they must tell HMRC immediately.
Last updated 6 April 2024 + show all updates
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Updated information about lifetime allowance to protected allowance, as lifetime allowance was abolished on 6th April 2024.
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Information about pension scheme members with lifetime allowance protection who have a benefit crystallisation event take place after 6 April 2023 has been added.
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If your members lose their lifetime allowance protection, they must tell HMRC immediately.
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This guidance has been updated to reflect the new lifetime allowance scheme administrator look-up service.
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Amendments made to reflect that members applying for individual protection 2016 now need to apply for a permanent protection reference number online.
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This guidance has been updated to reflect the new online service for members to protect their lifetime allowance from the 2014 and 2016 reduction.
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First published.