Terminal and critical illness support

We’re here to support you

If you have a terminal or critical illness, we can help you. We’ll listen to understand your needs and offer support and guidance for you and your family.

Investments

We can help if you need to:

Stop or reduce your payments
Withdraw money from your account
Register a power of attorney

If there’s anything else you need, please let us know.

What happens next?

If you choose to reduce payments in to your Investment or Stocks and Shares ISA account, it takes 3 working days to amend it.
If you decide to stop your payments into your account, and you cancel your Direct Debit within 3 working days of the collection date, the cancellation will happen after your next payment is collected.
Once you’ve requested a withdrawal from your Investment or Stocks and Shares ISA account it takes 3-5 working days for it to arrive in your account. If you have an urgent need for the money to be withdrawn faster due to your personal circumstances, please call us.
If you register attorney(s) to your account, they’ll be able to help you manage your account for you. Find out more about power of attorney.

Pensions

We can help if you need to:

Stop or reduce your payments
Take your pension early if you have serious ill-health
Transfer to another pension provider (perhaps if you’d like more flexible access to your money)
Register a power of attorney

Taking your Pension early

If you can’t do your usual type of work due to illness or you need money to cover treatments or care, support loved ones or for experiences then you may be able to get money from your pension early.

You can take out money from your pension from the age of 55 (57 from April 2028). You may be able to take money out before this if your GP has confirmed you have serious ill-health (less than one year to live).

If your claim is approved, you can get your full pension amount that will be:

Tax-free if you have serious ill-health (less than one year to live) and aged under 75

Taxed according to HMRC rules if you have serious-ill health and over 75

A combination of 25% tax-free and 75% taxed according to HMRC rules if your illness isn’t confirmed as serious-ill- health

What happens next

If you choose to reduce payments into your pension account it takes 3 working days to amend it.
If you decide to stop your payments into pension account, and you cancel your Direct Debit within 3 working days of the collection date, the cancellation will happen after your next payment is collected.
If you register attorney(s) to your account, they’ll be able to help you manage your pension account for you. Find out more about power of attorney.
If you request to take your pension early, we’ll provide you with two forms. One for you to complete and another for your doctor (registered medical practitioner) to complete as evidence. You’ll then need to return the completed forms to us. We’ll let you know the outcome of your claim after reviewing the forms and medical evidence. If approved, we’ll pay your pension amount. It takes 3-5 working days for it to arrive in your account. If you have an urgent need for the funds due to your personal circumstances, please call us. If we’re unable to approve, we’ll be in touch.

For a Stocks and Shares ISA, Investment Account or Pension, you can stop or reduce payments anytime, but this could affect how much money you’ll get back. You can also withdraw money from your Stocks and Shares ISA or Investment Account whenever you like, but this could affect future returns. You can take your Pension early if you have serious ill-health. You should also consider the tax implications if you withdraw money. You’ll lose the tax-efficient status of money withdrawn from your ISA unless you transfer it directly into another ISA. Withdrawals from your Investment Account may be subject to Capital Gains Tax. Any Pension withdrawals are taxed as income, except in cases of serious-ill health.