Savers are finding themselves in a bind as delays hit pension withdrawals, following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to remove the inheritance tax (IHT) exemption on pension savings from April 2027. As the fear of the new tax grab grows, pensioners have been rushing to move £7bn out of the government’s reach.
However, this has led to a serious backlog, with pension providers reportedly taking three times longer to release funds. According to reports in the Telegraph, some savers are facing waits of up to two months, as pension providers are overwhelmed by the influx of withdrawal requests. Gabriel McKeown, head of macroeconomics at Sad Rabbit, explained that there’s always a surge in pension withdrawals around the end of the tax year, but he noted that providers’ outdated processes and “considerable bureaucracy” often lead to significant delays, as reported by the Express.
