Employers and employees who want to withdraw part of their pension funds due to the COVID-19 pandemic are at liberty to do so, up to 15 per cent of the total accrued benefit, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has directed.
This is part of guidelines on COVID-19 induced withdrawals issued to the Pension Trustees of the Tier 3 Schemes.
According to the guidelines, members of Personal Pension Schemes can withdraw all the amounts in their savings accounts.
But employers laying off workers due to COVID-19 can access that fund only if its last payment was February 2020 for January 2020 contributors.
Meanwhile, the procedures for accessing the funds are as follows:
Members will have to submit a letter to the Trustee stating its inability to pay its workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic thereby laying off its workers permanently.
A member who wishes to make a withdrawal should do so at the trustee outfit by completing the appropriate forms and attaching the relevant documents.
The trustee shall also submit copies of the withdrawal application documents to the authority for approval.
The trustee therefore honours the withdrawal application upon receipt of the authority’s approval.
