The Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) will increase from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028. This is generally the earliest age at which individuals can access benefits from a registered pension scheme – both workplace schemes and personal pensions. The change was legislated in the Finance Act 2022 and aligns with the planned increase in State Pension Age to 67.
There are a couple of exceptions that may be worth noting.
First, it will continue to be possible to take benefits at any age if an individual is unable to work due to ill-health, as certified by a medical practitioner. In cases of “serious ill-health”, where life expectancy is less than 12 months, it is possible for all benefits to be taken as a cash sum, tax-free, at any age.
There is also an exception where a pension scheme retains a “protected pension age” that is below the NMPA. Before April 2010, NMPA was 50 and that option could be protected if the pension scheme rules included an automatic right for members to take benefits without needing consent of the employer or trustees. The same protection will be available in April 2028, where the right for members to take benefits from age 55 is already hard-wired into the scheme rules.
HMRC is currently consulting on draft regulations intended to provide transitional protection for certain individuals aged 55 and 56 immediately before the NMPA increases. The consultation closed on 28 September 2026, and the proposed rules are intended to ensure that certain payments made from 6 April 2028 can continue to qualify as authorised payments where the relevant entitlement arose before the NMPA increased (i.e. an individual had attained age 55 but not yet 57).
Further details will be available once the transitional protections are confirmed and we will provide updates over the next two years as the effective date approaches.
To discuss how you or your scheme might be affected by the change to NMPA, contact David Hodgson, MHM Pension Services on 01423 229029 or by email to david.hodgson@mhmpensions.co.uk
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