Martin Lines, head of business development at Partnership, says there is a possibility clients already in drawdown will be able to do to a drawdown-to-drawdown transfer to a different product or provider to enable them to take advantage of the new rules.
Some, such as Claire Trott, head of technical support at Talbot & Muir, says she expects the maximum income rates to fall away within products - scheme rules permitting - and therefore those already in drawdown will be able to take advantage of the new proposed rules without needing to transfer.
Drawdown products currently in force will give clients the easiest route to the new proposals, according to Ms Trott, because the schemes are already established to pay income direct rather than transferring to another provider to pay income.
She says a large number of existing pension schemes do not offer drawdown in any form and so do not have the PAYE facilities to pay the income.
In the short term until the new rules come in next April, if your client is already in drawdown David Trenner, technical director of Intelligent Pensions, says really they will need to wait until their next plan anniversary to take advantage of the increase in maximum GAD rate 150 per cent under capped drawdown.
To take advantage of the new flexible drawdown rules, Mr Trenner says your client must be able to evidence the £12,000 minimum income requirement in the tax year in which flexible drawdown commences.
It has yet to be confirmed how the new proposals would be phased in post-April 2015 but Mr Trenner says it is likely that, if passed, the new flexible drawdown rules would be available to all drawdown investors on the date the new rules come into force.
