Enhanced protection was a 2006 HMRC shield from the lifetime allowance charge, open at any pot size. Since April 2024 it lifts tax-free lump sum limits.

The charge it was designed to prevent went with the lifetime allowance on 6 April 2024, so what an enhanced protection certificate decides now is how much you can take tax free. To learn what yours changes for your pensions today, an FCA-authorised adviser will telephone you, free, and go through it with you; start on the form on this page. First, what the protection is and where it stands.

What is enhanced protection for pensions?

HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual says that "individuals who had certain rights at 5 April 2006 could apply to HMRC for enhanced protection (EP) to protect them from the lifetime allowance charge when those rights came into payment after 5 April 2006." In plain terms, it kept those rights clear of the charge, in return for limits on what you did with your pensions afterwards.

The manual says a person with valid enhanced protection "could not take a lifetime allowance excess lump sum", and that the protection could cover pension rights plus any separate lump sum rights.

Who could register, and by when?

You did not need a large pot to register. HMRC says the protection was open to people with pension rights in a tax-privileged scheme on 5 April 2006, "including those with pension rights of less than £1.5 million". The notification had to be made no earlier than 6 April 2006 and no later than 5 April 2009, and HMRC then issued a certificate with a unique reference number to the individual.

The manual adds that "valid late applications can still be made". GOV.UK removed its information on applying for protected allowances on 6 April 2025, so anyone thinking of a late claim should ask HMRC directly. A certificate issued from 15 March 2023 onwards comes with stricter rules, explained below.

Some people notified HMRC of both enhanced and primary protection. In that case the enhanced claim took precedence, and if it is lost the protection falls back to primary protection, which is explained at primary protection for pensions.

How did enhanced protection work with the lifetime allowance?

While the lifetime allowance existed, HMRC says a person with valid enhanced protection was "not liable to the lifetime allowance charge on any benefit crystallisation event". The charge itself, and why it went, is in the lifetime allowance explained.

Benefits drawn before the change still count. HMRC says anyone who had a benefit crystallisation event before 6 April 2024 will need to review the transitional calculations that apply with enhanced protection.

What are the lump sum limits with enhanced protection?

Enhanced protection raises the tax-free lump sum limits above the standard ones, which GOV.UK gives as £268,275 for the lump sum allowance and £1,073,100 for the lump sum and death benefit allowance, both lifetime limits rather than yearly ones. HMRC's manual puts it this way: "as of 6 April 2024, lifetime allowance has been abolished, but an individual is entitled to have their lump sum allowance and lump sum death benefit allowance protected."

  • No lump sum protection with it: HMRC's manual says the lump sum allowance "will be £375,000". That is higher than the standard figure.
  • Lump sum protection on the certificate: GOV.UK says you keep the protection "noted on your protection certificate", worth the protected percentage of your pension pots on 5 April 2023. Its example is a certificate showing 40% and pots of £1.6 million on that date, giving up to £640,000. That is HMRC's illustration, not a forecast for anyone.
  • Overall lump sum and death benefit allowance: HMRC's manual says it will be the amount equal to the value of your uncrystallised pension rights on 5 April 2024.

GOV.UK adds that contributions made after 5 April 2023 are not included when the protected percentage is worked out. And the percentage is not the whole story: GOV.UK says you can take "a maximum of 25% of your pension pot, even if you have a higher amount of tax-free lump sum available". Your scheme works out the limit that applies to you. An adviser who phones once you have asked through the quick form here can read your protected lump sum figures alongside your other pensions. The wider rules are at the lump sum and death benefit allowance and tax-free lump sums.

Where there is no lump sum protection, HMRC's manual says anything in excess of £375,000 "will be subject to income tax at the individual’s marginal rate".

Can you lose enhanced protection? Check your certificate date

The answer depends on the date on your certificate. HMRC says that a person with a certificate issued before 15 March 2023 "cannot lose their enhanced protection", and may "accrue benefits, transfer or join new arrangements" without risk. For a late application made on or after 15 March 2023, the person gets the higher allowances but is "subject to the rules for protection cessation events".

Those events, for a certificate from 15 March 2023 onwards, are listed by HMRC:

  • relevant benefit accrual under any arrangement in a registered pension scheme;
  • a transfer from any arrangement holding rights for you that is not a permitted transfer;
  • an arrangement receiving an impermissible transfer, such as a transfer of sums or assets held otherwise than by a pension scheme;
  • you telling HMRC you no longer wish to be covered;
  • a new arrangement set up for you other than for a permitted transfer or a compliance exercise.

For those later certificates, what counts depends on the type of arrangement. For other money purchase arrangements, HMRC calls the test "an input test": a contribution paid on or after 6 April 2006 triggers loss in most circumstances. For defined benefit and cash balance arrangements it is an output test, so paying in does not trigger loss but taking or transferring benefits may. HMRC says any type of arrangement may transfer to an other money purchase arrangement as a permitted transfer, though a transfer out of a defined benefit or cash balance arrangement is still measured against the benefit accrual test. A transfer from money purchase to a defined benefit arrangement is not permitted and ends the protection. The transfer process itself is in how to transfer your pension. Not sure whether a contribution or transfer would end your protection? Ask for the free call from an adviser through the quick form here before you act.

If protection does end, HMRC says the lump sum allowances revert to the standard ones (where primary protection was also registered, it falls back to primary instead), and earlier tax treatment is not revisited.

Telling your pension schemes before you draw a lump sum

GOV.UK says that if you hold enhanced protection, "you should tell your pension schemes as soon as possible", so they are aware of the value of your pension pot on 5 April 2023. When you take benefits, HMRC's manual says you give the scheme administrator the reference number on your certificate, and the scheme can ask to see a copy of the certificate as proof of the rights it protects. If you want HMRC to pass the details to the scheme, you authorise that on form APSS203.

Enhanced protection questions

How does enhanced protection differ from fixed protection?

They opened at different times for different savers. HMRC's manual says fixed protection 2012 was for people with more than £1.5 million saved on 5 April 2012, whereas enhanced protection dates from 2006 and had no minimum. GOV.UK also gives fixed protection a tax-free lump sum of up to £450,000, against £375,000 for enhanced protection without lump sum protection. See fixed protection; individual protection works differently again.

Can I take the whole £375,000 from a smaller pot?

No. GOV.UK's 25% ceiling still applies, so the tax-free amount is held down by the size of the pot, and the rest of what you draw is taxed as income; see pension drawdown tax.

Do my employer's contributions put enhanced protection at risk?

With a certificate from 15 March 2023 onwards they can, because HMRC counts an employer's contribution to an other money purchase arrangement as a relevant contribution. For an earlier certificate, GOV.UK says that from 6 April 2023 you can keep contributing without losing it. The yearly limits in the pension annual allowance apply either way.

Does pension sharing on divorce affect enhanced protection?

HMRC's manual says a permitted transfer of rights to an ex-spouse under a pension sharing order does not affect the enhanced protection of the person whose rights are reduced. How the share is moved therefore matters, so check it with the scheme before the order takes effect.

What if I cannot find my enhanced protection certificate?

GOV.UK says that in most cases you can find your reference numbers online by signing in to check your existing pension, even if you did not apply online. An enhanced protection reference is 8 characters of digits and letters, such as A012345A in HMRC's own example. Still unsure? The adviser who rings back after your request through the form here can explain what HMRC and your scheme usually need.