The Personal Pension Schemes (Personal Pension Protected Rights Premiums) Regulations 1987

Re-allocation and refund of premium

7.—(1) Where a premium is wrongly paid, or paid as to the wrong amount, the Secretary of State may treat all or part of that premium as paid (wholly or in part) in discharge of a liability for another premium.

(2) Where a premium has been paid in connection with protected rights and another such premium subsequently becomes payable in connection with the same protected rights or protected rights including those rights, the Secretary of State may treat all or part of the first premium as paid (wholly or in part) in discharge of a liability for the second premium.

(3) Subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) the Secretary of State shall refund a premium if—

(a) that premium was paid in error; or

(b) he is satisfied that a transfer of the protected rights will be made in accordance with Schedule 1 to the Act;

and where a premium is refunded under the provisions of this paragraph the protected rights which were extinguished by payment of the premium and the corresponding reduction in any guaranteed minimum pension to which that person or any widow or widower of that person was treated as entitled shall be restored.

(4) A refund under paragraph (3) shall be made only if an application is made in writing, in such form as the Secretary of State may reasonably require for the purpose.

(5) In paragraph (3) “error” means, and means only, an error which—

(a) is made at the time of payment; and

(b) relates to some present or past matter.

(6) The Secretary of State shall refund a premium if he is satisfied that it ought to be refunded where the person in respect of whom it was paid has died without leaving a widow or widower on or before the later of the days first mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) respectively of regulation 5(1) or, as the case may be, regulation 5(2).