My pension went from £50,000 to £15,000 In his submission to the ombudsman, Mr Finn said he was "disappointed" that Virgin took action which resulted in an unauthorised payment charge being levied on his fund and that he was "unsure why they have taken such a draconian stance when other routes could have been pursued." Virgin told the ombudsman that it had "vigorously and diligently pursued Mr Finn and his adviser to expedite the transfer and highlighted the consequences of failing to do so." It said it had informed Mr Finn and his adviser of the requirements numerous times in the five months leading up to his 75th birthday, including reminders about the very serious consequences of not transferring his benefits in time. Despite these reminders, he and his adviser failed to supply the necessary forms. Virgin said it believed it was the Mortgage Advice Centre, not Virgin, that had a case to answer. Canada Life said that, as Mr Finn's application was not completed before his 75th birthday, he had exceeded the allowable age of entry for the plan, meaning that it could not be issued. In his adjudication, Tony King, the Pensions Ombudsman, said: "Given that by well before the payment [from Virgin] was made it had been made clear [what the] financial consequences would be of not transferring before age 75, I cannot say that Virgin acted unreasonably in exercising its discretion to make an unauthorised member payment. I do not uphold the complaint. A spokesman for Virgin Money told The Telegraph: "We have no comment to add in relation to the case." Billy Mackay, a director of AJ Bell, the self-invested pension company, said: "We don't think this is an issue any more. Before April 6 2011, all pension investors had to move into a 'secured pension' by the time they hit their 75th birthday. If they didn't, a taxable unauthorised payment occurred on their 75th birthday. The main options for a secured pension were a lifetime annuity and an "alternatively secured pension," similar to income drawdown. He added: "We now have a position where there is no requirement to go into a secured pension by age 75. In fact, there is not even a requirement to take benefits at all before age 75. There is also no such thing as alternatively secured pension. A member who is in drawdown stays in drawdown after age 75 and there is no tax charge for failing to secure a pension. If the member has not moved into drawdown he or she can defer a decision until after age 75. There is also the risk they could die before taking their tax-free cash. If they die, there will be a 55pc tax charge on lump-sum benefits even if the client hasn't started taking benefits. Arshad Khan, a pensions expert at Sackers, the law firm, said: "The rules are not as draconian now - there is no cliff edge at age 75. No one would now get an 'automatic' tax charge for an unauthorised payment, it would happen only as a result of a conscious decision. She said Mr Finn could try contacting his local tax office, which might show some flexibility and find a way for him to take pension benefits in a way that involved a lower tax bill. Sue Beaumont, a pension consultant at Linder Myers solicitors, said: "It appears that there has been a lack of timely communication from the original pension provider. Transferring a pension plan effectively can take up to six months to process.