I am an expat/international worker living in the Czech Republic and working all across Europe.

I spent 9 years from 1990 to 1999 working for a UK insurance company called Britannic Assurance and was a member of their pension scheme. I made no contributions myself and only Britannic Assurance put money into my pension plus a small part of my national insurance contributions also went in.

In April 2006 HMRC changed the rules on transferring pension monies from the UK into offshore pension schemes known as QROPS ( qualified recognised overseas pension schemes).

I wrote to Britannic Assurance trustees for a fund value and to my delight I was told my fund was worth £98000 and was mine to transfer if I wanted to. The trustees also told me they were only making 3% investment return on my pension money per year and sometimes less so inflation was eating away at my pension pot.

I transferred all the money in February 2009 into a QROPS and the money is now in an offshore bank account in my name in the Isle Of Man enjoying tax free growth, complete confidentiality and the highest levels of Government backed investment protection anywhere in the world. I can draw 25% of the fund from age 50 and the rest as a tax free income for life. I don’t have to purchase a UK annuity and if I die my family will get all the remaining money and the UK government wont get a penny.