Thanks for the update Freeex.

I suspect that the bit about "compensation not being guaranteed if you dont have a pension with ELAS" is frankly bulldust. I cannot see how you can remain a Member of ELAS after 75 via a pension policy, their annuity rates are generally low to discourage people taking annuities and as they are non-profit they do not confer membership benefits anyway. You cannot remain in USP drawdown with ELAS post 75, they don't offer ASP and no longer offer WP annuities. Not that I could imagine anyone wanting to buy one if they did !

I suggest you do some homework before the matter becomes urgent into types and values of annuities available. If you smoke or have any medical conditions enquire about Impaired Life Annuities ( and in this case, certainly start now as there may be lenghthy medical enquiries which have to be undertaken first).

These are small sums so would you want to maximise the income with a single life no minimum duration annuity, have an annuity which continues to a dependant ( even a non-spouse co-dependant in some cases) or one which guarantees to pay out to your estate for 10 years even if you die after 10 weeks? As you might guess frills which extend the payment of the annuity make a big difference to the amount at your age. On these sums I would suggest ( but not advice !) That you do not bother with 1/2 spouses annuity and go for 100% or nothing, similarly with 10 year guarantees, you could get a higher annuity on 5 years but you may go all or nothing Zero or 10 years.

All the following comments on USP / ASP could be rubbish by Friday morning, the rules MIGHT change entirely before you are 75, though there is a distinct possibility that changing these rules might not be "Emergency Budget" priority and left til next full Budget, which would be too late for you.

You maybe able to find a SIPP provider who would take on USP to convert to ASP @ 75, but check the costs to see if it is worthwhile in advance. IIRC the GAD review for ASP is annual rather than quinquennial, so if your ASP provider charges for GAD Reviews every year this could be very expensive as a proportion of such a small fund. You annual "Draw" under ASP rules could be quite a lot less than you current managed Pension if you have been drawing the maximum since the last Review . If you would want a spouse to take over drawing on your ASP fund after your death, ensure that your favoured ASP provider will facilitate this without insisting on your spouse having potentially expensive advice from an IFA before this can proceed. Such advice if required could well cost more than a years income !

The payment after tax to non spouse beneficiaries is so clobbered for tax that it is hardly worth considering, leaving it to Charity tax free would be an option and indeed I gather that many ASP providers offer no option OTHER than leaving it to charity if there is no spouse.