What to do with small pension in UK

Just heading to England tomorrow where I have two small private pensions.
Unfortunately, combined, they just come over the trivial pensions limit (by about 2k)

Has anyone one any idea of the Irish law in relation to this as against the UK laws?

I was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer (cancer of the bone marrow - Multiple Myeloma) about 18 months ago and, although in complete remission, for the moment, I don't know how long I have to live. As I have no family to inherit any surplus on my death, what would anyone recommend:
Cash in as much as I can - leaving very little monthly payment.
Leave it so that a get as much monthly payment as possibly (total about €200 per month if I take no lump sum)
Something else.

I know that I'll have to talk to a financial advisor but just would like to get some idea from posters here.

The trivial pension limit here is €20,000 after withdrawal of your tax-free lump sum. I'm not very familiar with the UK rule but I thought it was £18,000 including the tax-free lump sum. So in theory if your fund is £20,000 and you transferred it over here - say €24,000 after conversion - you might still be under the Irish triviality rules if your lump sum entitlement is >€4,000.

Are you of age to retire here? Even if not, I suspect you might have grounds to apply for early retirement due to ill-health.

Delighted to hear that you're in remission at present. But if your life expectancy is still impaired and you have no family to provide for, I think personally I'd be inclined to access as much of the fund now as I could.

Liam D. Ferguson

I will be 66 in April so I can retire - and have done so, but not claimed anything. That's why I want to sort out what I have in the UK.

I was thinking of buying a flat or small bungalow and would probably need a decent lump sum from the pension fund to go towards the purchase.