Problem withdrawing small pot pension from People's Pension due to HMRC ruling

I am a director of a close company. The company made pension contributions on my behalf to People's Pension. Contributions have now ceased as I am now 60 and wish to take the funds. The amount is not large - under £10k. People's Pension tell me that HMRC rules prevent me withdrawing my funds as a small pot. Their response to my enquiry about this is as follows: 'Based on the pot size, the only option you will have is to transfer the pot to another provider in order to claim it. This is actually one of HMRC's rulings. The claim wouldn't go through after being checked i'm afraid.' Can you confirm if this is correct? Does the ruling they refer to only relate to People's Pension or does it apply to other providers?

Hi,
Please refer to Tax when you get a pension and Personal pensions How you can take your pension as this may the actual pension company decision not to offer this as an option.
Thank you.