How to transfer or combine defined contribution pensions

You can use our tool to find out your pension type or ask your pension provider.

This guide explains how to transfer or consolidate defined contribution pensions.

If you have a defined benefit scheme this guide won’t help you, instead see our guides about:

1. Defined benefit to defined contribution transfers
2. How to combine defined benefit pensions.

Many people often change jobs and lose track of the workplace pension that came with it. If you think you might have lost a pension, find step-by-step help in our guide How to find old or lost pensions.

If the scheme you’re transferring to does not offer the same features as your existing pension, you’ll lose these benefits by moving your pension.

Before considering a transfer, always check if your existing scheme has:

• exit fees or other penalties for leaving
• special features or guarantees, including:
  • guaranteed annuity rates – these might let you convert your pension into a higher guaranteed income than you could get elsewhere
  • a with-profits bonus – where you get an extra payment after a certain date
  • a protected normal minimum pension age (NMPA) – this might let you access your pension earlier than other schemes.

It might also be worth leaving a pension where it is if:

• your employer currently pays into it, as many employers will not pay their contribution into a different scheme
• the pension is worth less than £10,000 and you plan on taking the whole amount in one go, as you might benefit from small pot rules.

Small pot rules let you take your entire pension as one lump sum with 25% paid tax-free – without reducing your annual allowance for tax relief or lump sum allowance.

This means you’ll still qualify for the maximum amount of tax relief on any pension contributions you make and might be able to take more of your other pensions tax-free.

If you’d still like to move your pension, you can usually choose to transfer it to:

• a scheme you already have, or
• a new provider.

If you have multiple pensions, you could:

• compare your existing schemes to find the best one that accepts transfers in
• check if you can find a better deal from a different provider.

Comparison sites comparing all pension providers do not exist, so you’ll need to do your own research.

What’s best depends on what you want from a pension scheme. For example, it might be the cheapest, best value, easiest to contact or a scheme with the widest choice of investments.

To help you work this out, make sure to check:

• how your money is, or would be, invested
• if you can choose your own investments
• if the scheme’s options to take your pension money match your plans
• what fees fees you’ll need to pay, including:
  • set up and transfer charges
  • annual management fees
  • investment charges
  • fees to change your investments.

For help finding a new provider, see our guide How to start your own pension.  

Before committing to a pension transfer, you can:

• ask your existing pension provider for a transfer value
• send the transfer value to the potential new scheme  
• ask the new scheme to explain the pension benefits this would buy you. 

A transfer value is how much a new scheme would receive and can rise or fall until you actually make the transfer.

If you’re able to transfer into a defined benefit pension, you should be told how your money would be converted into guaranteed retirement income. This typically means you’ll be buying additional years of service or an extra fixed amount.

As there’s a risk you could be worse off transferring your pension, it’s worth considering paying for financial advice.

A regulated financial adviser can:

• tell you if you’d be better off transferring your pension to a different scheme
• recommend schemes or products to transfer to 
• help identify if the new scheme is likely to be a scam.

You might have to get financial advice before you’re allowed to transfer your pension if:

• it guarantees you a retirement income in some way, including guaranteed annuity rates
• the guaranteed benefits are worth more than £30,000.

You can ask your pension provider to explain the rules that apply to you. 

If you pay for regulated financial advice and it turns out to be poor, including if you lose money as a result of bad advice, you can complain and ask for compensation.

For more information, see our guide How to claim compensation for a pension problem or poor advice.

The scheme you’d like to move to will usually: 

• give you a transfer request form to complete
• contact your existing provider(s) and arrange for the money to be sent over.

A transfer often takes between two and six weeks, but your provider has up to six months to action your request.

If your pension provider is slow to act, you can complain. For step-by-step help, see our guide How to complain about delays to your pension.

If you’ve transferred to another defined contribution pension, your money is usually invested in the new scheme’s default fund unless you’ve selected different investments.

For more information, see our guide How to choose your own pension investment options.

When you ask to transfer your pension, your current provider must make several checks to see if there’s a risk of you being scammed.

This includes checking the type of scheme you’re transferring to, how it’s regulated, its fees and how your money would be invested.

If your provider is worried the new scheme might be a scam, they can decide to:

• stop your transfer if they have serious concerns
• delay your transfer until you’ve booked a free Pension Safeguarding Guidance appointment.

For more information, see our guide What to do if your pension transfer is stopped or delayed.