If you are looking to transfer your pension to another provider, there are a number of factors to consider and steps you must complete first.
You can transfer your pension as long as:
If you do wish to transfer your pension, you should contact your new provider to see if they will accept the transfer. If they do, they will normally contact us directly to begin the process however you should follow their transfer procedure.
If you are looking to transfer to a scheme out with the Public Sector Transfer Club, you get an estimated transfer value via our online members portal My Pension+. Smply login and use the "Explore my transfer options" within the calculators area.
For the purposes of transferring, Normal Pension Age varies depending on when you left the pension scheme:
The date members meet the Rule of 85 is not classed as NPA.
If you hold more than one deferred benefit either in our Fund or with another LGPS Fund, you must transfer all your benefits. You cannot pick to transfers some and not others.
If you have two or more jobs in which you pay into the LGPS, and you leave one job but not all of them, you will have deferred benefits for the job you have left. These deferred benefits will be automatically transferred to the pension account for the job your are continuing in unless you choose to keep them separate.
If you have AVCs, you will be required to take, or opt out of, Pension Wise guidance, before your AVCs can be transferred. Find out more here.
If you want to withdraw or cash in your pension, you need to transfer to another pension provider who offers this option. You are required by law to get independent financial advice before the transfer can happen if your pension benefits are worth £30,000 or more. You will also need to prove that this advice has been sought.
Before you transfer it is important that you have information about both your new provider and the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and that you fully understand the benefits of each. There are benefits within the Pension Scheme that might not be available elsewhere such as: