Transferring your pension savings is a big decision and could have a significant impact on your financial future.

A few things to think about before moving your pension

Investment returns

We offer a range of investment options to best suit your needs, giving you a better chance of your pension being worth more in the long run. Our returns have been strong, and our most popular fund has grown on average by 4.05% per year for the last 5 years (to August 2023). Find out more about our investment performance.

Saving for life

It’s your money and you’re in control. Even if you move jobs, you can keep paying into your pension with us.

We help you save more

We offer great value to our members. Our annual management charge rebate gives back a total of over £1m to members every month.

Putting people first

We’re trusted by over 6 million savers to grow and protect over £17bn of their money, helping them to a better retirement.

Our profit for people approach means we use profits to help people build better lives, not to reward shareholders. We put people – our customers – first, focusing time and effort on making things easier and fairer for them.  Read the key facts you need to know about your pension.

What if I have several pension pots?

If you’ve worked in several jobs, you’ve likely picked up a number of pension pots along the way. You can keep these separate while continuing to pay into your pot with The People’s Pension – even if you’ve changed jobs.

You can contribute to your pension monthly via Direct Debit or through a lump sum payment. And you’ll still benefit from tax relief (subject to current HMRC limits). You can find out more about making additional contributions on our webpage.

You can also combine all your pension pots into one. This can bring several benefits, such as helping you keep better track of your savings for later life.

We help 1,000s of people who transfer and combine their pensions with us every month. It’s quick and easy to do – you just need to fill in a quick online form and we’ll do the rest.

Don’t get stung on charges

Many companies can look appealing on paper but could end up costing you thousands of pounds in extra charges. Not all pension schemes are the same, and some providers may charge you more than others.

It’s always a good idea to compare any charges and benefits before deciding to switch pension providers. Our charges are competitive to give your savings the best chance of growing. And remember, we also offer a rebate on the management charge on pots over £3,000, rewarding you for saving more with us.

Impact on your normal minimum pension age

The normal minimum pension age is the earliest age that you can usually access your pension savings and is set by the government. This is currently set at age 55 and is rising to age 57 from 6 April 2028.

Some schemes, such as The People’s Pension, provide automatic protections that allow you to continue taking your pension money at age 55 after 6 April 2028. However, due to a change in government regulations, these protections aren’t available if you joined the scheme on or after 4 November 2021.

If you joined The People’s Pension before 4 November 2021, this protection is automatically provided to you but may be lost on transferring to a different pension provider. You should consider if the new pension provider will allow you to take your money from age 55 after 6 April 2028 (as other providers may not offer this option).

If you reach age 57 before 6 April 2028, this doesn’t affect you and you can still take your pension savings from age 55.

Find out more

Watch out for scammers

If you’ve received a pension offer that looks too good to be true, more often than not, it is. Visit our pension scams webpage for more information.

Get guidance before making the next step

Before deciding to move your pension to another provider, you should consider seeking guidance or advice. Our guidance team are on hand to answer any questions you may have. You can call them on 0300 2000 555 or use our online contact form.

You can also speak to the following for further guidance:

• MoneyHelper is a free service, backed by the government, offering impartial money and pension guidance.
• Pension Wise is a free and impartial service for the over 50s, backed by the government and provided by MoneyHelper, offering guidance about what to do with your pension savings.
• If you already have a financial adviser, you may wish to speak to them about your retirement needs.
• If you require professional advice, visit Unbiased for help with finding an independent financial adviser. Please note that they may charge you for this service.

If you do want to transfer to another provider

1. Talk to us first. This can often be one of the most important financial decisions you can make, so it’s a good idea to understand what to look out for if you move your savings out of The People’s Pension. Call our guidance team on 0300 2000 555 or contact us online.
2. Find out how much your new provider will charge you and what their investment returns are like (though note past performances should not be relied on.) Here’s our ratings on investment performance, charges and service.
3. Find your account number – it’s alongside your pension balance in your Online Account. Get started by setting up or logging in to your Online Account.
4. Get in touch with the pension scheme provider you want to transfer to and check if they use Origo Options. This is an electronic system which makes transferring quicker and easier for you. If they don’t use Origo Options, you’ll need to contact us to request a paper transfer-out form.
5. The provider you’re transferring to will tell you what to do next.
6. While your transfer is progressing, we may need you to complete ID checks with us – but we’ll let you know. Sometimes we may need to ask you some extra questions about the scheme and/or provider you want to transfer to. This is part of our commitment to The Pensions Regulator’s Scams Pledge to protect our members from falling victim to pension scams.

Please note: When you transfer your money away from The People’s Pension, you usually have to move all of your pension pot in one go. If you have a defined benefit scheme, you can transfer some of your money, (if scheme rules permit this), known as a partial transfer.

We’ll require:

• confirmation of your ex-spouse’s full name and names of which they have previously been known
• copy of the decree absolute
• their current driving licence, or current passport
• proof of their current address (such as a gas or electricity bill)
• your ex-spouse’s National Insurance number.
• copy of the Court Order with the effective date inserted by the court

If the pension credit is being transferred externally, we also need:

• the full name of the receiving scheme
• the name of a contact and their phone number
• the policy number of the scheme (if you know it).

If you’ve received a share of your ex-spouse’s pension pot in a divorce settlement, and you have an account with The People’s Pension, you can transfer the pension credit to us. Please contact us and we’ll let you know what needs to be done.

This makes keeping track of your pension easy. You’ll keep your same customer number and will be able to view both your old and new pension details under one Online Account login.

Transferring into The People’s Pension is simple – all you need to do is give us the details and we’ll help you do the rest.

• We’ll contact your existing pension provider
• We’ll request the relevant forms from the provider
• We’ll make arrangements to ensure your savings are transferred
• We’ll contact you and let you know once the transfer is complete

You may like a personalised illustration before you transfer. Although we don’t give financial advice, we’ll be happy to do everything we can to help you.

Find out how to transfer, what you should consider before transferring and more on our webpage about pension transfers.

Find out more about transferring your savings from The People’s Pension to another pension provider, or watch our video on transferring out:

This is why we won’t accept applications directly through our website if your pension is one of the following types worth more than £30,000:

• defined benefit pensions or pensions that provide any other salary-related benefits
• pensions promising set annuity rates (also known as guaranteed annuity rates)
• pensions with guaranteed minimum pension benefits
• pensions invested in guaranteed funds or funds promising guaranteed investment returns
• pensions with any other guarantees.

We also only accept cash transfers and don’t accept ‘in-specie’ assets (non-cash) transfers

This means that you may not receive the same rebate on your management charge you may otherwise be eligible for if your money was all in the same pot. And you may pay the annual charge twice.

If this is the case, please contact us. We can simply amalgamate your savings so you only have one customer number. There’s no need to do a transfer.

If you have a flexi-access drawdown account in addition to your other savings under the same customer number, they’ll both be taken into consideration when calculating your rebate on your management charge. We don’t apply the annual charge on your flexi-access drawdown account.

If you’re in an investment profile, you’ll have a 15-year glidepath, where your pension savings are automatically moved and invested into lower-risk investments as you approach your selected retirement age. The transferred fund will therefore be allocated according to your current age and your selected retirement age. The closer you are to your selected retirement age, the more of your pension savings will be invested into lower-risk investments.

Find out more about our investment funds

• Regardless of the size of the transfer value from the transferring defined benefit scheme, no transfer will be accepted into The People’s Pension without the administrator/trustee(s) of the transferring defined benefit scheme giving the Trustee and People’s Partnership certain assurances and an indemnity. We’ll request these accordingly and will consider acceptance of your transfer value once we’ve received them.
• For transfers over £30,000, you’ll need to enclose a copy of the independent advice you’ve received from your adviser. Only then will People’s Partnership and the Trustee of The People’s Pension be able to consider your request to transfer into The People’s Pension. Please note, transfers can’t be accepted unless this advice contains a recommendation from your adviser to transfer your pension savings to The People’s Pension.