Transfer your pensions
We'll guide you through the process of making a transfer, from making sure it's right for you, to what to expect after completing your application.
4 simple steps to transfer your pensions
Do you have one or more pensions you no longer pay into? We can help you combine your pensions into our award-winning* Retirement Account from our partners Scottish Widows. Our 4-step process will show you everything you need to know about how a transfer works.
View your pension
Once the transfers have been made into your new Retirement Account and you receive your policy documents, your pension is live and ready to view.
With the Paramount savings Mobile Banking app you’ll be able to see at a glance how much your total combined pension is worth – anytime, anywhere.
Check if it's right for you
To combine your pensions into a Retirement Account, you need to be:
- Transferring a total value of more than £10,000 across one or more pensions
- A UK taxpayer
- Living in the UK
- Under the age of 74
We accept most pension transfers, however transferring might not be right for everyone, so it’s important to check a few things first which we explain below. You need to be careful that you don’t lose any guarantees or features, and you should also compare the charges and funds. You can find the details in your policy documents or you can speak to the providers of the pensions you are looking to transfer.
There are some reasons why you can’t transfer your pension online. If any of the following apply to you or if you are unsure, we’d recommend that you speak to a financial adviser, who will normally charge you for this advice.
Understand your options
Our Retirement Account offers simple, ready-made pension solutions to suit your needs and a range of ways for you to access your pension benefits.
Make sure to consider the options available to you so that when it comes to applying, you can tell us when you want to retire and how you want to invest and access your money at retirement.
If you’re not sure of your risk appetite or how to take your pension at retirement, you can choose the default option. This is a balanced Governed pension Strategy (GIS) that targets flexible access at retirement. This could suit a typical customer and reflects what we most commonly see in terms of risk appetite and retirement options. The default strategy is not personalised to you, and it may not meet your needs at retirement, so please consider this when making a decision about your pension options. You can always revise this at a later date if you change your mind or your circumstances change.
If you're unsure what to choose, you can always seek financial advice. There will be a charge for this service.
Start your online application
Once you’ve decided transferring is right for you and you understand your options, you can complete the online application form. This only takes a few minutes. Remember to have your existing pension details to hand. You can usually find most of this information on your annual benefit statement or on an online portal, if available. If you're not sure where to find this information or you want to locate an old pension pot, you can contact your past employers to help or use the government pension tracing service to find the details you need.
For each pension you want to transfer you'll need:
- Your National Insurance number
- Your existing pension providers name
- The policy number
- The scheme name (if it’s an old workplace pension)
- A recent transfer value - this must be a minimum of £10,000 across the pensions you'd like to transfer
- To tell us how you want to invest and access your pension.
You must have all of the above to complete your application.
Apply to transfer my pension
Wait for your pension transfer to complete
Typically, this takes a few weeks, depending on the type of pensions you're transferring and whether we have all the correct details. If we have any questions about your application, Scottish Widows may need to contact you by phone or secure email if:
- There is information missing from your application or if there’s something we need to check
- You have a pension which was set up by your employer, it might be managed by trustees. If so, you will need to get permission from these trustees before you transfer to us.
We’ll be able to keep you updated on the progress of your application through SMS text message. You'll need to tick this option in the application.
You can help speed up the process by providing full and accurate information on your application.