Pensions

Summary - Transfers

The whole subject of transfer values is a complex one. The Pensions Office at the University will arrange that the appropriate calculations are completed by the administrators and the actuary of the university schemes.

It must be stressed that independant financial advice should be taken by any member of the University Scheme who is considering transferring benefits into or out of a university scheme.

If you have been a member of another pension scheme, then you may be able to transfer those benefits into your new scheme.

You must decide if a transfer is in your best interest, the Pensions Office is prohibited by law from giving you advice.

There are two stages in a transfer :-

1. Authorisation for the investigation - you are required to complete a form authorising us to contact your previous scheme to obtain a transfer value.

2. Authorisation for the transfer - after you have received our offer of additional service in the scheme you will be required to authorise the transfer in writing

Most of the University's schemes are part of the Public Sector Transfer Club. The Club is a network of mainly public sector pension schemes and transfers within the Club are dealt with differently from other transfers.

In general, Club transfers give employees broadly equivalent service credits in the new scheme irrespective of any change in salary between the two employments. If there are differences between two schemes, e.g. the retirement age, a transfer may produce a higher or lower service credit but where schemes are identical the transfer will produce year for year credit.

The University's schemes accept transfers from most other UK pension scheme arrangements and from some overseas schemes. The service credit offiered will depend on the transfer value availiable and your salary at the time of the transfer.

Last modified: Monday, 15-Nov-2010 14:22:40 GMT