How to combine old pensions into an Aviva pension

To combine pensions with Aviva, you move old pots into an Aviva pension; Aviva says it does not charge to transfer, but some pensions cannot come in.

Bringing old pots together with Aviva starts with one choice: a new Aviva pension or one you already hold. Want a person to go over your old pots before you apply to Aviva? An FCA-authorised adviser will, free, as soon as your details come through the form on this page.

Three ways Aviva lets you combine pensions

Aviva's transfer page says that when you move pensions over, "you’ll be putting all your pensions into an Aviva SIPP (self-invested personal pension)". It offers two routes: a transfer to a new SIPP or to an existing Aviva pension. A third route is its free Find and Combine service, which traces pensions you may have lost, checks them and offers to move them. For what a SIPP is, see how a SIPP works, and for Aviva's own, the Aviva pension plan.

Find and Combine gives "the option of bringing eligible pensions together into a new or existing Aviva pension, but there’s no pressure to transfer them if you’re happier keeping them where they are." Aviva says you need to be a UK resident, be looking for UK pensions and hold a MyAviva account. Aviva also says the service does not advise on your pensions. To trace pensions yourself, see finding a lost pension.

How do I combine my Aviva pensions step by step?

Aviva describes a short online process. You tell it about the pensions you want to move, choose investments, and Aviva arranges the transfer with your current provider. For a transfer, Aviva says that typically "the money will arrive in your Aviva pension in three to six weeks". If you use Find and Combine first, it adds that results "may take from four to twelve weeks" and a further three to six weeks follow if you decide to combine.

Aviva's page about transferring for drawdown gives a starting amount of £5,000, or £1,000 if you also set up regular payments of £25 a month. That figure sits on the drawdown route, so ask what applies to yours. Aviva also explains that in a unit transfer "the pension funds stay invested, so they’ll be affected by any market gains or falls", while a cash transfer is out of the market for a time before it is reinvested. The general steps for any provider are in how to transfer a pension, and the timing in how long a transfer takes.

Which pensions will Aviva not take?

Aviva lists pensions it cannot accept: a defined benefit (final salary) pension, one you have already started taking money from, and one that "includes a guaranteed annuity rate or safeguarded benefits". Aviva's drawdown-transfer page adds that if you move a pension out without first checking that Aviva will accept it, the old scheme may not be able, or obliged, to take the money back. The checks on benefits you could lose are covered in with-profits pensions and final salary pensions.

Unsure whether a pot carries guarantees? Read out the statement to the FCA-authorised adviser who rings after this page's form goes in.

What could moving cost me?

Aviva says: "We won’t charge you a penny to transfer your pension, whether you’re moving one or several pensions into an Aviva SIPP." That is Aviva's side only. Its own list of what to check warns that your old provider may charge an exit fee, and that you might lose benefits such as a tax-free lump sum of more than 25%, loyalty bonuses, enhanced death benefits or the right to take your pension before 55 (or at 55 once the minimum age rises to 57 on 6 April 2028). For a current workplace pension, Aviva adds that you "might miss out on future employer contributions".

Once the money is in the SIPP, Aviva states its own annual fee: "We charge 0.35% for looking after your investments up to £500,000", with fund management and other charges on top depending on what you hold. The full picture is in Aviva pension charges, and costs elsewhere in pension transfer fees. Whether combining lowers your overall cost depends on what each of your old pots charges now.

Aviva itself says "There’s no guarantee you’ll be better off combining your pensions". The pros and cons are weighed in should I merge pensions, and small pots in small pension pots. Before you act on any offer to move a pension, read the FCA's guidance on pension scams.

Can I merge two Aviva pensions?

Aviva's wording is about moving pensions into an Aviva plan you already hold. It says: "If you have a workplace pension with us, you may be able to consolidate your other pensions into it." It tells you to check on MyAviva or contact it, and Find and Combine says you can transfer into "some Aviva Workplace pensions and our existing Aviva Pension (SIPP)". Before moving a pension your employer pays into, Aviva says to talk to the employer first, as a transfer could mean they stop paying in. Whether two of your own Aviva plans can be joined turns on the plans themselves, so put that question to the FCA-authorised adviser on your free call-back.

Smaller points on moving old pots into Aviva

Is Aviva's My Future Focus Consolidation Fund the same as consolidating pensions?

No. It is one of the funds inside My Future Focus, a default investment strategy for Aviva workplace pensions, which moves money into it in the years before retirement. It concerns how a workplace pot is invested, not combining pots; the funds are covered in Aviva pension funds.

Do I have to be an Aviva customer to use Find and Combine?

No. Aviva says in its Find and Combine video that you do not need to be an Aviva customer, and that the service is free with no obligation.

Can I use Aviva to combine pensions and take money straight away?

Aviva says that after a transfer completes, if you are 55 or older (57 from 6 April 2028), you may be able to sell part of your investments and withdraw cash. Tax and your circumstances matter, so see Aviva pension withdrawal.

Does Aviva give advice before I combine?

Aviva says that for some pensions you must take advice before you transfer and that an adviser charges for it. Its drawdown-transfer page gives the FCA rule as advice where safeguarded benefits are worth more than £30,000, though Aviva's transfer page says it cannot accept pensions with safeguarded benefits at all.

What if Find and Combine cannot trace a pension?

Aviva says it cannot always find a pension, for example when it cannot tell who ran an old employer's scheme, and that it will contact you if so. The government's tracing service is covered in the Pension Tracing Service.

Aviva's pages were read on 26 and 27 October 2026 and its terms and offers can change. Investment values can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you paid in. Several old plans and no idea where to begin? Free help is one short enquiry away on the form on this page, from an FCA-authorised adviser.