Can you transfer a police pension in or out?

A police pension cannot normally be transferred out to a SIPP or other flexible pension, but it can move to another public scheme, and other pensions can come in.

Why a police pension transfer to a SIPP or private pension is blocked

In general, no. The police schemes are unfunded, which the Home Office's guide to the 2006 scheme puts as "there is no pension fund as such", and that status is what shuts the door on a move into a SIPP or any other flexible arrangement. Whether the flexible-benefits rule catches your own police service can be answered, free and by phone, by an FCA-authorised adviser; asking for that call takes this page's form.

For the 2015 scheme, the Home Office guide records the Government's plan to restrict moves out of unfunded schemes, naming the police schemes, "into Defined Contribution Pension Schemes and other flexible benefit arrangements from 6 April 2015". That plan is now statute. Under section 95 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993, a police officer can use a cash equivalent to buy rights in a personal pension only if "the benefits that may be provided under the personal pension scheme by virtue of the acquired rights are not flexible benefits", and the same test applies to a move into another occupational scheme. The Treasury can switch that test off for prescribed cases or schemes, so ask your administrator whether anything of that kind applies to you.

MoneyHelper states the practical result for unfunded public sector schemes: you "can only transfer your pension to another defined benefit scheme". A transfer you make cannot be taken back, and the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) warns that pension transfers are frequently targeted by criminals.

Moving between public service schemes: the Public Sector Transfer Club

If you leave for another public sector job, your police pension may be able to follow you. The 2015 guide lists two places a transfer can go: another public service pension scheme, or another scheme registered with HMRC, and the payment is a cash equivalent transfer value. The registered-scheme route still has to satisfy the flexible-benefits test above, and our step-by-step guide to transferring a pension covers how a request moves between schemes.

The Public Sector Transfer Club is a set of preferential terms between participating public sector schemes. The 2015 guide says that when the other scheme is in the Club, the transferred pension may come out higher than if a payment from another kind of scheme was accepted. Your pension administrator can point you to the list of Club schemes and give an example of a transfer value calculation, but the 2015 guide says it "cannot give specific advice on individual cases".

Transferring another pension into the police scheme

A transfer in is the more open direction. The 2015 guide says benefits from another pension scheme or a personal pension may be transferable into the 2015 scheme, and SPPA accepts transfers in only from active members. Where the other scheme is in the Club, the preferential terms depend on a deadline: the 2015 guide says "you must apply to transfer any deferred benefits from another Club scheme within 12 months of joining the 2015 Scheme". The same guide warns that a gap in service of more than 5 years may mean these provisions do not apply.

What you receive is a service credit, and it can be smaller than it looks. The 2015 guide cautions that the transfer value "may not necessarily buy the same amount of accrued pension in the 2015 Scheme as you had in your previous scheme", so ask for the estimate before you give up the old rights. Putting a defined benefit or guaranteed pension into a new scheme is a decision to take advice on first, and our guide to when advice is required sets out the legal test. Weighing an old pension against a police service credit? An FCA-authorised adviser can lay both side by side on a call arranged through the short form here, at no charge.

Transfer deadlines and age limits

The limits depend on the scheme and where you served. For Scotland, SPPA says you must apply for a transfer payment within six months of leaving police employment, or twelve months for transfers to other UK public sector schemes, and that the police authority may extend the limits. It also says members of the 1987 scheme cannot transfer within a year of reaching 60, 2006 scheme members within a year of reaching 65, and that 2015 scheme members must transfer before State Pension age. Once a transfer value is issued, SPPA says it is guaranteed for three months. For an English or Welsh force, your force's pension administrator will tell you which limits apply to your own scheme.

Moving between forces, and between the UK's police schemes

Moving between forces in England and Wales leaves your pension entitlements unchanged. Joining the 2015 scheme in England and Wales after leaving the Northern Ireland or Scotland 2015 police scheme brings your accrued pension across into it. Police Scotland has its own agency and its own transfer pages, so use SPPA for a Scottish pension rather than the Home Office guides. Whichever scheme you are in, our guide to whether a police pension is good shows what you would be leaving behind, and buying extra pension inside the scheme, the alternative to transferring, is covered in our guide to topping up a police pension.

A firm offering to move your police pension

Among the FCA's warning signs are a guaranteed better return on your savings and high-pressure sales tactics, and it describes transfers as the aim of many attractive-sounding offers. Anyone claiming they can move a police pension into a SIPP or release cash from it should make you stop and check the firm on the FCA's register. Our pension scams guide and guide to reporting a scam explain what to do next, and the general pension transfer rules cover red flags that apply to any scheme.

Police pension transfer questions

Is a police pension transferable?

Yes, within limits: to another public service defined benefit scheme, or to a registered scheme that does not provide flexible benefits. A move into a SIPP or other defined contribution arrangement is what the unfunded-scheme rule restricts.

What does a police pension transfer value pay for?

It is the cash equivalent transfer value, the sum your scheme pays the new scheme in return for your rights; our guide to transfer values explains the idea. SPPA says that once it is paid you have no further claim on the old scheme, so get the new scheme's estimate before you commit.

Can a former officer transfer a police pension later in life?

That depends on your scheme's time and age limits, which SPPA sets out for Scotland. Years in the police and years elsewhere can follow different deadlines; an FCA-authorised adviser can sort out which is which, and requesting that call-back takes only the short form here.

When should I start a transfer into the police scheme?

Soon after joining. SPPA says transfers can take many months to process, and for Club terms your signed election must reach your former scheme within 12 months of joining.

Do I lose anything by transferring a pension into the police scheme?

The service credit can differ from your old scheme's benefits. SPPA adds that transferred-in credit from a scheme outside the public sector cannot be refunded if you leave with less than 2 years’ service.