Should you merge your pensions? Combining can mean fewer pots and perhaps lower charges, but it can cost valuable guarantees, so it depends on each pot.
No one answer fits every saver, and this page makes no recommendation. It sets the gains beside the losses, explains the 2026 small pots changes as the law and GOV.UK stand today, and shows how to check each pot first. Prefer to have your own pots gone through with an FCA-authorised adviser? Submitting this page's form is free and brings the call.
Should I combine all my pensions into one pot?
Not necessarily, and not all at once. MoneyHelper says: "You can choose which pensions you want to combine and which you’d like to keep separate – you do not have to consolidate them all." Moving one pot and leaving another where it is is an ordinary choice.
Whether merging helps turns on three things: what kind of pension each pot is, what the pot carries that the new home might not, and what the new home would charge. The kinds matter most. With a defined contribution pot, the amount depends on how much is paid in and how well the invested money performs; a defined benefit (final salary or career average) scheme instead gives a guaranteed amount based on salary and years worked. Most recent schemes are defined contribution unless the job is in the public sector, such as the NHS or Armed Forces.
A transfer "usually cannot be undone", MoneyHelper's guide warns, and a scheme without the same features as your existing pension means losing them. That is why the checks come before the paperwork. The steps for an actual transfer are in how to transfer a pension, services that offer to do it are covered in pension consolidation services, and destinations in choosing where to transfer to.
What are the pros of combining pensions?
The gains people look for are mostly about convenience and, for defined contribution pots, cost and choice. MoneyHelper's guide lists them as possibilities, not promises.
- Fewer providers and statements. Merging "might mean you only have one provider to deal with, including when you’re ready to start taking an income". Knowing every pot exists comes first; finding a lost pension and the pensions dashboard help with that.
- Possibly lower fees. For a defined contribution pot, a move could save money where the other scheme has lower fees. Charges have been reducing over time, so newer schemes might charge less than older ones, and a small gap can add up over many invested years; see pension charges and fees.
- More investment choice, or more ways to take the money. One example given is someone who wants to take income as multiple lump sums when their current provider does not allow it; a scheme that does could be an alternative. Your options at retirement compares the ways of drawing a pot.
- A tidier home for an old employer's pot. After a job change, some people move the old employer's pension into the new employer's scheme. Not every scheme takes transfers in, covered below.
What are the cons: what could you lose by merging pensions?
The biggest cost of merging is often a feature rather than a fee. MoneyHelper says to check each existing scheme for special features or guarantees and for exit fees or other penalties for leaving. The table sets out the main ones, each with its own page.
| What a pot may carry | What the sources say | More |
|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed annuity rate | MoneyHelper: a policy may carry a guaranteed rate for turning the pot into income, which it says might beat what is on offer elsewhere. | Guaranteed annuity rates |
| With-profits bonus | MoneyHelper: a fund of the with-profits kind may add a terminal bonus once a set date has passed. | With-profits pensions |
| Tax-free cash above 25% | GOV.UK: a transfer may end a right to take more than a quarter of the pot as tax-free cash. | Tax-free lump sum |
| Protections and early access | GOV.UK: a transfer may end a fixed or enhanced protection, or an earlier access age built into the old scheme. | Protected pension age |
| Exit fees | GOV.UK: the transfer itself may carry a fee. MoneyHelper: ask about exit fees or other penalties. | Transfer fees |
| A defined benefit promise | MoneyHelper and the FCA: a guaranteed lifetime income that usually increases each year. | Next section |
On early access, MoneyHelper warns that moving might mean waiting longer to reach the money if your current scheme has a protected normal minimum pension age below 55, or will still let you draw the pension from 55 after 6 April 2028, when the minimum rises to 57. GOV.UK says the providers themselves can confirm which of these apply.
Moving also puts the money into a different investment mix. The usual warning applies: all investments can rise and fall, so there is always a risk of getting back less than you pay in. Which of these features a particular pot has is something to ask each provider in writing.
Is it worth combining defined benefit pensions?
Defined benefit pensions are the case where the regulators' starting point is not to move. The FCA says: "The FCA and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) believe it’s in most people’s best interests to keep their DB pension." Nothing on this page encourages a transfer.
MoneyHelper spells out the loss: swapping a defined benefit pension for a defined contribution pot means giving up "the promise of a guaranteed retirement income for life with automatic annual increases", and the income then depends on investment performance and charges. Defined benefit pensions also carry no charges for the member. On advice, one worth over £30,000 needs paid-for financial advice before it can move into a defined contribution pension, which "can often cost thousands of pounds"; the legal test is in the pension transfer advice requirement and the valuation in pension transfer value. This is a separate decision from tidying small defined contribution pots; final salary pensions explains what is at stake, and how they are protected covers the safety net.
Two practical limits come from the scheme itself. Some defined benefit schemes might not allow transfers out once the pension is in payment or within a year of normal retirement age, and public sector schemes mostly refuse transfers into defined contribution arrangements, with unfunded ones such as the NHS and Teachers' Pension Schemes named. In the other direction, some schemes only accept transfers in during the first year of joining, or not at all, and consolidating a defined benefit pension with other defined benefit pensions is among the reasons given for some people still considering a transfer. The rules for one scheme are in combining LGPS pensions.
Whether your own scheme would let the money go, and at what cost in lost benefits, is a fair first question for an FCA-authorised adviser; asking through the enquiry form here moves no money.
What are the 2026 small pots and pension consolidation changes?
The 2026 changes are law in outline, with the working rules still to come. They are separate from the choice you make about your own pots: they concern small, inactive workplace pots that schemes could be required to move automatically in future. This is the position on 22 October 2026, from legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK.
| Step | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
| The power to make "small pots regulations" under the Pension Schemes Act 2026 | Law. Section 22 took effect at Royal Assent. Regulations may cover pots in auto-enrolment schemes holding £1,000 or less (but more than nil) that have gone without contributions for at least 12 months, or a longer prescribed period, and whose saver has not confirmed or changed the investment (subject to exceptions). Section 34 lets regulations alter the £1,000 figure. | Royal Assent 29 April 2026 |
| Regulations on notices and transfers | Not yet made. The Act says they must require a transfer notice to the saver and, if the saver does not respond and the default is a transfer, the transfer of the pot (sections 24 and 26). | Roadmap (indicative): consultation on draft regulations April to June 2027, draft regulations laid January to March 2028 |
| DWP consultation, Small Pots: a pathway for consolidation | Open. It seeks views on proposals for the regulations. | 15 September to 17 November 2026 |
| Automatic consolidation starts | Government ambition and roadmap estimate, not yet law in operation. | From 2030 (April to June 2030 in the roadmap) |
| Contractual override for contract-based schemes | Planned. Providers would be able to move members from arrangements found not to give value to ones that do. | "On track for Spring 2028" in the roadmap |
DWP puts the number of deferred pots worth less than £1,000 at over 13 million, growing by around one million a year. Its proposals, which are not law, would leave out pots from before automatic enrolment began and pots in self-select funds, at least at first; savers could opt out or pick their own consolidator.
For anyone weighing a small pot with a guarantee, the key proposal is that pots whose guarantees lift their value beyond contributions would generally be excluded, with trustees able to use discretion. The consultation notes that guarantees such as guaranteed annuity rates or survivor benefits can matter despite a pot's size and in many cases cannot be reinstated once lost. The roadmap's timelines "remain subject to change pending final decisions on the delivery approach", and a further consultation is planned for late 2027 or early 2028.
This page takes no view on merging now or waiting for these changes. Cashing in a small pot outright is a different rule, in small pot pension rules.
How do you check each pension before you merge anything?
Check pot by pot, and only then decide which, if any, to move. A workable order:
- List every pot. Write down the employer, provider and whether each is defined contribution or defined benefit; MoneyHelper has a tool for finding out the type, or you can ask the provider. For a pension you cannot place, GOV.UK's Pension Tracing Service gives contact details for a scheme, though it cannot reveal whether you hold a pension or its value, and you need an employer or provider name to use it (see finding a lost pension).
- Ask each provider what the pot carries. The questions are the rows of the table above: guarantees and bonuses, tax-free cash above 25%, any protection or protected pension age, and exit fees or other penalties. GOV.UK says your pension providers can tell you whether these apply.
- Check the scheme you would move to. Make sure it accepts transfers in and is a better deal than what you leave, which means comparing the annual charges and the investments as well as the features. Some schemes take transfers in only in the first year after you join, or not at all.
- Ask whether advice is required. For defined benefit pensions the £30,000 test applies, as above. For the rest, Pension Wise is a free, impartial, government-backed appointment on how a defined contribution pot can be drawn, open from age 50 to people with a UK-based pot (and to some under-50s, such as those retiring early through poor health); see what Pension Wise is.
- Check who you are dealing with. Among the FCA's warnings: a free pension review offered out of the blue is likely to be a scam, since pensions advice is not free; any adviser should be FCA-authorised; and advice should not come from whoever made the approach. See pension scams and the FCA's pension scams page.
Comparing several providers' written replies is the sort of task an FCA-authorised adviser takes on. The call-back form here arranges one, commits you to nothing and sets no transfer in motion.
More on combining old pensions
Can I combine my old workplace pension with my current one?
Only if the current scheme accepts transfers in. MoneyHelper says some schemes only accept them during the first year after you join, or not at all, and that your pension providers can explain the rules that apply to you. If you are still paying into the pot, ask the scheme before moving anything.
Is it better to have one pension or several?
Neither is better as a rule. One pot means a single provider and set of charges to follow; several can make sense where one pot holds a guarantee or protection the others lack, and a mix of the two is allowed.
When is the best time to combine pensions?
MoneyHelper says you can usually transfer or consolidate at any point, unless the scheme rules list restrictions, such as a defined benefit scheme barring transfers out within a year of normal retirement age. Dates can matter for protected pension ages, because the 57 minimum starts on 6 April 2028.
Will my small pots be merged automatically?
Not yet. Under the planned system, DWP proposes that workplace pots of £1,000 or less with no contributions for at least 12 months would be moved to a consolidator scheme unless the saver opts out or chooses another, with the government aiming for it to be operational from 2030. The table above gives the dates.
Does merging pensions affect my tax-free cash?
It can. GOV.UK says a transfer may end a right to take more than a quarter of the pot as tax-free cash, which is why the provider's answer matters before moving; see the pension tax-free lump sum.
Weighing it up
The pros are tidiness, possibly lower charges and more choice over investing and drawing the money; the cons are guarantees, protected rights and, for defined benefit pensions, a promise a transfer would give up. A pot with none of those features is weighed mainly on charges and convenience. Written answers from each provider will show where each of your pots sits. Should you want those answers read alongside your State Pension and other income, put in a call-back request through the form here and a firm's FCA-authorised adviser will phone; leaving a pension where it is stays an option.
Sources, accessed 22 October 2026: MoneyHelper guides on transferring or consolidating pensions, on leaving a defined benefit scheme, on Pension Wise and on SIPPs (Wayback captures of 26 April, 9 July, 28 September and 9 March 2026); on GOV.UK, the Transferring your pension guide, the Pension Tracing Service page, DWP's Small Pots consultation (published 15 September 2026) and the updated workplace pensions roadmap (published 13 July 2026); Pension Schemes Act 2026, sections 22, 24, 26 and 34; the FCA's pages on defined benefit transfers and pension scams.