Pension consolidation

Transferring your pensions is completely up to you, and there’s no guarantee you'll be better off. If you decide to transfer but change your mind later and cancel, your previous provider doesn’t have to take your money back so you might still lose any safeguarded or valuable benefits you had.

While we’re transferring your pensions there might be a short time where your fund value isn’t invested in either pension, so you won't be impacted by any rise or fall in your investments.

If you're invested in a With Profits* fund, a market value adjustment may be applied.

*This is a type of ‘pooled investment’ fund. You, and other investors, pay into the fund and this pooled money is invested in stocks, shares, equities, bonds and property over a set period of time.

Remember, the value of your investments can go down as well as up, and you could get back less than you’ve invested. 

To use our Find and Combine service you’ll need a MyAviva account or MyWorkplace account - if you don't have one, you can register for these during the application process. 

You'll need to use MyWorkplace if you have a workplace pension with an account number starting with "GS", or a membership number starting with "F". You can find your account number or membership number on your policy documents, statements, emails or letters we've sent you. 

For security, you may also have to verify your identity. To do this you’ll need a passport or driving licence as photo ID, plus your mobile phone (to take a selfie). 

To find lost pensions, you’ll need your previous addresses and name (if there’s been any change), plus employment or provider details for any pensions you think you may have.

To check pensions you know about, the pension provider name, policy number and any name and address you may have given to the pension provider. 

Not all providers are quick to respond to a request for information about pensions. So, it may take from four to twelve weeks from you applying until we can give you information on your pensions. 

If you decide to combine your pensions with us, it can take another three to six weeks until your money's with Aviva.

You can transfer one or several defined contribution pensions. These are types of retirement plans in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis.

You may also be able to transfer personal pensions, like a SIPP (self-invested personal pension). Don't worry, we'll tell you if you can't.

Please contact your employer and/or existing provider before requesting a transfer to a workplace pension which is currently receiving contributions. A transfer could mean your employer stops paying into the pension.

Unfortunately, we can't transfer any of the following types of pensions:

• Defined benefit pensions (also known as final salary pensions)
• Pensions which are set up in the Isle of Man, Channel Islands or any that count as non-UK or overseas pensions
• Pensions you’ve already started taking an income from
• Pensions you’ve already taken a partial transfer from
• Pensions that have safeguarded benefits - these can't be transferred online. If your pension contains any of these, give us a call. You can find the correct number on your latest pension statement. Financial advice is legally required if you want to transfer a pension that has safeguarded benefits worth over £30,000.

When we contact your pension providers, we’ll check for all safeguarded and certain valuable benefits you may lose by consolidating your pensions, or any charges for transferring. You can see which ones we check for here. We'll also pass on all the details we get from the pension providers, so you can check for any other valuable benefits that could be lost.