Transfer an old pension into your Civil Service pension

​​You may be able to transfer an old public or private sector pension into your new Civil Service pension.

​If you have a public or private sector pension from a previous job outside of the Civil Service, you may be able to transfer it into your Civil Service alpha pension. This means all your pension benefits will be paid by Civil Service Pensions when you retire - keeping things all in one place and making it simple for you. 

We must receive your signed declaration to proceed within 12 months of the date you joined the Civil Service.

How to request a pension transfer

Please note: All transfers into the Civil Service Pension Scheme must be completed within 12 months of your start date.

When you first join the Civil Service, your new employer will give you a Pension Choices pack with information on the pension scheme.

To request a transfer in, please:

1. Complete and return the Pension Choices form within the pack to your employer.
2. Complete a Provisional Application form and return it to us.

It's not always possible to transfer a pension. Once you tell us you're interested in making a transfer, we will contact you to tell you if it's possible.

Contact us

Step by step guide to requesting a pension transfer

1 - Complete the Pension Choices Form

1. Complete and return the Pension Choices form within the pack to your employer. You'll find this form in the Pension Choices pack given to you by your employer when you first joined the Civil Service.
2. Complete a Provisional Application form and return it to us.

2 - We'll request transfer details

2 weeks after we receive your completed forms, we'll request transfer details from your previous pension provider.

3 - Confirm the transfer

3 weeks after we receive your transfer details from your previous pension provider, we’ll write to you to confirm how much Civil Service pension benefits the transfer will buy you and information on how to proceed.  

Once your previous pension provider receives your instruction to proceed, they will send the funds to us. Once we receive the transfer funds, we will contact you to confirm the transfer is completed.

The transfer process may take 3-6 months. We must receive your signed declaration to proceed within 12 months of the date you joined the Civil Service.