If you leave the FPS 2006 for special members with enough service to qualify for a pension but are too young to receive immediate benefits (except ill-health related) you will receive a deferred pension instead. You can then choose to transfer this unpaid benefit to another pension scheme.
If you choose to transfer out, your FRA or their pension administrator will work out a transfer value for you. A transfer value is the total cash equivalent value of your benefits held in the scheme and it is worked out based on the scheme’s rules. A transfer will only happen if you sign a set of declaration forms given to you by your FRA.
Your FRA will also have to make sure that the new scheme meets certain conditions as a transfer can only be paid to a scheme which is approved by HM Revenue & Customs and does not provide flexible benefits. A transfer must usually be requested a year before you reach normal pension age.
You may leave your employment with an FRA and begin employment as a firefighter with another FRA where you remain a special member of the FPS 2006.
Although your pension rights normally transfer with you, transfer payments are not made between English FRAs. The authority you leave would simply send a statement of the benefits you have built up to your new authority.
If you leave to take up employment as a firefighter in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, a transfer payment would be paid because different funding arrangements apply.
Transferring your pension rights is not always an easy decision to make and you may wish to seek the help of an independent financial adviser before you make a decision to transfer your deferred benefits to an alternative arrangement.