Pension Transfer Advice: Check Adviser Permission, Fees and Advice Scope

Compare UK defined-benefit pension transfer services by checking the firm’s exact FCA permission, confirming pension transfer specialist involvement and establishing whether abridged or full advice meets the need.[1][3][5] The FCA says keeping a DB pension is in most people’s interests, so seeking advice should not be treated as a decision to transfer.[1]

How to verify permission and specialist involvement

Use the FCA Financial Services Register, rather than relying on a firm’s website or a general claim of FCA authorisation. Search by legal name or FCA reference number and check that the record belongs to the entity offering the service.[1]

1. Check the exact permission. Look for advising on pension transfers and opt-outs; The Pensions Regulator uses the fuller wording advising on pension transfers and pension opt-outs.[1][3] General financial-advice authorisation does not establish this specific permission.
2. Record the matching details. Keep the firm’s name, address, FCA registration number, relevant permissions and role in the transfer. These are the details The Pensions Regulator says schemes should collect.[3]
3. Identify the specialist. Ask who the pension transfer specialist is and whether that person will give the advice or check another adviser’s work. Transfer, conversion and opt-out advice must be given or checked by a pension transfer specialist, except where the only safeguarded benefit is a guaranteed annuity rate.[5]
4. Clarify what checking involves. A specialist reviewing another adviser’s proposed advice should check it in full, confirm its suitability and agree with it in writing before it reaches the client.[5]

Use the live Register to check the relevant firm and permission, then obtain the named pension transfer specialist’s role and qualifications from the firm. A general authorisation claim or provider marketing page does not replace this service-specific check.[1][5]

Abridged versus full advice

• Abridged advice can rule out a transfer. It is a shorter assessment that can conclude that transferring is unsuitable without requiring a commitment to full advice.[1]
• It cannot recommend a transfer. If the adviser cannot confirm unsuitability, the only other permitted outcome is that no recommendation can be made without full advice. This does not indicate that transferring is likely to be suitable.[1]
• It cannot provide statutory advice confirmation. Where that confirmation is required and the member wants to continue towards a DB-to-DC transfer, full advice is necessary.[1]
• Full advice provides a personal recommendation. It includes the required analysis and can recommend either retaining the existing benefits or transferring. Paying for full advice does not presuppose a transfer recommendation.[1][5]

Abridged advice may be appropriate when the immediate aim is to find out whether a transfer can be ruled out. Full advice is needed for a personal recommendation and, where applicable, the confirmation required to continue with a transfer.[1][5]

Compare Grove, Aviva and Legal & General

A well-known provider may not offer DB-transfer advice through the particular service being considered.

Grove Pension Solutions

• DB-transfer scope: Grove describes an abridged and full DB-transfer pathway and identifies itself as FCA-authorised under reference 465051. Its abridged stage considers the existing pension and personal circumstances, but not the proposed destination.[6] Check the live Register for the legal entity and exact permission.[1]
• Eligibility: Grove describes residence, scheme-type, membership-status and transfer-size restrictions.[6] Obtain a dated assessment for the actual pension; its commercial minimum is separate from the legal advice threshold.[1]
• Charging: Grove says triage and abridged advice are free and written consent is required before full advice. Its full-advice fee applies whether or not a transfer proceeds, although serious financial difficulty or serious ill health may qualify for a carve-out assessed during abridged advice.[6]

Aviva Financial Advice

• DB-transfer scope: Aviva discusses safeguarded-benefit advice involving an Appropriate Pension Transfer Analysis and Transfer Value Comparator. The cited page does not state whether abridged advice is available or identify who would deliver each stage.[7]
• Eligibility: Aviva describes a pension-value criterion for its own service.[7] Obtain current confirmation for the specific pension; this commercial criterion is not the legal £30,000 advice test.[1]
• Charging: Aviva describes the initial conversation as free and says advice fees will be explained upfront.[7]

Legal & General

• DB-transfer scope: L&G’s described retirement-advice service covers DC pensions, not DB-transfer advice. It directs people considering DB consolidation to a specialist.[8]
• Eligibility: The service considers DC consolidation, benefits or protections that could be lost, saving levels and retirement withdrawal choices.[8]
• Charging: Its pricing should not be treated as a comparable DB-transfer-advice quote because the described service excludes DB-transfer advice.[8]

These provider descriptions do not establish service quality. Grove and Aviva require live checks of permission, specialist involvement, eligibility and contractual terms; L&G’s described service is not a substitute for DB-transfer advice.[1][5][8]

What full transfer advice should contain

The FCA says an adviser should begin by assuming that transferring, converting or opting out of safeguarded benefits will be unsuitable. A transfer should be recommended only where contemporary evidence clearly demonstrates that it is in the client’s best interests.[5]

• An identified destination: before recommending a transfer, the adviser must identify the proposed flexible-benefit arrangement rather than assess the transfer in the abstract.[5]
• An Appropriate Pension Transfer Analysis: the APTA compares the benefits and options under the existing and proposed arrangements and, where applicable, the default arrangement of an available qualifying scheme.[5]
• A Transfer Value Comparator: a TVC is required as part of full transfer advice, subject to the guaranteed-annuity-rate exception.[5]
• A personal recommendation: the adviser must reach a conclusion based on the member’s circumstances, rather than provide only general information or calculations.[5]
• A suitability report: this should state the recommendation, explain the reasoning and help the member understand the risks and benefits of transferring or remaining in the scheme.[1]

The assessment should cover intended access to benefits, preferences for income certainty, the risk of unplanned withdrawals, income sustainability, investment experience, realistic retirement-income needs, trade-offs and alternatives to transferring.[5]

Separate proof of advice from a positive recommendation. Above £30,000, the statutory check concerns whether appropriate regulated advice has been taken; full advice can recommend keeping the benefits. A receiving provider may impose a separate acceptance policy, including a positive-recommendation condition. Confirm that policy directly rather than describe it as the universal statutory rule.[1][3][5]

Checklist before appointing an adviser

Regulated advice is legally required for a DB-to-DC transfer worth more than £30,000.[1][3]

1. Obtain the transfer value. This comes from the scheme administrator or provider and states the amount available if the pension is transferred.[1]
2. Check that the transfer is possible. Confirm that the existing scheme permits the proposed transfer and that the receiving scheme will accept it.[2][4]
3. Check market scope. Ask whether the firm is independent or restricted. An independent adviser can consider the full range of available products and providers; a restricted firm considers a limited selection.[1]
4. Get the engagement terms in writing. Confirm the advice stage, total charge, payment trigger, cancellation terms, eligibility criteria, named pension transfer specialist and documents to be supplied. Advisers must disclose their charge, and in most cases the same full-advice fee applies whether or not the transfer proceeds.[1]
5. Review what could be lost. Possible consequences include transfer fees, required payments to the new scheme and loss of rights to benefits at a particular age, fixed or enhanced protection, or a tax-free lump sum exceeding 25% of the pot.[2][4]

What to confirm with each provider

The cited pages do not give generic abridged or full-advice price ranges, post-start cancellation periods or measured outcome data comparing the two advice routes.[1][5]

• Grove: request a dated quotation, the exact full-advice charge, cancellation rights and any contractual minimum term.[6]
• Aviva: request the complete fee schedule, cancellation and contractual terms, full eligibility criteria, geographic coverage and evidence used to assess service performance.[7]
• Legal & General: if considering its DC service, request its cancellation terms, contractual minimum term, geographic coverage and evidence used to assess performance.[8]

References

1. fca.org.uk (fca.org.uk)
2. Transferring your pension: Overview – GOV.UK (gov.uk)
3. Dealing with transfer requests (thepensionsregulator.gov.uk)
4. Transferring your pension | nidirect (nidirect.gov.uk)
5. FCA Handbook – COBS 19 Pensions supplementary provisions (fca.org.uk)
6. Defined Benefit Pension Transfer Advice | FCA Specialist (grove-pensions.co.uk)
7. Do I Need Financial Advice to Transfer My Pension? – Aviva (aviva.co.uk)
8. Where can I get pension transfer advice? | L&G (legalandgeneral.com)