UK Pension Transfers

Many of us have lived and worked in the UK for part of our working lives and many of us may have retained pension benefits in the UK. Following the introduction of European legislation it is now possible to transfer pension assets between member states of the European Union. 

There are numerous benefits to transferring foreign retained pension benefits into Ireland:

• The ability to consolidate a number of foreign pensions into a new Irish pension structure.
• Regaining investment control of your retained pension assets.
• Having full visibility of your pension assets at all times.
• Widening your retirement benefits to include ARF's.

QROPS - Qualified Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme

To be able to receive retained UK pension assets, an Irish pension provider must be a qualified recognised overseas pension. Most Irish pension providers now are QROPS's. The main amount of work in transferring individual assets is during the engagement process with the UK pension scheme administrators and HM Revenue services. The application for transfer of assets must be approved by HM Revenue.

We have the experience of transferring retained pension assets from the UK to Ireland for a number of Irish resident clients. We will explain the process at each step and ensure your new Irish pension structure is best suited to your needs. Contact us to review your own individual situation.