Transfers
In this section
What are the criteria for transferring money into Nest?
You can transfer money into Nest at any time to bring your retirement savings together.
It’s important to note that Nest only accepts certain types of transfer-in payments. We won’t accept a transfer-in if you're subject to a current bankruptcy order.
The transfer-in must be from a UK based pension scheme that’s registered with HMRC. It must also be made from one of the following:
This is a pension scheme where contributions are paid to build up a retirement pot over a period of time. The amount you get at the end depends on the value of the contributions, tax relief claimed from HMRC and any investment growth. Nest is a defined contribution pension scheme. This is different to a defined benefit scheme which aims to provide a specific income amount when you retire.
We don’t accept transfers from defined benefit schemes unless they’re early leaver cash transfers or pension credit transfers. The value of the pension pot you’re transferring should be more than £50.
This could be a portion of an ex-spouse or ex-civil partner’s pension that’s been awarded to you as a result of a pension sharing order, granted on divorce or the end of a civil partnership.
Nest won’t accept a transfer amount that relates to a ‘disqualifying pension credit’. This is a pension credit arising from divorce or legal separation where the ex-spouse or ex-civil partner’s pension that was to be shared was actually in payment at the time the pension sharing order was awarded by the court. If you’ve already received the money, then Nest will not be able to accept that amount as it will be considered as ‘Disqualifying pension credit’.
You may be entitled to this type of transfer from another workplace pension scheme, if you’ve been paying contributions to it for more than three months but less than two years. The value of the pot you’re transferring needs to be more than £50.
Other important things to consider
Your existing pension scheme may also charge a penalty if you go ahead with the transfer to Nest, which would reduce the amount that’s transferred to your Nest pot. This charge may be some form of exit penalty or a fund charge called a market value adjustment or market value reduction.
The value of your Nest retirement pot is not guaranteed to increase, it can go down as well as up, depending on market movements. This also applies to any other pensions you transfer to your Nest pot. Once the transfer is made into your Nest pot, its value when you choose to take it will depend on several factors. These include how well your pot grows and how long you save.
We value your feedback
Your feedback is important to us. To help us improve, tell us what you think about our member help centre by taking a short survey.
Was this helpful to you?
Thank you.
Live chat
Thank you.
Thank you for the feedback.
Feedback
Was this helpful to you?
Live Chat
Our live help agents will answer your questions and guide you through setting up and managing NEST.
Our chat is available from Monday to Sunday from 8.00AM to 8.00PM
Web chat is currently unavailable
We're open from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm today. Please try again between these hours or our usual business hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. Or you can visit our online help centre.
Web chat is currently unavailable
Our offices are now closed for the Bank Holiday. You can reach us during our normal opening times of 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. Or you can visit our online help centre.
Welcome to live help
To help us deal with your question quickly please tell us who you are and what you'd like help with by choosing an option from each of the menus below:
