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Transfers In and Out

Club and Non-Club Transfers  

“The Club” consists of a number of final salary occupational pension schemes that have agreed reciprocal transfer arrangements. Final salary schemes provide pension benefits based on your reckonable service and pensionable earnings at or near the date you leave the scheme. 

The Club allows easier movement of staff mainly within the public sector. It does this by making sure that employees receive broadly equivalent credits when they transfer their pensionable service to their new scheme regardless of any increase in salary when they move to their new employment. This means that what they can expect from their final salary pension remains broadly the same, and so moving from job to job need not lead to pension worries. Club transfer terms can only be applied in cases of voluntary moves of employment by individuals and not in circumstances where individuals or groups are compulsorily transferred. 

The Club offers those who move between Club schemes the opportunity to transfer pension benefits on special terms. In general, when you transfer your pension benefits between Club schemes, you will receive a broadly equivalent service credit in the new scheme, regardless of any increase in salary on moving. If the move does not occur between club schemes, then this will fall under a non-club transfer. 

The law requires pension schemes to offer a minimum ‘transfer value payment’ equal in value to the member’s preserved benefits. This is known as a cash equivalent transfer value. The scheme that receives the cash equivalent transfer value must offer benefits of equivalent value to the service in the previous scheme. Transfers calculated on a Club basis will usually offer a higher pensionable service credit than those calculated on non-Club terms. Nevertheless, the pensionable service credit will still reflect differences in pension age or benefit design between the two schemes and there is no guarantee that the credit will be year for year. 

Transfers In 

On taking up your employment as a Firefighter with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, if you would like to transfer any previous scheme memberships or pension rights into the Firefighters Pension Scheme, please contact the Pensions Administrator. Due to: 

  • club and non-club rules;
  • scheme closures (Note: 1992 and 2006 Firefighter Pension Schemes (FPS) are closed);
  • time limits (Example: based on date joined, date election made, break in employment); 

certain restrictions may apply so it will be beneficial to investigate this at the earliest opportunity.  

Transfers Out 

As an alternative to a deferred pension, upon leaving your Firefighter post at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, you could ask for your pension rights to be transferred to another pension scheme.  

If you leave and transfer to another fire authority, depending on whether there is or is not a break in service between employments, certain restrictions may apply. So again, it will be beneficial to investigate this at the earliest opportunity and contact the Pensions Administrator.  

Transfers out are restricted from unfunded public service pension schemes like the Firefighter Pension Schemes to schemes from which members are able to access their benefits flexibly. 

Please refer to the Public Sector Transfer Club (Leaflet and Rules) documents on this page for further information. 

Requesting a transfer in or out 

Please contact the Pensions Administrator using the details below if you need the forms to transfer into or out of your pension scheme:  

West Yorkshire Pension Fund 
P. O. Box 67 
Bradford
BD1 1UP    

Phone: 01274 434999 

Email: pensions@wypf.org.uk

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