Before any decision about transferring a final salary pension can even begin, you need one number: your Cash Equivalent Transfer Value, or CETV. Here’s exactly how to get one, and what to do once it arrives.
What a CETV Actually Is
A CETV is the lump sum your defined benefit scheme would pay in exchange for extinguishing your right to the guaranteed income it promises. It’s a snapshot calculation based on your scheme’s specific actuarial assumptions at the time it’s produced – your age, expected retirement date, and the scheme’s own funding position all feed into the number, which is why the same pension can produce meaningfully different CETVs at different points in time.
Step One: Contact Your Scheme Administrator
Every defined benefit scheme has an administrator – sometimes the employer directly, more often a third-party pension administration firm. Your annual benefit statement should list contact details; if you’ve lost track of them, the government’s free pension tracing service can help locate the scheme using your former employer’s name.
Step Two: Request the CETV in Writing
Most schemes have a standard request form, or will accept a written request confirming your intention to obtain a transfer value. Most schemes provide one guaranteed quote free of charge every twelve months; requesting outside that window, or requesting a second quote within the same year, may incur a fee – worth checking your scheme’s specific policy before requesting.
Step Three: Understand the Guarantee Period
Once calculated, a CETV is typically guaranteed for three months from the date of calculation. This sets a real, fairly tight deadline: any advice process, decision, and instruction to transfer needs to complete within that window, or the CETV expires and a fresh one – potentially at a different value – needs to be requested. This is worth building into your planning from the outset, since a rushed decision made purely to beat an expiring deadline rarely produces the best outcome.
Step Four: If the Value Is Above £30,000
If your CETV comes back above £30,000, UK law requires you to take regulated advice from a UK FCA-authorised Pension Transfer Specialist before any transfer can proceed – your scheme’s trustees are legally required to confirm this advice has taken place before releasing funds. This isn’t optional, and it applies regardless of where in the world you’re living. For expats specifically, this typically means working with both a UK-based specialist for the transfer decision and a locally licensed cross-border adviser for the receiving scheme.
Step Five: The Advice Process Itself
Once engaged, a Pension Transfer Specialist will run a full fact-find covering your health, dependants, other assets, income needs and retirement plans, then produce a formal, documented comparison between what your scheme would pay over your lifetime and what a transfer could realistically achieve. The output is a written recommendation – to transfer, or to remain – and a recommendation to stay in your existing scheme is a common, entirely valid outcome, not a failed process.
Step Six: If You Decide to Transfer
Assuming advice supports a transfer and you decide to proceed, the receiving scheme – typically a SIPP or QROPS – needs to be confirmed and the transfer instructed before the CETV guarantee period expires. The actual transfer of funds then happens directly between the ceding scheme and the receiving scheme’s administrators.
What If the CETV Expires Before You Decide?
If the three-month window lapses without a completed transfer, you’ll need to request a fresh CETV, which may come back at a different value depending on how market conditions and the scheme’s assumptions have moved since the original quote. This is a genuine reason not to leave the advice process until close to the deadline.
Where to Go From Here
Our Final Salary & Defined Benefit Pension Transfers page covers the full advice process and the two-adviser structure in more detail, and our Expat Pension Transfers page covers the wider consolidation picture. Our Expat Pension Planning hub covers everything else. For our wider services, visit our Premier Expat Mortgages homepage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my first CETV request free?
Generally yes, once every twelve months – requests outside that window may incur a fee.
How long is a CETV valid for?
Typically three months from calculation, which sets the timeframe for completing any advice process and transfer.
Do I need advice to even request a CETV?
No – you can request the figure yourself. Advice becomes a legal requirement only if you decide to pursue a transfer above £30,000.
What happens if my CETV expires before I’ve decided?
You’ll need to request a fresh one, which may differ in value from the original.
Get in touch with details of your final salary pension and we’ll help you through the CETV request and advice process.
