Can I transfer a workplace pension to a SIPP?

Yes, most workplace pensions can be moved into a SIPP. There is nothing to stop you transferring a workplace pension or pensions to your SIPP, and most defined contribution pensions can be transferred into one¹. You can also hold a SIPP and a workplace pension at the same time, so moving an old pot does not mean giving up your current scheme³.

The catch is not permission, it is what you leave behind. A SIPP is a personal pension, so it is your pot rather than your employer's scheme, and the protections and contributions attached to a workplace scheme do not automatically follow the money across⁴. Transfers usually take between two and six weeks, though your provider has up to six months to action the request⁵.

This page sets out which workplace pensions can move, how full and partial transfers differ, how your investments travel, how long it takes, and what to check before you decide.

Yes, most workplace pensions can move to a SIPP

The starting point is that a workplace pension and a SIPP are both registered pension schemes, and money can generally move between them. Providers accept transfers from a wide range of defined contribution arrangements: group personal pensions, stakeholder pensions, free-standing additional voluntary contribution plans, section 32 buyout plans, executive pension plans, and paid-up occupational money purchase schemes⁸. You can transfer any number of defined contribution workplace pensions into one SIPP².

What you cannot do freely is move a defined benefit or final salary pension. Transferring those into a SIPP is significantly more complicated, and the rules around advice and eligibility are tighter². If that is your situation, the final salary transfer rules apply rather than the ordinary process described here.

There is also a distinction between the pension you have now and the pensions you have left behind. Old pots from previous employers are the straightforward case: the scheme no longer receives contributions, so moving it changes little except who administers it. A current workplace pension is different, because transferring it can affect whether your employer keeps contributing and whether you stay in automatic enrolment.

If you are weighing up whether to move at all, SIPP vs workplace pension sets out how the two compare on cost, investment choice and protection.

Which workplace pensions can be transferred

Eligibility comes down to two things: the type of scheme you are in, and whether its own rules allow a transfer out. Providers describe the range they accept in similar terms, and the list is broad.

• Defined contribution occupational schemes, including group personal pensions⁸
• Stakeholder pensions⁹
• Free-standing additional voluntary contribution plans (FSAVCs)⁸
• Section 32 buyout plans⁸
• Executive pension plans and most paid-up occupational money purchase plans⁹
• Personal pensions, other SIPPs and retirement annuity contracts⁹
• Pensions already in drawdown, in many cases¹⁰

Defined benefit schemes appear on some providers' lists too, but only where the rules of the current plan allow transfers, and the process is not the same⁸. A defined benefit pension usually carries guarantees, a retirement income linked to salary and service, and sometimes a protected early retirement age. Those features are the reason transfers out of them are treated as higher risk.

The practical check is with your existing scheme, not the SIPP provider. A provider can only accept what your scheme will release, and scheme rules vary. If you are unsure what type of pension you hold, the Pension Tracing Service can help identify old schemes.

Full or partial transfer: what happens to your existing plan

A full transfer closes your position in the old scheme and moves everything. A partial transfer moves some of the money and leaves the rest where it is. The second option is the one that lets you keep a current workplace pension running.

Partial transfers work like this: you transfer your current workplace pension, leaving it open for future contributions but moving the fund that has built up into your SIPP¹. Some providers say you can sometimes transfer part of your workplace pension while still being a member of it, if your current provider allows it¹¹. That keeps the employer contribution flowing into the old scheme while the accumulated pot sits in the SIPP.

There are limits. If you are already in pension drawdown, you can transfer your SIPP in full, but you will not be able to partially transfer it¹². And if you hold a protected pension age, that protection does not carry across on a partial transfer, so moving part of a pot can change when you can take the money¹³.

A full transfer of a current workplace pension is the bigger decision. Providers note that the employer or scheme may require you to close the scheme or opt out of automatic enrolment, and that you may be able to ask your employer to contribute to your SIPP instead³. Whether your employer will do that is a question for your employer, not the SIPP provider.

Cash or in specie: how your investments move

There are two ways money leaves an old scheme, and the difference matters if you want to stay invested.

In a cash transfer, your old provider sells your investments and moves the money across as cash. You are out of the market while the transfer completes, and you then buy investments in the SIPP. In an in specie transfer, the existing investments are moved across as they are, without being sold¹⁵. Providers ask which you want during the application¹⁶.

In specie transfers only work if your new SIPP provider offers access to the same investments, and they may not be an option if you are invested in an insurance company pension fund or a lifestyle fund with a target retirement date². Those funds are specific to the old provider and cannot be held elsewhere.

The trade-off is time out of the market against the risk of holding investments you would not have chosen. A cash transfer means a period uninvested, which can be days or weeks depending on the provider. An in specie transfer avoids that but only works where the investments are portable.

SIPPs allow you to hold multiple investments and products, so you can manage your pension fund yourself and have more control over what you hold¹⁷. That flexibility is the point of the wrapper, and it is also why the choice of transfer method matters more in a SIPP than in a scheme with a limited fund range.

How long a transfer takes, and what can delay it

The Financial Conduct Authority's guidance is that a transfer often takes between two and six weeks, but your provider has up to six months to action your request⁵. The Pensions Schemes Act allows six months for a pension transfer to happen¹⁸.

Providers quote a range. Cash transfers typically take two to six weeks¹⁹. Moving investments across as they are usually takes six to eight weeks, and can take longer depending on your investments and provider²⁰. One platform puts investment transfers at eight to twelve weeks²¹. At the faster end, one provider says a transfer could be complete in ten business days depending on your current pension provider²².

The delay is almost always at the old scheme's end. Requests go back and forth between administrators, and schemes with paper processes or incomplete records take longest. If a transfer is dragging, what to do if a transfer is delayed covers the escalation route.

Keeping employer contributions and paying in

A SIPP does not have to be a solo arrangement. Your employer can make contributions to your SIPP, either as regular or one-off payments²³. Some providers say you may be able to transfer your current workplace pension and ask your employer to contribute to your SIPP instead³.

That depends entirely on your employer's willingness and payroll setup. Many will only contribute to the scheme they have chosen, because that is what their auto-enrolment duties are built around. If your employer will not pay into a SIPP, a full transfer of your current workplace pension means losing the employer contribution, which is usually the largest single part of what a workplace pension is worth.

You can also fund a SIPP yourself. You can transfer old pensions, set up monthly recurring contributions, or pay in a lump sum²⁴. Tax relief applies to contributions in the usual way, and pension tax relief explains how it is added.

One rule to know if you are running both: you cannot contribute to a workplace pension plan and a personal pension plan in the same year²⁵. That is a restriction on paying into both, not on holding both, and it is worth checking how it applies before setting up contributions to a SIPP alongside a workplace scheme.

Moving several old pensions into one SIPP

Consolidating is the most common reason people transfer. You can transfer any number of defined contribution workplace pensions into one SIPP², and providers accept transfers from most UK pension types, including pensions you have already started taking an income from²⁶.

Combining pots makes them easier to track and can reduce the number of sets of charges you pay. It also means one set of investment decisions rather than several. The counter-argument is that some old schemes hold benefits worth keeping, such as a protected pension age, a guaranteed annuity rate, or a lower charge than you would pay elsewhere. Those are lost or changed on transfer.

If you have received a percentage of an ex-partner's pension from a pension sharing order, that can be transferred into a SIPP too²⁷. Pensions on divorce are dealt with separately from ordinary transfers, and pensions on divorce or dissolution covers how sharing orders work.

Before consolidating, it is worth checking each old scheme for guarantees and protected terms. The combining pension pots or keeping them separate comparison sets out the trade-offs.

When you can take the money

A SIPP is a pension, so the access rules are the same as any other registered scheme. Pension benefits can normally be taken from age 55, changing to age 57 from 6 April 2028⁶. The same change appears across providers: 55, rising to 57 from 2028²⁸.

Some people hold a protected pension age that preserves the earlier date. That protection is not universal and does not survive a partial transfer, so if you believe you have one, check before moving part of a pot¹³.

The rise to 57 applies to when you can first access the money, not to when you must. You can leave a SIPP untouched for as long as you like. When can I access my private or workplace pension? covers the rules in more detail, and your options for taking money from a pension sets out what you can do with the pot once you reach that age.

What protects you, and where it stops

Transfers between registered pension schemes are covered by rules on how they must be handled, and you have routes to complain if something goes wrong. The Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints about transfers from personal pension arrangements³⁰. If a provider mishandles a transfer, delays it unreasonably, or gives poor information, that is the route.

What protection does not do is make a transfer suitable. Moving out of a workplace scheme can mean losing an employer contribution, a protected pension age, a guaranteed annuity rate or a lower charge, and no regulator restores those once the transfer completes. The FCA's guidance on defined contribution pension transfers sets out the risks, and Vanguard's own guidance is that advice is needed when thinking about transferring a workplace pension to a SIPP to understand the risks³¹.

If you think you were mis-sold a pension or a transfer, Which? sets out the complaints route³². For free, impartial guidance on your options, Pension Wise is available to people with defined contribution pots, and MoneyHelper offers general guidance on pensions and retirement.