When a transfer out of the NHS Pension Scheme takes place, some pension schemes will not accept the part of the transfer value that relates to contracted out rights. This is known as the 'retention of pension rights'.
This means that the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) or Section 9 (2b) protected rights, or both, will remain in the NHS Pension Scheme.
If we keep these rights, they’ll be payable by us as a pension. You must apply for these at either:
- your State Pension Age if only GMP rights have remained in the Scheme
- your Normal Pension Age (NPA).
For calculation purposes, if only the GMP rights have remained, all that will be payable in the future is the re-valued GMP.
If we keep Section 9 (2B) rights, all membership after 5 April 1997 is kept. Benefits will be calculated in the normal way.
Section 9 (2b) protected rights
From 6 April 1997, the Scheme was required to show that NHS Pension benefits were unlikely to be lower than those provided by the State Additional Pension.
Contracting out stopped for all schemes on 6 April 2016.