ABSTRACT
The main object of this chapter is to consider what occurs when a member leaves an occupational pension scheme before attaining normal retirement age, eg because he sets up his own business or joins a new company employer. Basically, his accrued pension rights may be transferred to his new employer’s pension scheme or into a personal pension arrangement (s 136(a) of the Pensions Schemes Act 1993). The concept of leaving pensionable service is the subject of detailed guidance in the Practice Notes (IR 12, 1991, paras 10.1-10.44). The term ‘leaving pensionable service’ connotes all the circumstances in which a person leaves a scheme which do not give rise to payment of benefits, eg as above (IR 12, 1991, para 10.1).
