Under UK pension rules as they stand in 2026/27, a UK workplace pension generally stays yours when you leave the UK. Contributions stop when you leave the job, and the benefits are normally kept in the scheme as a "deferred" or preserved pension until you are old enough to take them. Moving abroad does not by itself cause you to lose it, but you will want to keep track of it and decide whether leaving it in place suits you.

Contributions stop, the pot stays

When you leave your UK employer, both your and your employer's contributions stop. What has already built up remains in the scheme, and your status changes from active to deferred member. You usually cannot carry on contributing to a former employer's scheme.

For defined contribution workplace schemes, the government abolished "short service refunds" from October 2015, so after the first 30 days of membership your pot generally stays in the pension rather than being refunded. Final salary schemes can still pay refunds in some cases where membership was short, so check with the scheme if you joined recently.

Defined contribution and final salary are different

Defined contribution pensions are a pot invested in funds, often the scheme's default fund. The value rises and falls with markets, and charges continue to be taken.

Final salary or defined benefit pensions promise an income based on salary and service. When you leave, the benefit is usually preserved and revalued each year until retirement, in line with scheme rules and legal minimums. The scheme, not you, carries the investment risk.

When you can access it

You can normally take a workplace pension from the scheme's normal retirement age, or earlier from the normal minimum pension age. That age is currently 55 and is legislated to rise to 57 on 6 April 2028, subject to protected pension age rules and scheme-specific exceptions.

Broadly, a protected pension age may apply if, before 4 November 2021, you had an unqualified right under the scheme rules to take benefits before 57, and the rules on 11 February 2021 provided for this. Protection applies scheme by scheme and can be lost on certain transfers, so check with your scheme before moving anything.

Your options after leaving

Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to:

  • Leave it where it is. Often simple, as long as you keep the scheme updated with your overseas address and email.
  • Transfer it to another UK registered pension. This may help consolidate pots, but moving platform is not always available: a provider's decision may also reflect the regulatory requirements of the country where you live. A UK provider may be unable to provide ongoing investment services, advice or new contributions even though the pension remains legally valid.
  • Transfer it overseas. A transfer to a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS) may be subject to the 25% Overseas Transfer Charge. The charge does not apply if an exclusion condition is met, for example you are resident in the same country as the QROPS, or it is an occupational scheme sponsored by your employer. The former EEA and Gibraltar exclusion only applies to transfers requested before 30 October 2024. Separately, transfers are tested against the Overseas Transfer Allowance, and a charge can arise later if your circumstances change within five full tax years after the transfer. Whether a transfer to a scheme in Malta, Gibraltar or the Isle of Man is charged depends on your residence, the receiving scheme's QROPS status and whether an exclusion applies.

If you have final salary or other safeguarded benefits worth more than GBP 30,000, you must take advice from an FCA authorised adviser before converting or transferring them to flexible benefits.

Read more in our guide to UK pension options for British expats in the UAE, or our guide to defined benefit pension transfers.

Worked example

Illustrative example only, not a real client.

Helen, 44, leaves a UK employer for a job in Abu Dhabi. She has a defined contribution workplace pension worth GBP 80,000 and a preserved final salary pension promising GBP 6,000 a year at 65. Assuming neither scheme gives her a protected pension age:

  • Contributions to both stop when she leaves.
  • The GBP 80,000 pot stays invested in the default fund; its future value is not guaranteed.
  • She would be 57 in 13 years, the earliest age she could generally access it.
  • She updates both schemes with her UAE address and checks her beneficiary nominations.

Common mistakes

  • Not telling the scheme your new address. The Pension Tracing Service can help find old schemes, including by phone from overseas on +44 191 218 7777.
  • Transferring a final salary pension without understanding what is being given up.
  • Overlooking that, for deaths on or after 6 April 2027, legislation is intended to bring most unused pension funds and certain pension death benefits into the inheritance tax calculation, subject to exclusions (such as certain death in service benefits and dependants' scheme pensions) and detailed rules still being finalised. The treatment depends on the type of arrangement, the member's long-term UK residence status and the nature of the benefit.

A regulated financial adviser can help. Get in touch for a free introduction.

Sources and further reading

Last reviewed: October 2026. Tax year: 2026/27 (UK). Jurisdictions covered: UK, UAE. Rates, legislation and guidance change, so recheck before relying on this. Rules can differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; tax residence is fact-specific; treaty outcomes depend on residence, domicile or nationality provisions; examples are simplified and omit reliefs, costs, exchange rates and anti-avoidance rules. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Take advice in the relevant country before acting.