If you are arranging transfers at the start of a plan, all discharge forms should be provided with the relevant application form. We will not however provide any information to ceding schemes prior to establishment of the SIPP into which the transfer will be received.

Qualifying for nil transfer fees
The transfer must be in cash (i.e. not in specie or a transfer of property from another scheme). If you intend to use the ‘nil fee’ option, you should tell us in writing when the transfer form(s) are submitted.
For your client to qualify for the ‘nil fee’ option you must:

• request all the discharge documentation from the transferring scheme and ensure you have ongoing authority to contact the transferring scheme regarding the transfer  
• complete with your client only the sections relating to your client. The forms should also be signed and witnessed if necessary and forwarded to Suffolk Life with the original policy document, or lost policy indemnity form if applicable. Please do not complete the receiving scheme section or any details relating to Suffolk Life.
• chase the transfer(s) once you have provided the relevant forms. It is beneficial for you to do this as we are not able to chase transfers when a ‘nil fee’ is requested.

Incorrectly completed or incomplete forms
If the discharge form has to be returned to you because it is incorrect or incomplete, we are entitled to charge the £75 fee. If we return all the documents to the administrator and there are further documents that have to be completed by you or your client, this will also incur the £75 fee. If the transferring scheme issues a document for Suffolk Life to complete, but we do not need to contact you or your client, there will still be a ‘nil fee’.

When to chase the transfer
After receiving a discharge form, we will normally turn it round in five working days or less, and you can start chasing the ceding scheme after this time. If you request us to chase the transfer, the £75 fee will be charged.

In specie transfers of non property investments
Before we are able to proceed with an in specie transfer of equity based assets we’ll need an accurate valuation of the holdings from the current scheme administrator, also containing the SEDOL numbers. You will also need to confirm whether or not the investments are to be held by your client’s investment manager – if so, an account must also be established with the investment manager before the transfer can be requested. Any holdings not allowable under the rules of the relevant receiving plan will have to be disposed of before the transfer starts. There is a complete list of allowable investments in the Investments section of the adviser website – please ensure you refer to the correct page for the scheme in question. We are not able to transfer insured investments in specie and the ceding scheme will first need to en-cash them. Once en-cashed the proceeds will be transferred.

Property transfers
Your client needs to complete a property form and if your client is not already a Suffolk Life member that should be sent with the application form.

The time to allow for a cash / in specie transfer in
Where all documentation is in place, cash transfers generally take 1 to 4 weeks, depending on the ceding scheme. With in specie transfers, where the dealings are between investment managers, transfers can take 6 weeks or more. With share certificates, holdings at unit trust managers/OEIC manager or trustee investment plans (or any other investments where stock transfer forms or deeds of assignment need to be completed), transfers can take around 12 weeks. Please note that in rare cases, transfers can take much longer. We encourage you to help chase in specie transfers, especially as you or your client may be better placed than us to encourage third parties to action requests promptly.