Pensions

UK pensions when you live abroad

Last updated September 2026 · 6 min read

Your UK pensions do not disappear when you leave, but the rules around contributing, transferring and drawing them all change. Most expats can still pay in a little, most should think hard before transferring, and everyone should find their old schemes before they forget the employers.

Can you still contribute?

Usually yes, but modestly. If you have no UK relevant earnings you can generally contribute up to £3,600 gross a year and still receive basic rate tax relief, for up to five tax years after the tax year in which you left the UK. After that window, relief typically stops.

If you do have UK earnings, for example from a UK employer or UK rental profit treated as relevant earnings, different limits may apply. Worth checking rather than assuming.

Finding pensions you have forgotten

Most people who have worked for several UK employers have pensions they have lost track of. The government's Pension Tracing Service is free and will find the scheme administrator from an employer name. Do it while you still remember the employers.

Drawing a UK pension from abroad

You can normally access from age 55, rising to 57 from 2028.
A UK pension can usually be paid into an overseas bank account, though the provider may apply a currency conversion you did not choose.
How it is taxed depends on the double tax treaty between the UK and where you live. Some treaties give the UK taxing rights, some give them to your country of residence.

Temporary non-residence. If you leave the UK, take a large pension withdrawal while abroad and return within roughly five years, anti-avoidance rules can pull that withdrawal back into UK tax. Anyone planning to come home should take advice before drawing anything substantial.

Transferring overseas: QROPS

A Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme transfer moves a UK pension abroad. It can make sense if you are permanently settled somewhere, want to hold the pension in your spending currency, and the receiving scheme is genuinely better.

It can also trigger an overseas transfer charge of 25% in some circumstances, and the expat market has a long and unhappy history of transfer advice driven by commission rather than suitability.

A reasonable test. If the person recommending the transfer is paid more when you transfer than when you do not, get a second opinion from someone who is not. A transfer is usually irreversible.

The honest summary

For most expats the sensible order is: find everything, keep contributing what you can, check your State Pension record, and leave transfers alone unless there is a clear and specific reason that survives independent scrutiny.

What would this look like for you?

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General information only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules and rates change and your own position depends on your circumstances. Take qualified advice before acting.