A pension report is only as good as the information behind it. Schemes and insurers do not always send what a valuation needs. What happens when they don't, and what should you ask for so that they do?
The short answer
The client requests the scheme data, and that includes both people's State Pension forecasts. Our standard timetable runs from receipt of the joint instruction and the complete information pack:
- 15 working days for a portal-route joint instruction;
- 20 working days for a solicitor-led joint instruction.
Where something is still missing, the report says so. It states the assumption made in its place and, where it can, reports the effect of that assumption on the answer. Nothing is filled in silently.
Why a transfer value on its own is not enough
A scheme's cash equivalent, or an insurer's transfer value, is the scheme's own figure on its own basis. It differs from scheme to scheme, and it is not the basis of the division.
We value every pension at fair value: what it would cost, on the valuation date, to secure the same income with no risk. To do that we need the benefit terms behind the figure, not just the figure. A quotation that gives a transfer value and nothing else leaves out what the valuation needs.
A worked example
This case is anonymised and its figures are rounded.
One person had a deferred final-salary pension. The scheme had been bought out by an insurer, so the pension was now an insurer's policy. The insurer's quotation gave a transfer value, but no benefit terms.
The terms were taken from the scheme's own published notes, and the assumptions made were stated in the report. On that basis, the insurer's transfer value was about 11% below fair value.
| What was supplied | What was missing | How it was dealt with |
|---|---|---|
| The insurer's transfer value | The benefit terms | Taken from the scheme's own published notes; the assumptions stated in the report |
The lesson is simple. An insurer's transfer value is its price, not what the promised income is worth. If a quotation leaves out the benefit terms, ask for them.
When information arrives late
Sometimes a document turns up after the report has been served. If that changes the answer, we issue a new certificate and an addendum that says what it replaces. The original report stays as it was, so anyone reading the file can see what was served and what changed.
That route works. But it comes after service, when the first figure has already been read. A complete pack at the start avoids it.
A checklist: what to ask for
From each scheme or insurer
- The cash equivalent or transfer value.
- The benefit terms behind it: the pension, how it increases, the age it is payable from, and any survivor's pension.
- For a pension already being paid: the current pension, and what has already been paid, including any tax-free cash.
- For a money-purchase fund: its value, and the funds it is invested in.
- For a scheme with more than one section: how the pension is split between them.
For the two people
- Both people's UK State Pension statements.
- Every overseas pension, overseas state pensions included.
- Any pension the instruction will keep out of the order. It still goes into the balance.
- For a married-period order, the dates that define the period.
What to do
- Request the scheme data early. The timetable starts from the complete information pack.
- Check each quotation before sending it on. If it gives a figure but no benefit terms, go back and ask for them.
- When the report arrives, read its statement of the assumptions made where information was missing.
- If anything arrives after the report has been served, send it to us straight away.
More on how we work is on our Pension Sharing Order page.
Last updated October 2026.