Just a quick couple of what I presume to be very basic questions which I would like answered, please. 1) What is the difference between a surrender value and a transfer value? 2) Why can't you surrender a pension?
A surrender value is the amount you would receive if you decided to cancel your policy. Not all policies have a surrender value, depending on their design. A transfer value is the amount your pension provider will actually pay to another pension provider to transfer your pension savings. There's nothing in the mathematics of pension provision that stop surrender (and in fact, in the US it is possible to an extent). However, the UK gives tax relief on pension contributions, and so surrenders are forbidden to stop people taking advantage, and to encourage long term savings (though you can get contributions returned early on).
