The Occupational Pension Schemes (Master Trusts) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023

7.—(1) A member who has received notice from the trustees under paragraph 6 may give notice to the trustees requiring them—

(a) to transfer the member’s accrued rights and benefits in the transferring scheme to—

(i) the applicable scheme, or

(ii) an alternative scheme selected by the member, the trustees of which are able and willing to accept the transfer, or

(b) to use the cash equivalent of the member’s accrued rights and benefits to purchase one or more policies from one or more insurers authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority(1) for carrying on long-term insurance business in the United Kingdom.

(2) A notice under this paragraph—

(a) must be sent within the period of 3 months beginning with the day when the member received notice from the trustees under paragraph 6 (“the option period”), and

(b) must contain sufficient information about the alternative scheme referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) or the destination of the cash equivalent referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b), including bank account details, necessary for the trustees to comply with paragraph 8(1).

(3) An alternative scheme selected by the member must be—

(a) a Master Trust scheme authorised under the Act, or

(b) a personal pension scheme as defined in section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act (categories of pension schemes).

(1)

The Financial Conduct Authority is described in section 1A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as substituted by section 6(1) of the Financial Services Act 2012 (c. 21); Part 3 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 contains provisions on authorisation