Essential to have court order for pension sharing? England

Ex wife and I divorced over 10 years ago, never got around to sorting the pension sharing, which we agreed in our Separation Agreement. We only used solicitors and courts for the bare minimum, as we were mostly amicable. Trying to sort it now, and she's aware that my pension value will have risen since then, and happy for the amount i transfer to be the original £ amount.We are both completely in agreement about the arrangement, but my pension provider is insisting that we need a court order. I've told them I consent - not good enough. I've sent them our signed separation agreement - not good enough.This seems bonkers, when I'm happy to send her the money. Do they have the right to insist we pay for a court order?

It’s not a case of them having a right to insist. It is a legal requirement.

It’s always best advice to have a Clean Break order from the court to end all financial ties.

If you’re happy to just send her the money then if it is a DC pension you could make a withdrawal and.give it to her. It would potentially mean a big tax bill for you though and for your ex it would mean the money would be outside a pension wrapper with limited options to get it back into a pension or ISA.

What sort of figures are you talking about

Sorry for delay, didn't have notifications switched on!
It's only around £9K to transfer, but I take your point

Another quick couple of questions relating to this-
Do we need to pay a solicitor to sort this out can forms be submitted ourselves?
Do we need to submit full (current) financial situation, given that both of our circumstances have changed substantially since the original agreement?

Thanks so much in advance!

If your applying for a clean break Consent Order then it is best to get a solicitor to draw it up to ensure it is worded correctly.
You will need to supply up to date financial disclosures to the court.
Have a look at the fixed price service on this site.