Deferred members
Deferred Member Guide
Annual Benefit Statements
Index Linked
Transfer to Another Employment
Retirement Date & Payment of Benefits
Tracing Previous Pension Entitlements
Change in Personal Circumstances
Possible Reasons For Early Payment
Annual Benefit Statements
Every Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administrator is obliged to send an Annual Benefit Statement (ABS) to every scheme member with an entitlement to preserved benefits. The ABS is a projected value of your benefit entitlements at your normal retirement date. Members entitled to preserved benefits can expect to receive their statement every new financial year , usually in May or June. An example of this statement can be found on the ‘Your ABS Explained’ page.
Index Linked
Public service pensions and lump sums, whether preserved or in payment, are increased annually to take account of increases in the cost of living.
The level of increase is equal to the percentage specified by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions . This increase is equal to the percentage rise in the Retail Price Index (RPI) in the twelve months to the preceding September. The increase in pensions takes effect from the first Monday of the tax year.
Transfer to Another Employment
If you return to Local Government pensionable employment before your benefits become payable, it may be possible to cancel your preserved benefits and combine the scheme membership with any future accumulated service. You must notify the administering authority of your intention to transfer the service within 12 months of taking up your new post. Once the 12 month period has lapsed, a transfer can only take place with the approval of your new employer.
You may choose to transfer your preserved benefits to an external pension provider (either another occupational scheme or a personal pension plan). There is no time limit in which you must make the transfer; as long as the receiving scheme (your new employer/pension administrator) is willing to receive the transfer,. You may ask us to investigate the transfer-out at any point up until the benefits come into payment.
Retirement Date & Payment of Benefits
Your preserved benefits would normally be brought into payment sometime between your 60th and 65th birthday (the date of payment is dependent on your accumulated service in the LGPS). You can find the expected date of payment on either the letter sent to you on leaving the pension scheme or your deferred member Annual Benefit Statement (a copy of which is sent to your home address every year).
If your benefits are due for payment on your 60th birthday, we will write to you before your birthday to confirm that you are no longer in Local Government employment, your current address and to request sight of your birth certificate. Final figures payable and a further explanation of the retirement procedure will then follow.
We will write to you prior to your 60th birthday, even if your benefits aren’t due for several more years. This will be with the option to either - retire early at 60 with reduced benefits, or wait for your normal retirement date and receive the benefits at their full rate. If you choose to accept the reduced benefits, payments will be made immediately. If you decline this option, you will not be offered any further opportunity to receive your benefits until your normal retirement date.
One final option is available to you upon reaching your normal retirement age -you may choose to delay receiving your benefits If you do, your preserved benefits are increased slightly for every day past your normal retirement age that you delay receipt. You can delay receiving your benefits until the day before your 75th birthday, when they will be paid automatically.
Tracing Previous Pension Entitlements
Changing jobs can lead to the accumulation of individual pension benefits, each held by a variety of companies and schemes. This does mean that benefits may be forgotten, assumed to have been transferred or hard to trace.. If you think you may have left some entitlements somewhere, please contact us -for local government pensions or use the Pension Tracing Service.
Previous employee of a Local Government authority in Devon (inc. Police/Fire civilians); you should contact us at pensions@devon.gov.uk with as much information about your former employment as you can possibly provide. Along with your full name (maiden if applicable), date of birth, NI number, you should also provide us with details of your previous employer, dates of service, job title and location of employment.
Previous employee of a Local Government authority in Devon (teaching role); although your employer would have been one of the local authorities, teachers do not pay into the LGPS - they have their own separate pension scheme administered by the Teachers Pensions Service .
Change in Personal Circumstances
It is very important to inform us of any change of address. Without it, we cannot send you an Annual Benefit Statement, inform you of important scheme changes or contact you when your benefits are due to be paid. Sometimes when a member dies, the only way a surviving eligible spouse or partner has learned of their entitlement is because the member received a letter from us.
Please make sure your spouse or partner is aware of your entitlement to preserved benefits and keep us updated on any status changes in your marriage, civil partnership or nominated cohabiting partner status.
Possible Reasons For Early Payment
Your preserved benefits may be awarded early if you become permanently incapable of carrying out the duties of your former employment because of ill health or infirmity of mind or body. No pensions increases are payable until your 55th birthday unless you are unfit for any work.
In exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of your former employer; your preserved benefits may be paid early when you reach 55 or over (or age 50 in certain circumstances). In this case, your benefits may be reduced for early payment unless your former employer agrees on compassionate grounds, to waive the reduction. No pensions increases are payable until your 55th birthday.
For more information about the early release of preserved benefits contact us at pensions@devon.gov.uk, giving your name, address, previous employer, job title and periods of service, along with a brief explanation of your circumstances and reason for applying for the early release of benefits. Or contact us by letter - Devon Pension Services, Estuary House, Peninsula Park, Exeter EX2 7XB.
