Transferring your Benefits

After you leave Local Government employment with deferred LGPS benefits, you can decide whether to leave them in the Scheme, where they will be further increased with inflation each year, or transfer them to a new Employer's scheme or into a personal pension plan. This may even be to an Overseas pension scheme.

You cannot transfer your benefits if you leave less than one year before your Normal Pension Age, either under the LGPS 2007 or LGPS 2013, depending on whether you left before or after 1 April 2014.

How do I transfer my deferred benefits?

If you wish to transfer benefits out of the LGPS, you must contact your new pension provider to request a transfer value quotation from the Fund. Under the Pensions Act 1995, a quotation must be guaranteed for 3 months from the date of calculation. Before transferring your LGPS benefits to a Defined Contribution arrangement, you MUST have obtained advice from an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Re-joining the LGPS with another Local Government Pension Fund

If you re-join or have already re-joined the LGPS in another Fund in England or Wales, you must:

a) notify the administering authority of the Fund in which you are an active member that you have deferred benefits in another LGPS Fund in England or Wales;

b) notify the Fund in which your deferred benefits are held that you are an active member in another LGPS Fund in England or Wales, and;

c) notify the administering authority of the Fund in which you are an active member of any intervening service in any other public service pension scheme (even if a refund of contributions has been received in respect of that service).

Items a) and b) are required to ensure that you are given the appropriate options regarding the aggregation of your benefits. However, failure to comply with item c) could lead to certain statutory rights not being applied to your circumstances e.g. to a final salary link should you decide to aggregate any pre 1 April 2014 LGPS membership.