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LEAVING THE SCHEME AS A COUNCILLOR MEMBER
What happens to my benefits if I cease to be a councillor participating in the LGPS?
In these circumstances you may choose, from a number of options, what happens to the benefits you have accrued in the LGPS. The options available to you are described in the table below:
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Less than three months Total Membership
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At least three months Total Membership |
| Either | Either |
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To take a refund of your contributions less a deduction for tax and the cost, if any, of buying you back into the State Second Pension Scheme (S2P).
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To leave your accrued benefits in the LGPS. Your pension and lump sum will be calculated as described in the section on Retirement Benefits using the length of your total membership up to the date that you left the Scheme. This is known as having deferred benefits.
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| Or | Or |
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To transfer an amount equal to the cash equivalent of your pension benefits into your new employer’s scheme provided they are willing and able to accept it, into a personal pension plan, into a stakeholder pension scheme, or into a ‘buy-out’ insurance policy (but not to the LGPS in England or Wales unless you again participate in the same LGPS fund as a councillor member).
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To transfer an amount equal to the cash equivalent of your pension benefits into your new employer’s scheme provided they are willing and able to accept it, into a personal pension plan, into a ‘buy-out’ insurance policy or into a stakeholder pension scheme (but not the LGPS in England or Wales unless you again participate in the same LGPS fund as a councillor member).
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| Or | |
| To defer making a decision until you either re-join the same LGPS fund as a councillor member, or join a new pension scheme, or want to take a refund of contributions. |
PLEASE NOTE:
It may be possible to make a transfer payment to an overseas pension scheme or arrangement that meets HM Revenue and Customs conditions.
What will happen if I die before receiving payment of my deferred benefits?
Should you die while your benefits are deferred your retirement lump sum will be paid as a death grant.
A widow's, widower's or civil partner’s long-term pension will also become payable. The widow's, widower’s or civil partner’s pension is payable at the rate of one-half of your deferred pension.
Long-term children's pensions will be payable for so long as eligible children remain following your death. The pension is not calculated, however, against a notional entitlement. It is calculated instead against the pension you would have received had your deferred benefits been put into payment on the date of your death. If your pension would have been calculated on a total membership of less than the shorter of ten years or the amount you could have accrued had you continued in office to age 65, that amount is used to increase your pension for the purpose of calculating the children’s pension only.
