What happens to my deferred benefits if I change jobs but remain in the LGPS?

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If you are changing your job, but still working in local government or for another employer who offers you membership of the LGPS, or if you rejoin the LGPS before your deferred benefits are paid, your deferred benefits are normally automatically joined with your new active pension account when you rejoin the Scheme, unless you elect to keep them separate.
 
If you wish to keep your deferred benefits separate you must elect to do so within 12 months of re-joining the LGPS, unless your employer allows you longer. This in an employer discretion and you can ask your employer what their policy is on this matter.
 
If you wish to transfer your LGPS pension rights you should contact your current or former LGPS administrator as soon as possible to commence the process and find out about the matters you will need to consider in making your decision.
 
Please note that special rules apply if you were a member of the LGPS in England or Wales on or before 31 March 2014, please see the section, ‘Transferring Pension Rights into the LGPS’ for more information.
 
Please also note that if you became entitled to your deferred benefit as a result of making an election to opt out of membership of the scheme you will not be permitted to join your two periods of membership together and, instead, you will have two separate sets of pension benefits in the Scheme.
 

What if I have two or more LGPS jobs?

If you have two or more jobs in which you pay into the LGPS at the same time and you leave one (or more) but not all of them, and you are entitled to deferred benefits from the job (or jobs) you have left, your deferred benefits from the job that has ended are automatically transferred to the active pension account for the job you are continuing in, unless you elect to keep them separate.
 
If you wish to keep your deferred benefits separate you must elect to do so within 12 months of re-joining the LGPS, unless your employer allows you longer. This in an employer discretion and you can ask your employer what their policy is on this matter.
 
If you are not entitled to deferred benefits from the job (or jobs) you have left, you cannot have a refund of your contributions and you must transfer your benefits to the pension account for the job you are continuing in.
 
Please note that special rules apply if you were a member of the LGPS in England or Wales on or before 31 March 2014, please see the section, ‘Transferring Pension Rights into the LGPS’ for more information.
 

Additionally, if you have membership built up before 1 April 2014 which you aggregate with the membership in the job you are continuing in, then this membership is adjusted to reflect any difference in the whole-time rates of pay between the jobs as follows:

Membership in the job you have left x whole-time rate of pay in the job that has ceased
                                                                     whole-time rate of pay in the job that is continuing
 

What happens if my job is transferred to a private contractor?

If your job is transferred to a private contractor, the contractor will normally be required to provide you with continued access to the LGPS or to offer you a pension scheme that is broadly equivalent to the LGPS. The contractor may become an admission body in the LGPS and this would allow you to stay in the LGPS so long as you continue working on the delivery of the contracted out service.
 
If the contractor becomes an admission body your LGPS benefits prior to the transfer of your job to the contractor can be joined with your post transfer pension account, see the section ‘Transferring Pension Rights into the LGPS’. Alternatively, the contractor may be able to offer you a broadly comparable scheme. This does not mean that the new scheme must mirror the benefits of the LGPS, but the value of the package offered by the new scheme must be broadly equivalent to the LGPS.
 
If you are offered a broadly comparable scheme you would have the same options available to you regarding your accrued LGPS benefits as anyone else leaving the LGPS before retirement.