Retirement

When we receive your completed pension forms, payment of any lump sum due (excluding trivial commutation) will be arranged by BACS direct to your nominated bank/building society account within 10 working days.   Please note BACS payments can take between 3-5 working days to arrive in your bank account.

Payment of your pension will be made on the last working day of each month. The first month’s payment will include any arrears due to you or adjustments for part of the month. We will provide you with a letter detailing the breakdown of payments.

After the first pension payment you will only receive a pay advice when your net monthly pension differs by more than £1 from the previous month’s amount. However, you will always receive a pay advice and P60 each April.

No, we are not permitted to offer advice to you on any aspect of your pension. Of course, we will provide you with the necessary information on which to base a decision, but you should take advice from an independent financial adviser.

The normal retirement age for both men and women in the LGPS is the State Pension Age. Since April 2006, members have been able to pay into the scheme until their 75th birthday. Nobody is expected (or forced) to work beyond their normal retirement age, but some people choose to continue working.

Note: benefits may be taken earlier (at age 55), but there could be a percentage reduction applied depending on various factors. Visit the LGPS website for more information.

Most Pension Credits are payable from Normal Pension Age., however, they can be taken earlier, from age 55 onwards, but would be subject to an actuarial reduction for early payment. If the original scheme member left the scheme before 1st April 2014, or the effective date of the Pension Sharing Order was before 1st April 2014, then the normal pension age for the credit is 65, although the option to take the pension early with an actuarial reduction still applies.

Your pension is linked to the Consumer Price Index which charts the price of various goods and services over a period of time. This figure is applied annually to your deferred benefit, right up to when it finally comes into payment. This means that, between the dates of leaving your employment and your pension starting, the benefits will not lose any value when compared to modern day costs of living.

In order to retire on ill-health, you must receive confirmation from your authority’s approved doctor (through the relevant process) that your illness is serious enough to prevent you from carrying out the requirements of your employment or that of a similar role.

If you are confirmed as eligible for ill-health retirement, you would qualify for immediate benefits (possibly with an enhancement), regardless of your age. Without this confirmation, you would not be able to retire on ill-health grounds.

You can voluntarily resign from your employment of course, but you would not be eligible for benefits unless you were at least 55 (but the benefits would not include an ill-health enhancement).

An alternative option may be flexible retirement.

Final pay is normally the pensionable pay earned in the 365 days immediately before your retirement date, or one of the previous two years’ pensionable pay – whichever is the higher figure.

If you are part-time (less than 37 hours a week and/or term-time only), the figures used in the pension calculations are up rated to that of full-time equivalent pensionable pay. If your hourly rate has dropped within the last 10 years, benefits may be calculated differently because your pensionable pay has decreased.

On your request, final pay may be calculated on the average of any 3 consecutive years in the last 13 years (ending on a 31 March) after allowing for inflation. If you wish for us to use the best three year average from the last 13 years, when calculating your benefits, you must put your request in writing to Peninsula Pensions at any time up to one month before you leave. This option cannot apply once you have left.

Your application must be made to your employer, not Peninsula Pensions Service. With your employers consent, you can take your benefits from an earlier age (currently 55 years plus), in exchange for reducing your hours and/or your grade.

If your employer agrees to let you take flexible retirement, the employer has the discretion to waive any actuarial reductions which may otherwise be applied to your pension.

Unfortunately, we no longer offer a cheque service.

No, we can only pay a pension into an account belonging to the pensioner in question. However, we can pay the money into a joint account as long as the pensioner is one of the recognised account holders.

In this case, a Power of Attorney may be required. This will allow the authorised person to act with complete authority on the pensioner’s behalf, and remove the necessity for proof of the pensioner’s acceptance.

Entering a new employment covered by the LGPS could affect the value of your pension if you are already getting a pension from the LGPS. If you are thinking about applying for a new job, contact us with the hours and salary details and we will let you know if or how much your pension will be reduced.

This deduction has been applied to your pension because you belonged to the Local Government Pension Scheme between 6 July 1948 and 31 March 1980. During this period of time, you would have paid a lower rate of contribution compared to that of your post-April 1980 scheme.

In order to make up the short-fall, the contribution difference is recouped from your pension on an annual basis (roughly £1.70 for every year of membership between July 1948 and March 1980). These deductions start as soon as you reach state retirement age.

We can accept correspondence on behalf of a pensioner, even though the person may not personally have written or composed the letter. Please ensure that there is proof that they have approved its contents (for example, their signature on the bottom of the document).

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should have contacted you with notification of a change in tax code. We apply the tax codes and make sure the correct payments are made from the monthly payroll, but do not control the code itself. Any query about your tax should be made to HMRC on 0300 200 3200 (please have your National Insurance number to hand).

Pensions are paid on the last working day of every month. If the end of the month falls on a weekend, the pay date will be brought forward to the preceding Friday.

We no longer send payslips each month, in order to reduce costs and environmental waste. Pay advices are sent out every April and May (end of financial year), and are sent to any member whose pension has seen a net change of more or less than £1.

The figure on your Annual Pension pay advice operates on the calendar year, with each month commencing on the 1st. The figure on the P60 operates on the financial year which often doesn’t start until the second week of April. Pensions Increase is always applied from the first Monday after 6 April. The week or two difference between these dates means figures will never be exactly the same. You are still receiving your full entitlement, it’s just those first couple of weeks which fall under the previous financial year.

We can send you the information that was on your P60, however we can’t provide a duplicate of the P60 itself. The information sent to you will be in a letter, showing the same information your P60 would normally show.