Preserved benefits
If you leave the Local Government Pension Scheme and have any of the following:
At least three months membership.
Transferred in any other pension rights.
Other Local Government Pension Scheme benefits elsewhere (e.g. a frozen refund, preserved benefits, a pension credit awarded as a result of divorce, in receipt of a pension, hold an ongoing concurrent employment).
You will be awarded a preserved benefit which will be paid when you reach normal retirement age.
Your preserved benefit will be calculated based on the service you have accrued to the point of leaving the scheme, your pensionable pay and accrual rates. The pension section will write to your home address with details of your preserved benefit after you leave the scheme.
Preserved benefits increase using an index determined by over-riding legislation.
In order to keep you informed on the current value of your preserved benefit the Pension Section issue annual statements showing the latest values.
In order for us to keep you informed of the value of your preserved benefit and in order that we do not delay payment due to you, please make sure you inform us if you move address (see the change of address form in the related documents section below).
If you leave your job early and have preserved benefits these will normally be paid from age 65. However you can receive them from age 60 but they may be reduced.
You can request early payment of your deferred benefits from age 55, but you must have your former employers consent for payment before 60.
Early payment of your deferred benefit can be made on the grounds of permanent ill health. You will need to be permanently incapable of the job you were working in when you left the LGPS and unlikely to be capable of gainful employment within three years of applying for the benefit, or before age 65 if sooner.
Related documents
The following document is in Word format. You can download the Word software for free from the Word viewer page (opens in a new window) of the Microsoft website.