Transferring Benefits into the LGPS
If you have previous pension benefits, you may wish to transfer them into the Local Government Pension Scheme. Transfers must be made within the first 12 months of your LGPS membership in your current employment, unless your employer has a published policy to extend this period.
Transfer my previous LGPS benefits
If you have previous LGPS pension benefits you may be able to join these to your current employment, see: Re-joining the LGPS.
Transfer my external pension benefits
You may be able to transfer your previous pension into the LGPS in order to increase your pension. Transfers can be accepted from:
- an occupational pension from a previous employment
- a self-employed pension plan
- a 'buy-out' policy
- a personal pension plan
- a stakeholder pension
but LGPS regulations do not allow us to accept:
- transfer of a pension in drawdown
- partial transfer of a pension
- a transfer containing pension credits awarded under a pension sharing order
- a previous membership in the LGPS as a Councillor
Note: an external transfer can take a considerable amount of time to complete, so you are advised to start this process early in your first year of pensionable service.
For detailed information about how to transfer, see: Transfer a previous pension into the LGPS.