Claiming your pension

If you are thinking of claiming your pension you should consider the following points:

Pension age

The normal pension age (NPA) in the LGPS is 65 or your State Pension age if later, but you may choose to claim your pension benefits earlier. However:

you can choose to receive your pension on or after age 55 but your pension will be reduced as it will be paid for more years,
your pension will be increased if you take it after NPA, but it must be paid before age 75,
your pension can be paid on ill health grounds, without early retirement reductions, at any age,
the pension you have built up will be paid immediately without early retirement reductions if you are made redundant or dismissed on efficiency grounds after age 55,
your pension can normally only be paid once you have left your job. However, you may be able to claim your pension and carry on working by taking flexible retirement.

Note: The government sets the earliest age at which you can access your pension savings under normal circumstances. This is currently age 55 as indicated above - however it is rising to age 57 from 6 April 2028.

Further Information:

Taking your pension early or late.

See the Past members page if you already have a deferred pension. The following information is for members who are still contributing to the LGPS.

Requesting an estimate

If your proposed retirement date is more than 18 months away, please refer to your annual benefit statement which is available to view in your Member Portal account. A new statement will be added to the Member Portal every year.

Most members can obtain an estimate of their benefits at any time through our Member Portal.

and select "Membership details" then "Retirement Estimate".

You will be able to view your standard benefits and your maximum lump sum benefits, if none of the following apply to you:

your retirement requires employer authorisation (e.g. retirement on grounds of ill health/redundancy/efficiency)
your retirement is subject to your employer agreeing a discretion (such as switching on the 85-year rule or waiving reductions for early payment)
you have elected for Scheme Pays
we are currently dealing with your retirement/transfer/divorce

If you are thinking of retiring within the next 18 months then you can request an estimate to help you make a decision.

You will need to complete a form and send this to your employer.

Estimate request form

Your employer will add details of your pay and service and send the estimate request form to Pension Services.

We will calculate your entitlement and write to you with details of your estimated benefits within 3 weeks of receipt of the estimate request from your employer.

If you require an estimate based on the grounds of ill health, flexible retirement or redundancy and efficiency, then you will need to contact your employer in the first instance.

Note:

You can only request one free estimate in a 12 month period (per pension account). There will be a charge for additional estimates.
The estimate request form should be used if you need to make a decision about retirement. If your retirement has already been agreed, you will be sent final figures as a matter of course. You will not need to request an estimate.

What to do

Let your employer know as soon as you have decided on a retirement date so that they can tell us you are retiring.

You will need to complete a retirement declaration form. Do not complete this form more than 3 months before the date you want your pension to start. The easiest way to complete this form is through our Member Portal.

If you require the form in an alternative format, please see our resources page.

What to expect

In order to pay your pension, we must have:

your completed retirement declaration form (either through our Member Portal or a paper copy) with evidence of your identity,
information from your employer about your hours and pay,
your employer's authority - if you are retiring due to redundancy, efficiency or ill health,
if you have AVCs, we must contact your AVC provider, request payment and wait for this to arrive before we can pay your pension. This may cause a delay of up to eight weeks.

Once we have everything we need, it will take around six weeks to start paying your pension. We cannot make any payments before your retirement date. We will write to tell you how much your pension and any lump sum will be.

Related information

The LGPS regulations changed on 1 October 2023 as a result of the McCloud age discrimination Remedy. If you were a member of the LGPS before 1 April 2012, you may qualify for underpin protection. We will check to see if the protection applies and if so, we will adjust your pension benefits at retirement. See the factsheet for more information on the McCloud judgement and if it applies to you.

Past member