While you were a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), you built up valuable pension benefits.

These form an important part of your savings for your retirement.

Now you have left the LGPS before retiring, you have deferred benefits.

Deferred benefits are where we work out the value of your benefits when you leave the LGPS and hold them in the LGPS for you until:

• you decide to transfer them to another pension scheme; or
• they are due to be paid.

You qualify for deferred benefits as you have been a member of the Scheme for at least three months, or you have transferred pension rights into the LGPS.

Your personal deferred benefit package is increased every year in line with the cost of living and gives you:

• a secure pension, paid throughout your retirement;
• an automatic one-off tax free cash lump sum, paid when you retire based on any membership you have up to to 31 March 2008.
• There is no automatic one-off tax free cash lump sum for membership from 1 April 2008 but you can give up some of your annual pension to buy more lump sum1. Each £1 of pension you give up will buy £12 of lump sum
• life cover and financial protection for your family.

The main details of the Scheme are as follows:

Your Deferred Pension Benefits
Membership & How your Deferred Benefits are calculated

Extra Contributions
Extra Contributions you paid which are now deferred including AVCs & ARCs

keeping their Value
How your Deferred Benefits keep their value

Tax Rules & Your Benefits
Do the tax rules on savings cover deferred benefits?

Paying Deferred Benefits
When you can choose to receive payment of your deferred benefits

Life Cover
What happens if I die before receiving my deferred benefits?

Rejoining the LGPS
What are my options if I rejoin the LGPS before my deferred benefits are paid?
I have only left one of the jobs where I pay into the LGPS. What are my options?

Transferring from the LGPS
Can I transfer my deferred benefits out of the LGPS?
How does a transfer out of the LGPS work?

While your LGPS benefits are deferred

What you can expect from us

• We will send you an up-to-date statement of your deferred benefits every year, provided you have kept us informed of your current address.

What we expect from you

• If you move house, let us know.
• Make sure your wishes on who you would want us to pay a lump-sum death grant to are kept up to date.
• Make sure your dependants or relatives know you have deferred LGPS benefits.
• If you join the LGPS again, tell us or tell your new pension administrator that you have deferred benefits with us.