General
Your Benefits
Re-joining the Scheme
Death Benefits
General
Once you become a deferred member it is not possible to combine your pension records together to produce one annual benefit statement, as we are required to produce a statement for each record you have with NILGOSC. However, if you re-join the Scheme you may have the option to combine your deferred benefits with your new active pension record within the first twelve months.
Deferred annual benefit statements will be issued to home addresses in June 2018. Active annual benefit statements will be issued before 31 August 2018. If you have not received your active benefit statement by the middle of September please contact us.
If any of your personal details have changed or are shown incorrectly please complete a Change of Circumstances Form or telephone us on 0345 3197 325.
The deferred benefits you have in the Scheme are reviewed annually and increased to keep up with the cost of living.
Pension increases are based on the increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the year to the previous September. The CPI change to September 2017 was 3%.
In April 2016 the government simplified the state pension by replacing the existing basic state pension and additional state pension with the new single-tier state pension.
As a result the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is no longer able to supply us with details of your state pension. you can receive an estimate of your new state pension by contacting the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175 for a statement or get one online at: www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
Your Benefits
Your benefits will be paid to you without any early retirement reductions on the date shown in the box entitled ‘These benefits are payable from’ on your statement.
You can choose to claim your benefits early; however they may be reduced as they will be paid for longer. You can find more information here.
You can elect to retire and receive your deferred benefits from age 55 onwards. If you retire between age 55 and your NPA your benefits may be reduced to take account of their early payment and the fact that your pension will be payable for longer.
If you become ill before your deferred benefits are due to be paid, you may be able to access them immediately. To be considered for ill-health benefits, you must have at least one year's total Scheme membership. NILGOSC must also be satisfied that your illness is permanent and would have resulted in your retirement on medical grounds if you still worked in the job which related to your deferred benefits. You may also have to have a reduced likelihood of being capable of undertaking another job before your normal retirement age.
No. You must take your pension and lump sum at the same time.
If the value of your pension is within HMRC limits you may be able to have it paid as a one-off taxable lump sum instead of a monthly pension. Click here for more information
There are limits to how much pension you are allowed to give up for a bigger lump sum. Individual calculations are needed to work out the maximum lump sum you can receive and we are not allowed to give out this information over the telephone. If you would like more information on how much pension you can exchange for a bigger lump sum, please email us at info@nilgosc.org.uk with details of your request and we will send the information out by post to your home address.
Yes. It is your responsibility to advise NILGOSC that you would like to claim your deferred benefits at least two months before the date which they become payable.
If you have deferred benefits with the Scheme you will not be able to have a refund of the contributions you paid.
You may be able to transfer the value of your pension to another occupational pension scheme, personal pension, stakeholder pension scheme or a buy-out insurance policy, or you can leave your benefits in the Scheme until you reach your normal retirement age.
If you are thinking of transferring your benefits, particularly to a personal pension or money purchase arrangement, you should take independent financial advice and beware of unauthorised companies. More information can be found on the following websites:
The Pensions Advisory Service - Transferring your pension
The Pensions Regulator - dangers of pensions scams
You may be able to transfer the value of your pension to another occupational pension scheme, personal pension, stakeholder pension scheme or a buy-out insurance policy.
If you are thinking of transferring your benefits, particularly to a personal pension or money purchase arrangement, you should take independent financial advice and beware of unauthorised companies. More information can be found on the following websites:
The Pensions Advisory Service - Transferring your pension
The Pensions Regulator - dangers of pensions scams
Re-joining the Scheme
You can only contribute to the Scheme if you are employed by a Local Government employer. A list of the employers who participate in our Scheme can be found here.
If you re-join the Scheme you will begin to build up new pension benefits in addition to your deferred benefits. We will give you the option to join these two sets of benefits together within twelve months of re-joining the Scheme. For more information click here.
Death Benefits
If you die before receiving your benefits, dependants’ pensions may be payable along with a Lump Sum Death Grant. The value of the death grant depends on when you left the Scheme.
- If you left from 1 April 2009 the death grant is five times the current value of your annual deferred pension
- If you left before 1 April 2009 the death grant is three times the current value of your annual deferred pension
From 1 April 2015 if you are also an active member of the Scheme the death grant payable will be the higher of that from your deferred membership or your active membership. Both death grants will not be paid.
You can advise us who you would like to receive any death grant by completing an Expression of Wish Form LGS20 (PDF, 273kb).
Pensions for eligible cohabiting partners were introduced from 1 April 2009 and only apply to deferred members who were active members in the Scheme from this date. If you wish for your cohabiting partner to receive a pension if you die your relationship has to meet certain conditions laid down in the Scheme’s regulations.