I have previous pension benefits in the GMPF / another LGPS Fund but I did not build up enough membership to entitle me to deferred benefits. What happens to this membership?
If you didn’t build up enough membership to entitle you to deferred benefits, we will add this membership automatically to the membership you are building up in your new employment. If this membership is in another LGPS Fund, you will need to tell us about it when you fill in your new member declaration form (PF2).
Can I transfer a Personal Pension or Stakeholder Pension in?
If you joined on or after 1 April 2005, you will not be able to transfer it into this Fund unless your employer agrees that there are exceptional circumstances and gives permission for the transfer to go ahead. If you would like confirmation of this or wish to speak to someone about it, please call our Helpline.
Can I transfer an FSAVC or AVC policy in?
You cannot transfer an FSAVC policy directly into the Scheme, however you may be able to transfer it into an AVC policy. For more information about this, please contact our Helpline.
If you signed up to pay into our in house AVC scheme before 13th November 2001, you may be able to transfer this into the main scheme where it will count as membership. You can do this any time from 50 as long as you have stopped paying the AVCs (or at any age if retiring on ill health).
 Topping up your Benefits
Can I transfer a Pension Credit in that I have received as part of divorce proceedings?
Sorry, no.
I have several separate sets of deferred benefits. Can I join them all to my new current membership?
You must be within 12 months of joining the Fund in order to transfer any benefits. Which previous benefits you can transfer will then depend on when they were awarded to you and whether you have had the option to transfer them in the past on not.
The rules on this are quite complicated, so to find out more you should speak to our Helpline.
Should I keep my deferred benefits separate or transfer them to count with my new membership?
Keeping your deferred benefits separate: If you do this, you will build up new benefits with your new job, so you will have two sets of benefits. Your deferred benefits will be worked out using the membership and final pay when you left plus any inflation due from the date you left up to the date that we pay them to you. The benefits from your new job will be worked out using the membership you have built up in this job and your final pay when you leave or retire.
Linking your deferred benefits: If you transfer your deferred benefits to count with the membership in your new job, you will have only one set of benefits and these will be worked out using the total membership you have built up in both jobs and the final pay in your new job. However, if you were to leave within 12 months of starting your new job, your final pay figure would be worked out using some of the pay from your previous job.
If your pay in your new job is higher or is likely to be higher than the pay your deferred benefits are based on (plus any inflation increases), then transferring your membership may produce the best results. But if you think your pay in your new job is unlikely to end up higher, you may want to leave your deferred benefits separate.
There are several other things to bear in mind, including:
- If there is a big gap between the two jobs, your current benefits may have a later retirement age than your deferred benefits. If you transfer your earlier membership you might end up with a later retirement age for this too
- If you die before you retire, the benefits would be different – for example if you keep your deferred benefits separate, we would work out two separate lump sums
- You can decide to transfer within the first 12 months of joining, but not normally after this
Even if you take up another LGPS job in the future, you will not normally get a second chance to transfer your deferred benefits, so these will always stay separate.
What happens if I leave my job before my transfer is completed?
If you are transferring membership in from a Club Scheme or non local government scheme, and you leave employment before the transfer has been completed, then we will cancel your request and the transfer will not go ahead.
If you are transferring previous LGPS membership, the transfer can be completed if you made the election whilst you were still paying into the GMPF.
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