- Why haven't I received an Annual Benefit Statement?
- Has the Pensions Increase for 2024 been applied to my pension?
- Can my deferred benefits be paid earlier than the date shown on my statement?
- Can I access my deferred pension on ill health or compassionate grounds?
- Am I affected by the McCloud Remedy?
- What if I contribute to the LGPS under another employment?
- What if I want to request further estimates of my pension benefits?
Why haven't I received an Annual Benefit Statement?
Deferred Benefit Statements have started to be despatched from 17 June 2024.
You may not receive a statement if we do not hold a current address for you. If you would like to notify us of your address please use the online change of address form.
Has the Pensions Increase for 2024 been applied to my pension?
The benefits shown on the statement will include the pensions increase awarded on 8 April 2024 where applicable.
Can my deferred benefits be paid earlier than the date shown on my statement?
You may opt to have your benefits paid before the date shown with an actuarial reduction. The earliest date deferred members may opt for payment is from their 55th birthday, but members whose deferred benefits accrued following opting out, may not opt for payment until they have left the employment under which the benefits accrued. Members wishing to take the early payment of their deferred benefits should provide the Pensions Office with 3 months notice of the date they wish to take the benefits from. Please note that at
the time of publication, the Government is intending to increase the minimum pension age of 55 to age 57 in 2028.
For further information you can visit the LGPS Member website
In all other cases we will write to you 4 weeks prior to your benefits becoming payable in full. If you wish to access them earlier than this you will need to contact us using our contact us online form.
Can I access my deferred pension on ill health or compassionate grounds?
- If you suffer from ill health to the extent that you would be permanently incapable of your former post, then it might be possible to pay your deferred benefits early. Please contact your former employer who can arrange an appointment with an Independent Registered Medical Practitioner.
- At their cost, your former employer has the discretion to waive some or all of the actuarial reduction, which would apply to the early release of your benefits, on compassionate grounds. They should have a written policy on how they will determine cases which should be made available to you on request.
Am I affected by the McCloud Remedy?
- When public service pension schemes changed from final salary schemes to career average schemes in 2014 and 2015, older members were protected from the changes. In 2018, the Courts found that younger members had been discriminated against because the protection did not apply to them. Changes made to the LGPS from 1 October 2023 removes the discrimination found in the court case. These changes are called the McCloud remedy. Not all LGPS members are affected by the changes. You can find more information on the national LGPS website, including a short video.
- If you are affected, you do not need to write to us or make any decisions. If you are contacted by a third party organisation selling a service to help you claim additional pension, you should not engage with them.
- As a member of the LGPS, you do not need to take any action to claim your protection under the McCloud remedy. If you qualify, we will work out if an addition is due to be paid to you when you take your pension, however, we have a huge amount of work to do to gather the information we need and to update our systems so we ask you to please bear with us at this time and we will contact you as soon as we are able to.
- If you were a member of another public service pension scheme before 1 April 2012 you may have protection in relation to that period of service, even if you did not transfer these benefits into your Notts Pension. It is important that you let us know about any relevant pension scheme membership that you haven’t transferred to us so that we can assess if you are entitled to any protection. You can do this by writing to us and providing evidence of your service from your previous scheme.
What if I contribute to the LGPS under another employment?
You will receive a separate statement in respect of each of your pensionable employments.
What if I want to request further estimates of my pension benefits?
In all instances the Annual Benefit Statement should be sufficient to assist you in understanding the current value of your pension benefits. Further estimates will not be provided as we do not know what the Pensions Increases will be in the future.
In all cases we will write to you 4 weeks prior to your benefits becoming payable in full. If you wish to access them earlier than this you will need to contact us using our contact us online form.