Transferring benefits into the LGPS
Applications for pension rights to be transferred in must be made no later than twelve months after entering the LGPS. You won't get another chance unless your employer and the Shropshire County Pension Fund agree to extend this time limit. These applications are usually only granted in exceptional circumstances.
Joining the LGPS and completing the new member form
When joining the LGPS you will be asked to fill in a new member form. If you've previously paid into a pension scheme we need to know about it, as it can affect your pension with us. We need to know about previous pension benefits from:
- a different LGPS fund
- a former employer’s pension scheme
- a self-employed pension plan
- a ‘buy-out’ policy
- a personal pension plan
- a stakeholder pension scheme
- an additional voluntary contribution (AVC) arrangement
It may be possible to transfer previous pension rights to the LGPS. By giving details of all your previous pension scheme membership, we can look at the possibility of a transfer and make a note of this previous membership on your record.
When filling in a new member form, make sure you include the details for each pension scheme you have been a member of. No transfer will go ahead without your final authorisation.
Are you a previous LGPS member?
If you're re-joining the LGPS after having built up LGPS pension rights elsewhere, it's important to tell us about this membership. This can affect the benefits paid by us, and in some circumstances, previous LGPS benefits will automatically be joined with your new active pension account. If you want to keep your previous benefits separate, you must normally choose to do so within twelve months of re-joining the scheme. Although, your employer may allow you longer to decide.
If you've more than one ongoing job, you can choose which job you want to join your previous LGPS pension benefits to.
If you opted out on or after 11 April 2015 and have deferred benefits in the LGPS, you won't be able to join these benefits with your new active pension if you re-join the scheme. Instead, you'll have two separate sets of pension benefits in the scheme.
Special rules also apply if you were a member of the LGPS on or before 31 March 2014. You should tell us about any other previous LGPS or other pension membership and we will contact you to let you know what rules apply to you.
Pension credit
You can't transfer a pension credit into the LGPS. A pension credit is a share of an ex-spouse or ex-civil partner’s pension benefits, as awarded by a court under a pension sharing order, or by a qualifying agreement in Scotland, following a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership.
