Deferred annual benefit statements

Date of Leaving: This is the date that you left employment or opted-out.

This is the date your deferred benefits will be paid from unreduced, your Normal Pension Age (NPA). If your Date of Leaving is after 31 March 2014 your NPA may change in the future as and when the Government choose to make any changes to the State Pension Age.

Please note that you no longer need the consent of your former scheme employer to receive payment of your deferred benefits between age 55 and your NPA. If you wish to claim your deferred benefits on any date between age 55 and your NPA we will require a prior written three month notice period. You can email your notice to our helpdesk info@berkshirepensions.org.uk  

Deferred benefits paid earlier than your NPA will normally be subject to a reduction to take account of the fact that your annual pension will be paid for longer. How much your deferred benefits are reduced by depends on how early you receive them. Deferred benefits may also be put into payment earlier and in full in the event of permanent ill health. 

It is important to note that the Minimum Earliest Retirement Age is increasing from 55 to 57 with effect from 6 April 2028.

This is the current value of your deferred annual pension at 7 April 2025.

This is the current value of your deferred tax-free lump sum based on membership built up to 31 March 2008 only.

This is the amount of pensions increase that has been applied to all the deferred benefit values shown since your Date of Leaving.

This is the value of the tax-free lump sum which would become payable to your estate or nominated beneficiary(ies) at your date of death (for the purposes of this estimate we have used the date of 7 April 2025). However, if you have re-joined the LGPS in England or Wales, the Lump Sum Death Grant payable would be the greater of:
 

• the total from all deferred benefits, annual pensions in payment and any suspended Tier three ill health annual pensions, or
• three times your annual Assumed Pensionable Pay in your new role

The amount of tax-free lump sum payable is dependent on when you left the LGPS as explained below.

If you left the LGPS before 1 April 2008: If you die before your deferred LGPS benefits become payable, a lump sum death grant equal to the value of your tax-free lump sum retirement grant, plus inflationary increases built up since leaving the Scheme, will be paid as a death grant to your nominee or personal representatives. In addition, if you die and leave a spouse or civil partner, he or she will become entitled to part of your pension.

If you left the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008: If you die before your deferred LGPS benefits become payable, a lump sum death grant equal to five times the value of your deferred annual pension, plus inflationary increases built up since leaving the Scheme, will be paid as a death grant to your nominee or personal representatives. In addition if you die and leave a spouse or civil partner, he or she will become entitled to part of your pension. If you left the Scheme after 1 April 2008 a cohabiting partners pension may also be payable.

This is the amount of annual pension which would become payable in the event of your death to your legally married spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner. 

Please note: A cohabiting partners annual pension is only payable if you contributed to the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008 and the following criteria is met:

• Your cohabitation had been continuous for at least two years at date of death
• You are living together as if husband and wife or civil partners
• You are not living with a third person as if husband and wife or civil partners
• Either your partner is financially dependent upon you or you are financially inter-dependent on each other

For more information concerning cohabiting partners and their entitlement to an annual pension please contact the Pension Team or visit our website at www.berkshirepensions.org.uk 

When public sector pension schemes changed from Final Salary to Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) schemes in 2014 and 2015, older scheme members were protected from the changes. In 2018, the Courts found that younger scheme members had been discriminated against because the protection afforded did not apply to them.

Changes made to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations from 1 October 2023 removed the discrimination found, these changes are called The McCloud Remedy and it is only those employees that were in pensionable service during The McCloud Remedy period from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2022 that may be affected by the changes.

Therefore, if the value of your Current Annual Pension shown was not built up at any time during The McCloud Remedy period The McCloud Remedy Values shown in this section will be nil and the following definitions will not apply.

The McCloud Remedy Values Definitions:

Estimated Final Underpin Amount: This is the current value, including pensions increase to 7 April 2025, of Final Salary Annual Pension you would have built up in The McCloud Remedy period had the LGPS not changed to a CARE scheme on 1 April 2014. This value is included in the Current Annual Pension payable if it is greater than the Final Assumed Benefits shown.

Estimated Final Assumed Benefits: This is the current value, including pensions increase to 7 April 2025, of your CARE Annual Pension you built up in The McCloud Remedy period. This value is included in your Current Annual Pension payable if it is greater than the Final Underpin Amount shown.

Estimated Final Guarantee Amount: This is the current value, including pensions increase to 7 April 2025, of the difference between Final Underpin Amount and the Final Assumed Benefits shown. If the Final Assumed Benefits shown are greater the Final Guarantee Amount will be nil.

Estimated Survivors Guarantee Amount: This is the current value, including pensions increase to 7 April 2025, of additional surviving partner's annual pension payable where a Final Guarantee Amount is shown. This value is included in the Survivor's Annual Pension shown.

In some cases, where a transfer has been received by the Pension Fund from another public sector pension scheme, including LGPS Pension Fund, that included pensionable service during The McCloud Remedy Period, the value of any Final Guarantee Amount may be incorrect because at the time of publication we were unable to confirm details with your former public sector pension scheme administrator(s). However, the value of any Final Guarantee Amount will be included in future Deferred Annual Benefit Statements.

If you are affected, you do not need to write to the Pension Fund or make any decisions. 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, the Pension Fund will automatically apply the protection when you take your pension benefits.

Further details can be found by visiting www.lgpsmember.org/mccloud-remedy/  

You can choose who you would like to receive any Lump Sum Death Grant payable by completing an Expression of Wish form. If you have already completed an Expression of Wish form, your nominated beneficiary(ies) will appear in this section.

If this section appears blank it means we do not currently hold details of your nominated beneficiaries on file. You can update your nominated beneficiaries via our online service – ‘my pension ONLINE’. Please visit www.berkshirepensions.org.uk to find out more.

Alternatively you can contact the pension team to request an Expression of Wish form to be posted or emailed to you.