Benefits in another public service pension scheme
If you were previously a member of another public service pension scheme, your pension fund may accept a transfer under preferential rules known as the Club transfer rules. These special terms apply if you have not had a break in membership of a public service pension scheme of more than five years. Club transfer rules will not apply if you request a transfer more than a year after you join the LGPS.
Public service pension schemes includes schemes for civil servants, the armed forces, teachers, health service workers, fire and rescue workers, the police force, the judiciary and the LGPS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
If your pension funds accepts a transfer under the Club transfer rules, the amount of extra pension added to your pension account will be broadly equal to the amount of pension you had built up in your previous scheme. The amount is adjusted to take into account any differences between the two schemes.
The extra pension will be added to your pension account in the Scheme year that your pension fund receives the transfer payment.
The transferred in amount will be increased by the revaluation rate that applied in the previous scheme while you remain an active member of the LGPS.
You have 12 months from joining the LGPS to opt to transfer your previous pension rights, unless your employer and your pension fund allow you longer. This is a discretion. You can ask your employer and pension fund what their policy is on late transfers.
Final salary membership
You may have built up final salary benefits if you joined the other public service pension scheme before 1 April 2015. That part of the transfer would buy final salary scheme membership in the LGPS, provided you have not had a disqualifying gap. A disqualifying gap is a continuous break in membership of a public service pension scheme of more than five years.
If all or part of the transfer value buys final salary benefits, these may be accepted under the preferential Club transfer rules. A Club transfer will give you benefits in the LGPS that are broadly equivalent to the benefits you had in the other scheme. Club transfer rules will not apply if you request a transfer more than a year after you join the LGPS.
Final salary benefits are based on your membership in the Scheme and your final pay when you leave. Your final salary is usually the pensionable pay you earn in the last year you are a member. You can see an example of how final salary benefits built up in the LGPS before April 2014 on the How your pension is worked out page.
Transferring your pension rights is not always an easy decision to make. You may wish to get help from an independent financial adviser.
Transfers and the McCloud remedy
If you are thinking about transferring in benefits that you built up in another public service pension scheme between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, they may be protected by the McCloud remedy. The remedy in the LGPS is very different from the remedy in the other public service pension schemes. You should read the information about the transfer very carefully to make sure that you understand how your benefits would be protected.
Read more about McCloud and public sector pension transfers.