Your pension can seem very complicated if you've paid into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for more than one job. The following information should help to explain what happens to your pension in this scenario.
If you have a deferred record, but have started a new job and you're paying into the LGPS again
If you’ve got a deferred record in any of the LGPS pension funds in England or Wales, and you’ve started paying into the scheme again for a new job, we’ll normally automatically combine the records together once you've told us about them by filling in and returning the member information form.
If you rejoin the LGPS in another LGPS fund in England or Wales, or join another public sector pension scheme, such as, Civil Service, Fire, Police, NHS or Teachers’ Pension Scheme, you must tell your new fund that you have a deferred record with Derbyshire Pension Fund.
If you want to keep the records separate, you must let us know within 12 months of starting your new job.
We can’t advise you about what you should do, but we have a page about joining records or keeping them separate which has information that you may wish to consider when deciding if you want to keep your pension records separate.
If you have a deferred record from opting out of the LGPS, and you're now paying in again
If you've decided to opt back in to the LGPS, or have been re-entered into the scheme by your employer under automatic enrolment rules, we won't be able to combine your previous record with your new record if you opted out, on or after 11 April 2015. Your records will remain separate and we’ll send you an annual benefit statement for each.
If you were paying into the LGPS for a short time before leaving and haven’t had a refund, but you have a new job and you're paying in again
If you have a pension record with us where you didn’t qualify for a deferred record, but didn’t have a refund, we will combine the records together.
If you're paying into the LGPS on all of your part-time jobs
If you’re paying into the LGPS for more than 1 job at the same time we can’t combine your records together until you've left one of the jobs. At that point we’ll join the record you’ve left with the record for the job you’re continuing in.
Combined or separate
If all of your LGPS membership is after 1 April 2014, there is usually no benefit to keeping your pension records separate, as your pension builds year on year, based upon your actual pay received.
However, if you were in the LGPS before 1 April 2014, there may still be a link to your final salary. If you start a job and pay in to the LGPS with a lower full time equivalent pay, it might affect the pension benefits from earlier periods of LGPS membership if you don't keep your records separate.
Other issues to consider are on our page joining records or keeping them separate.
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
If you’ve had different jobs or a transfer in, you may have more than one AVC fund. These will normally be combined at the same time as your LGPS records. You can contact your AVC provider for more information.