Your deferred benefits and refund

If you left the LGPS after 31 March 2014 and have been in the Scheme for two years or more, and you leave before you can take immediate payment of your pension, then the amount of pension you've built up is deferred.

The amount of your deferred pension is increased every year in line with the cost of living - as currently measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) - to ensure it keeps its value.

Your benefits will remain deferred within the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund until they become payable or until you decide to transfer them.

Deferred Benefits are increased each April in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), also known as the 'Cost of Living Increase.' The pensions increase this year was 6.7% and was effective from 8 April 2024.

Please note: The first increase to your deferred benefits will normally only be a proportion of the full increase.  If you leave part way through the year, you will only be entitled to part of the increase. In some cases, the increase may be zero if you leave later on in the year. More information can be found in the tables below and on the LGPS national website page: https://www.lgpsmember.org/faqs/how-are-pension-increases-calculated/. 

Each year you will receive an annual statement showing the value of your deferred benefits.

A table of the most recent years pension increase is below:

  How the increases are worked out

Any increases are set by the Government each year and are applied to your pension in April.

If you became a deferred member since 24 April 2023 your first increase in 2024 may only be a proportion of the full increase as shown below:

As you prepare for your retirement benefits to be brought into payment, there are a number of steps which need to happen before your pension benefits can be paid. Please note that it can take several weeks for the whole process of putting your benefits into payment to be completed.

• We will supply the details of your standard benefits and the additional options which are available to you. Our ability to provide your options is dependent upon numerous factors including payroll deadlines and volume of work.  
• We will write to you enclosing all details of the options available to you. You will need to fill in an option form to confirm how you want to take your benefit package. You will need to make a decision about how much lump sum you want to take, before we can pay any pension benefits to you. You may need to provide some information about additional pensions or overseas pension transfers.
• We will also require a photocopy of your Birth Certificate, Driving Licence or Passport to be able to process your retirement benefits. Please post the photocopy of your certificate to our office. Our full postal address: Tyne and Wear Pension Fund, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RL.

  There is now a facility to upload completed forms and documents via your mypension account.  Further guidance regarding this is at the link to our website below:

  https://www.twpf.info/article/10472/Viewing-downloading-and-uploading-documents

Our ability to get you onto the next pension payroll period is influenced by the pension pay dates and our usual monthly cycle of processing.

You are able to run your own estimate of benefits through your mypension account which will show you what you may receive if you were to retire.  Guidance is available from the below web addresses:

https://www.twpf.info/article/10412/Estimating-the-amount-you-get

If, after running your calculation, you are interested in taking your retirement benefits go to the 'My Membership Details' tab and choose the 'Request Payment of My Pension' option to submit your request. Please note that we can only accept requests that are within 3 months of the retirement date, which must be from age 55 or over. We will write to you with your retirement options and further information closer to your requested retirement date

Once your benefits are brought into payment they will be backdated to your first day on pension, which is usually the day after your appropriate birthday, your Normal Retirement Age, or the day after the date you wrote on your CARE 65 form (if you have completed one). This may mean that your first pension payment includes arrears and may be more than a single month's pension amount. Most pensioners find that they pay tax based on a temporary tax code during their first few months on pension until HMRC inform us of your personalised tax code. Once we have a personal tax code for you, we will adjust the tax deductions and repay any overpayment of tax within the tax year.

Pension payments are made on the first working day after 15th of each month, for the whole of that calendar month. Please consult our list of  pension pay dates to find out when you will receive your pension payments.

Your payslips will be available each month online through your mypension account. These payslips can be printed if you need to provide proof of your pension to any third party organisation. Your P60 (Statement of Earnings) form and annual update information will also be available through your mypension account each April.

You can also use your mypension account to update some of your personal details, for example, if you move home or change your name. To register please go to Help using your mypension account.

Please note if you have filled in our form CARE65 Application for Early Payment of Benefits, this does not shorten or replace any of the procedures listed above.

If you have a deferred refund held with the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund, you can contact the Pensions Office to confirm the options available to you, and to obtain the relevant forms to complete. You may be in a position to claim payment of your refund, or you may have the option to transfer your pension rights to another pension scheme. 

If you have started work for another employer who operates the Local Government Pension Scheme, you must let us know, as this may affect your refund entitlement.

If you left the Scheme on or after 1 April 2014, your refund can remain deferred for up to five years. It is important that you keep the Pensions Office informed of any change of address so that we can keep in contact with you.

There are instances where you may require us to deal with a third-party organisation or individual.  In both cases we require you to provide specific consent forms appropriately completed. 

We will not accept a signed letter from either you or a third-party.

Providing information to an organisation (such as an Independent Financial Advisor)

For consent relating to possible transfers, we require you to complete our CARE70 form which can be requested from our Helpline or through your mypension account.  This form should be completed and returned by you. If the form is received from a third-party we will be unable to accept it.

If a third-party provides the Fund with a standard letter of consent, in order to ensure your data is protected, this will not be deemed sufficient enough to deal with the third-party.  The organisation requesting the information will be notified of this decision in writing.

Providing information to an individual (such as a family member)

If a family member or someone you are in a personal relationship with requires access to your information we will require sight of an original Court of Protection document or Lasting Power of Attorney document in the event that you are incapable of dealing with your own affairs.

It is essential that you keep the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund informed of your current address so we can

• inform you of any changes or articles concerning the scheme that may be of interest, and
• ensure that your retirement benefits can be processed at the appropriate time

If you have moved recently and have not informed us or you are planning to move please contact us, see information for changing your address.