Receiving a pension credit

If a Pension Sharing Order (PSO) awards you a share of your partner’s LGPS pension following a divorce or dissolution, you may be able to transfer the pension to another pension scheme or receive a pension credit in the LGPS.

Once we receive the order, we will write to you to confirm and request any further information we need to implement the order. To implement a PSO, there is a fee payable. We will not be able to implement the PSO until this is received. The PSO will state what portion of the fee you are liable to meet, if any. Where you are required to pay towards the cost of implementing the PSO, it’s important you pay this to us as soon as possible.

Once we have everything we need and have set up your LGPS pension credit member account, we will write to you with information about your options.

You can choose to transfer your pension credit to another scheme as long as you are not within 12 months of your Normal Pension Age. Normal Pension Age for a pension credit depends on when the PSO was awarded and when your ex-partner stopped paying into their LGPS pension account. This is explained further in this page.

If you wish to transfer, you should contact us as soon as possible so that we can provide you with the correct forms and information.

If you don’t want to transfer, you will retain a pension credit in the LGPS.

A pension credit is a pension benefit in the LGPS, held in your own right. Your ex-partner has no access to your pension credit information and cannot make decisions about your pension credit on your behalf.

You can use our self-service portal My Pension Online to access your pension credit account.

A pension credit works very much like any other pension in the LGPS, but there are some important differences which are explained on this page.

There are no dependent pensions payable for pension credit members. This means that your partner or children will not receive a share of your pension credit when you die.

If your ex-partner paid into the LGPS on or after 1 April 2014 and the PSO took effect after this date, your pension is payable without reductions at your Normal Pension Age (NPA). This is the same as your state pension age.

However, you can take your pension at any age between 55 and 75. If you take your pension earlier than your NPA, your pension will be reduced, if you take it later than your NPA, it will be increased.

Unless you are receiving your pension immediately, you must provide us with three months’ notice if you wish to receive payment.

You may have the option of exchanging some of your annual pension for a tax free lump sum when you take payment of your pension. However, you won’t be able to do this if your ex-partner:

• was already being paid their pension when the PSO came into effect
• exchanged annual pension to create a tax-free lump sum when they first put it into payment

We will tell you how you can take your pension when you first become a pension credit member, upon request and when your pension is put into payment.

If the PSO took effect before 1 April 2014, or your ex-partner stopped paying in before 1 April 2014, your pension is payable without reductions on your Normal Pension Age of 65.

You can choose to take your pension before age 65, at any age from 55 (rising to 57 in 2028). However, if you take your pension before your Normal Pension Age, there will be reductions. You cannot choose to take your pension later than age 65.

Unless you are receiving your pension immediately, you must provide us with three months’ notice if you wish to receive payment of your pension.

If you suffer serious ill-health and you are told you have less than 1 year to live, subject to approval from an independently registered medical practitioner, you may be able to claim your pension earlier than age 55.

If your ex-partner paid into the LGPS before 1 April 2008, you will receive a tax-free lump sum as part of your pension benefits. Unlike a normal LGPS pension, you won’t be able to exchange any annual pension to increase the lump sum.

If your partner joined the LGPS after 1 April 2008, you won’t receive a lump sum as part of your pension and you are unable to exchange pension to create lump sum.

Before you make a decision about what you would like to do with your pension credit, we recommend you obtain financial advice.