Early Retirement Process

In order to claim your pension benefits from the LGPS you must have ceased your contract of employment. Before you decide to retire we recommend you get an estimate of the amount of pension you may be entitled to. You can get an estimate by using the Benefit Projector which you can find on your online account – my pension ONLINE 

The figures shown on the Benefit Projector are based on the data supplied by your employer. Please note they are an estimate only and full details will be provided to you once we have received confirmation of your leaving information from your employer. 
 

If you are intending to claim your pension BEFORE your Normal Pension Age (NPA) we require three months’ notice from you. We can accept your notice by email: info@berkshirepensions.org.uk  

If you are intending to claim your pension at your Normal Pension Age we do not require a separate period of notice from you beforehand. 

At the point of giving notice to claim your pension we can send you some retirement forms for completion: 

•    Previous Pension Benefits Declaration Form 
•    Request for Bank Details

Before making payment of your pension we will also require proof of your Date of Birth and we will ask you for sight of one of the following documents: 

•    Birth Certificate
•    Passport
•    Driving Licence 

A photocopy of the requested form of verification is acceptable, an original will be returned to you immediately after inspection. To help process future benefits faster, we will also request your Marriage Certificate or Registered Civil Partnership Certificate (if applicable). 
 

Your employer is responsible for notifying the pension team of your leaving details. If you have given prior notice to the pension team to claim your pension you will receive a formal letter confirming your pension figures and options once we have received the accurate leaving information from your payroll. 

We aim to calculate your retirement options within 5 working days of receipt of accurate information from your employer.

Your payroll department will provide us with your leaving information as soon as possible after they have paid you your final salary payment. For example if you were leaving your employment on 31 March we would normally expect your payroll to provide us with your leaving information at the end of March or beginning of April. 

If you have paid Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) through our AVC provider – Prudential, you will receive your AVC options in the letter alongside your Berkshire Pension options. 
 

If you wish to claim your pension please tick and sign the appropriate option on the enclosed election form which will be included with your formal retirement options letter. 

Please return your election form (along with any other forms or verification we have asked for) to the pension team. You can post your forms to:Berkshire Pension Fund, Zone C, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1RF or scan and email your forms to info@berkshirepensions.org.uk  

Please note – we are unable to advise you on which pension option you should choose but if you have any questions on the figures we have provided please do contact us and we will be happy to go through this with you. 
 

On receipt of your completed retirement forms we will check to ensure all necessary information has been provided. If we have any questions regarding the information you have provided we will contact you directly at this point. 

Once we have everything we need we will process your retirement claim and write to you to confirm when this has been done. Your final letter from us will confirm your retirement has been processed, the date from which you can expect to start receiving your pension and any other details we need to make you aware of.

We will do our best to ensure your first monthly pension payment is paid to you on the expected date, however this may not always be possible. We make BACS payments on a weekly basis, so if we miss a monthly payment run we will ensure your payment is made on the next available payment run following your date of retirement. 

Pension Commencement Date: 
If you retired on 31 March your pension would commence from 1 April with your first payment being credited to your nominated bank account on the last working day of that month (i.e 30 April). 

Details of our monthly pension payment dates can be found here. 

Payment of a lump sum: 
The payment of any tax-free Lump Sum Retirement Grant, if applicable, together with arrears of Annual Pension that may be due, will be paid to your account on the next available payment run following your pension commencement date. 

Your pension is payable for your lifetime and is increased in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). The increase is based on the September to September change in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

Income Tax and your pension:
Your LGPS pension is a taxable income, therefore we will be notified of your tax code by HMRC and any tax will be deducted at source by the Berkshire Pension Fund payroll team. Tax code notifications are received from HMRC directly to the Berkshire Pensions payroll team.

A retirement grant lump sum is tax-free.
 

You will receive a payslip in April every year as a result of the pensions increase being applied to your pension.

Currently, thereafter, a payslip is issued to you if your net monthly pension payment has changed by more than £1 from the previous month but this may be reviewed at a future date.

Your monthly payslips and annual P60 information is available to view via your online account - please visit our 'my pension ONLINE' section for details of how to register.