Step by step guide
Here is a step by step guide of what to expect when you join your LGPS.
Step 1: Your employer enrols you into the LGPS
If your employment contract runs for three months or more and you are under age 75, your employer will enrol you into LGPS without you having to do anything.
If your employment contract is under three months or you have opted out of LGPS in the past, you can complete an opt in form and send it to your employer’s payroll department. They will then start to take pension contributions from your salary.
The LGPS is a valuable part of your pay and reward package. It provides you with an annual pension payable for life when you retire, tax relief on your contributions, employer contributions, ill health and life insurance plus increases in line with cost of living.
Step 2: Your employer tells the Clwyd Pension Fund that you have joined the LGPS
Your employer sends the Clwyd Pension Fund monthly reports of any new employees who have joined the LGPS.
Once we receive the report, we create a pension record for you on our pensions database.
Step 3: Clwyd Pension Fund sends you a new starter letter and member pack
The letter will confirm that you have joined the LGPS, the date and job that you have joined in, your pension contribution rate, and when to expect your annual statement. There will also be a New Member Pack and actions checklist for you to complete. Actions include:
- Checking your personal details are correct on your pension record
- Sending us a copy of your birth certificate, driving licence, or passport
Step 4: Read the scheme guide and return your completed forms and copy certificates to us
You can find a short guide to the LGPS for employees in England and Wales on our forms and resources page.
You need to read the guide so that you understand how LGPS works.
You need to fill in and send back these forms:
- Previous LGPS, public sector & other pensions
- Death grant expression of wish form
- Transfer authority form (you only need to complete this if you have other pensions you want to transfer in to us)
Step 5: Make sure you have ticked your communication and language preference on the forms in Step 4
It is important you let us know your communication preference so we can keep in touch with you about your pension. You can only pick one of the following two options:
- Register for Member Self-Service (MSS): MSS lets you; see your annual benefit statement, view pensions documents in real time, update your personal details, use ‘Benefit Calculators’ to run your own pension estimates, and use our ‘Retirement Planner’ to help you work out what you’ll need to make your retirement a happy one. Its quick and easy to register here.
- Register for post: If you wish to receive all correspondence by post, please email pensions@flintshire.gov.uk or call us on 01352 702980 with your name and NI number to let us know.
Step 6: If you already have existing pension records with the Clwyd Pension Fund, you may have the option to combine. We will send you combining options separately
If you have previously paid LGPS contributions with the Clwyd Pension Fund, you may already have pension records with us. We will write to you to let you know if you are able to combine these pension records.
Useful Information
Paying extra contributions:
If you want to pay extra contributions to boost your pension value at retirement, there are two ways of doing this in the LGPS:
- Additional voluntary contributions
- Additional pension contributions
Read all about your options here.
Retirement Living Standards:
The Retirement Living Standards have been developed to help you picture what kind of lifestyle you could afford at retirement. They show what retirement could be like at three different living standards and they help you plan financially for it.
Leaving the scheme before retirement:
If you pay LGPS contributions for less than three months and decide to opt-out, your employer will refund any contributions you have paid through your pay.
If you pay LGPS contributions for less than two years (but more than three months), you will not have been in the pension scheme long enough to build up a pension benefit. You could be eligible for a refund of your pension contributions or a transfer to a new pension scheme instead.
If you pay LGPS contributions for more than two years, you will have deferred benefits in the scheme.
Opting out:
You can choose to stop paying LGPS contributions by completing an opt out form which can be found here and returning it to your employer’s payroll department.
Before you opt out you may want to think about moving to the 50:50 section of the scheme. In the 50:50 section you pay half your normal contributions in return for half your normal pension build-up. Click here for more information.