Recently enrolled into the Surrey Pension Fund? Got a question about the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)?
You should attend our New Joiner webinar.
Surrey Pension Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The LGPS is a national pension scheme administered locally by around 100 local authorities on behalf of hundreds of local councils and associated bodies across the UK.
Why join?
The LGPS is a valuable part of the pay and rewards package of employees who are entitled to join the Scheme. You can take control by choosing to pay more or less into your pension. The LGPS protects you and your dependants with a range of benefits.
There are plenty of benefits for scheme members, such as:
- A secure pension
- Flexibility to pay more or less
- Immediate life cover
- Ill health retirement options
For more information, please visit LGPS Member - Key Features.
How do I join?
If you start a job in which you are eligible for membership of the LGPS you will automatically be brought into the scheme, if your contract of employment is for 3 months or more. If it is for less than 3 months, you can opt to join through your employer.
If you are not already a member and you want to join, contact your employer using the opt-in form (PDF).
Auto and re-enrolment
Due to automatic enrolment, if you are not already a member of the LGPS, you will automatically join the Scheme at the point in the future that you:
- have a contract of employment of three months or more;
- earn over £10,000 a year (or pro rata pay period);
- are age 22 or over; and
- are under State Pension age.
If you are brought into the scheme you have the right to opt out. However, you cannot complete an opt-out form (PDF) until you have started your employment. If you have opted-out of the LGPS in the past, you may be re-enrolled back into the Scheme again in the future.
More information on Automatic enrolment can be found on the LGPS website.
Check your payslip to see if you are currently paying in or not.
You can be a member of the Surrey Pension Fund if you are already contributing to a personal pension or stakeholder arrangement.
Find out more about how to transfer previous pension benefits.
An automatic refund is paid if you opt out within 3 months of joining.
You could be eligible for a refund if you have less than 2 years membership, no other active LGPS membership and have not transferred in benefits from another scheme.
There are some exceptions to this. If you have any questions regarding refunds, please contact us.
Only your own contributions are refundable, those paid by your employer are not. There will be deductions to account for tax and National Insurance where applicable.