Important – Please remember that the deferred benefit statement is issued as a guide. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information it contains, the Pension Fund cannot guarantee the benefits quoted, as these will ultimately be determined at the time of payment.
You can check the information we hold about you on the ''My Pension' portal, including your membership dates. If your personal information is incorrect, please email: [email protected]
If you have more than one set of deferred benefits in the East Sussex Pension Fund, you will receive a statement for each one. You can identify which previous period of membership this statement relates to by looking at the former employer and the date your scheme membership ended. If you became a member of the scheme on or after 1 April 2008 the automatic lump sum will be zero.
Public sector pensions increase each April in line with changes in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the 12-month period ending in the previous September. The rate of increase that applied on 8 April 2024 is 6.7%. If you became a deferred member before 1 April 2023, you’ll get the full increase. However, if you became a deferred member after that date, you’ll only get part of the 6.7% increase.
If you have a Scheme Pays Debit or Pension Sharing Order Debit applicable to your pension benefits, then please note that the figures shown in Section 2 do not include these deductions, however they have been shown separately in Section 3.
Your Normal Pension Age is the date that you can receive your deferred benefits without any early payment reductions applied. If you left your employment after 1 April 2014, then your Normal Pension Age is linked to your State Pension Age (with a minimum of age 65). This date may change in the future as and when the Government changes the State Pension ages. If you take payment of your pension later than your Normal Pension Age, then the benefits would be subject to an actuarial increase.
Your deferred pension benefits will normally be paid to you from this date but could be paid to you early in certain circumstances, for example, voluntarily on a reduced basis, on health grounds if you are too ill to carry out the duties of your former post with your former employer’s consent. If you became entitled to deferred benefits because you elected to opt out of LGPS membership, your pension can only be paid if you have left the employment you were in at the time you made that election. The figures shown are the current values only and do not include any reductions or late retirement increases.
If you have re-joined the LGPS in England or Wales, you must, if you have not already done so, inform your new administering authority that you hold this deferred pension, or if you have any other intervening public service pension membership (even if this has been transferred elsewhere). You must also inform us that you are an active member with another LGPS fund in England or Wales. This is required to ensure you are given all the appropriate options regarding aggregating your pension benefits and whether you retain any protections regarding public sector pensions.
If you have a Scheme Pays Debit or a Pension Sharing Order Debit, the current value of that debit will be shown here. When your deferred benefits become payable, they will be reduced accordingly by the applicable debit.
If you wish to create, view or amend your nomination, please see the 'Manage beneficiaries' section of the 'My Pension' website. Alternatively, please visit the East Sussex Pension Fund website to download and complete a form. You can make an expression of wish for whoever you would like to receive the death in service lump sum - friends, family, partners, even an organisation such as your favourite charity. But as this is an expression of wish, it is not legally binding and distribution of the lump sum is at the Fund’s discretion.
The death grant shown is what may be paid if you are no longer a member of the LGPS in England and Wales (E&W).
Note: No adjustment has been made to the death grant figure for scheme pays debit or pension sharing order debit.
If you have re-joined the LGPS (E&W) the death grant payable would be the greater of:
If you change address, then it is important that you let us know, so that we can contact you when your deferred pension is due for payment. Your pension record will be instantly updated if you change your address in the 'Details and settings / Your personal details' section of the 'My Pension' website. Alternatively, please write to us with your new contact details at Pension Services, East Sussex County Council, County Hall, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1UE. Your letter (or scanned letter if you contact us by email) must include your signature.
The government limits the amount that someone can receive in tax-free lump sums from all of their pensions to £268,275. This is known as the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA).
There is also an overarching limit of £1,073,100 on the total tax-free lump sums and death benefits lump sums that can be paid. This is known as the Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA).
The annual allowance is the amount your pension savings can increase by in a year without you having to pay extra tax. If your savings increase by more than the annual allowance, you will have to pay tax on the excess. The standard annual allowance increased from £40,000 to £60,000 on 6 April 2023.
More information about tax limits can be found at Tax - LGPS (lgpsmember.org) or www.gov.uk/tax-on-your-private-pension. You may wish to seek advice from a financial adviser. Please visit Money Helper for information on finding a suitably qualified adviser.
The figures quoted include the deduction for any Divorce or Annual Allowance Scheme Pays Debit if these are applicable to you, providing that the effective date was before 1 April 2023.
If your LGPS pension savings exceed the standard AA for the year ending 5 April 2024, we will contact you by 6 October 2024 to let you know. Please note that Pension Savings Statements for those that may exceed the Annual Allowance for the pension input year 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024 will be issued separately to this statement.
The McCloud Remedy
When public service pension schemes changed from final salary schemes to career average schemes in 2014, older members were protected from the changes. In 2018, the Courts found that younger members had been discriminated against because the protection did not apply to them. Changes made to the LGPS from 1 October 2023 removes the discrimination. These changes are called the McCloud remedy. Not all LGPS members are affected by the changes (we anticipate very few to be).
As a member of the LGPS, you do not need to take any action to claim your protection under the McCloud remedy. Those that are affected will be given additional information in their 2025 annual benefit statement, which will be issued by 31 August 2025. If you qualify, the pension fund will automatically apply the protection when you take your LGPS pension.
If you are contacted by a third-party organisation selling a service to help you claim additional pension, you should not engage with them. Please let us know if this happens so we can report any potential scammers.
You can find more information on the national LGPS website, including a short video. Please visit: www.lgpsmember.org/mccloud-remedy/
Pension scams are on the increase and many people fall victim to this every year, where they are tricked into handing over their pension pots by scammers.
Unsure if something may be a scam? You’re not alone. Here are some pension scam warning signs you can be on the watch-out for...
Please contact us if you believe you are being targeted as part of a pensions scam or visit the websites below.
www.fca.org.uk/consumers/pension-scams
www.eastsussexpensionfund.org/help-support/avoiding-pension-scams/
Information on how to spot a scam can be found on The Pensions Regulator website at www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/pension-scams.
You should always seek independent financial advice from an adviser authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can also visit the ScamSmart website www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart to check if a firm is regulated.
The East Sussex Pension Fund is a Data Controller under the General Data Protection Regulations. This means we store, hold and manage your personal data in line with statutory requirements to enable us to provide you with pension administration services. To enable us to carry out our statutory duty, we are required to share your information with certain bodies but will only do so in limited circumstances, for more information about how we hold your data, who we share it with and what rights you have to request information from the Fund.
Please read either our:
Email: [email protected]
Phone (general enquiries): 0300 200 1022
Phone ('My Pension' – member self-service enquiries): 0300 200 1027