Leaving before retirement
If you leave employment or opt out of the pension scheme:
- you will either receive a refund of pension contributions, or
- you will be entitled to preserved benefits within the Fund. This depends on how long you have been a member.
Please note that if you opt out of membership of the scheme and then rejoin the LGPS:
- you will not be permitted to join the two periods of membership together. Instead, you will have two separate sets of pension benefits in the scheme.
Refunds
You will only be entitled to receive a refund of your contributions if:
- you opt out or leave employment with less than 2 years membership in the scheme
And:
- You do not have any deferred benefits
- You are not in receipt of a pension from the LGPS
- You have not transferred benefits into the scheme
- You are not leaving the scheme within the last tax year before reaching your state pension age
You will not receive a refund of employer's contributions, these will be refunded to your employer. Your refund will be based solely on the amount you have contributed (less any statutory deductions).
Tax will be deducted at the rate of 20%. This deduction has to be made irrespective of whether you received tax relief on your contributions. The tax deducted is not reclaimable from the Tax Office even if you do not earn enough to pay tax.
If you have been a member of the scheme for 3 months or more you also have the option to transfer your pension benefits to another qualifying pension scheme.
If you wish to consider a transfer, you will need to arrange for your new Pension Administrator to contact the Cornwall Pension Fund team direct, to obtain your current transfer details.
Preserved benefits
If you have more than 2 years membership in the scheme, your benefits will be preserved within the fund until you are able to draw them or until you transfer out to another pension provider.
What happens to my additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) if I leave the CPF before retirement?
If you leave the CPF, (other than on the grounds of ill health or death in service) your AVCs will be preserved within the fund along side your main scheme benefits. If you elect to transfer your benefits to another scheme, your AVCs will transfer into your new providers AVC fund.
For more information on AVCs please view can I increase my benefits?
What happens to my additional contributions if I leave the CPF before retirement?
If you stop paying additional pension contributions (APCs) or additional regular contributions (ARCs) before the end of the period originally specified in the contract, your additional benefits will be reduced.
The additional pension you will receive is based on the additional pension originally applied for, multiplied by the number of monthly contributions actually made, divided by the number of monthly contributions you would have paid, had you continued to pay contributions to the end of the contract.