1. Will my deferred pension be increased?
Yes, your preserved pension will increase in line with the cost of living from the day you leave the scheme up to the date you receive your benefits. Once your benefits have been brought into payment, your pension will be increased in the same way as for other pensioners.
2. What information will I receive about my deferred pension?
Each year an Annual Benefit Statement will be posted on your Member Self Service account to outline the current value of your deferred pension benefits held within the Gwynedd Pension Fund. Please see the Pension Online page for more information.
3. How do I claim my benefits at retirement age?
We will contact you automatically at the time that your preserved benefits are due for payment to confirm the options available to you. Consequently, it is essential that you inform us of any changes in your address in future.
4. How do I find out if I have deferred benefits with you?
Please contact us and we will investigate the matter for you.
5. How can I contact the Gwynedd Pension Fund?
Please visit the Contact us section of this website for full details of how you can contact the Gwynedd Pension Fund.
6. Can the pension section advise on any pension issues?
The Gwynedd Pension Fund cannot legally give financial advise on any pension issues under the Financial Services Act 1986, but we are available to assist with any queries you may have. Please contact us if we can be of any assistance.
7. Can my deferred benefits be refunded?
If you have left the Gwynedd Pension Fund and have been awarded an entitlement to deferred benefits you will not be able to receive a refund, as a refund is only payable if you:
- Opt out or leave the scheme within 2 years of joining (within 3 months if you left between 1st April 2004 and 31st March 2014).
- Have no other LGPS pension rights.
- Have not transferred previous pension rights into the scheme.
8. What happens if I decide to live overseas?
If you decide to move from the UK you must inform the Gwynedd Pension Fund of your new address in writing so we can keep in touch and ensure that your benefits can be processed at the appropriate time. You will then have the option of having your pension paid into an account retained in the UK or into an overseas bank account.
9. My partner and I are living together, will my partner be entitled to any benefits?
The Local Government Pension Scheme that came into operation on the 1st April 2008 saw the introduction of survivor benefits for cohabiting partners of either opposite or same sex.
As a deferred member, you must have left the scheme having been contributing into the LGPS on or after 1st April 2008 to be eligible for survivor’s benefit for your co-habiting partner.
In addition, you must be able to confirm that for a continuous period of at least 2 years prior to the date of declaration that all of the following criteria have applied:
- You have been free to marry or enter into a civil partnership.
- You have been living together as if you were husband and wife or registered civil partners.
- Neither of you have been living with someone else as if you were husband and wife or civil partners.
- You are financially interdependent on each other, or your partner has been financially dependent on you.