If you have a personal or stakeholder pension plan you can continue to pay into it at the same time as paying into the LGPS.
Tax relief
You can, if you wish, pay up to 100% of your total taxable earnings in any one tax year (or £3,600 if greater) into any number of concurrent pension arrangements of your choice and be eligible for tax relief on those contributions.
Under HM Revenue and Customs rules there are controls on the pension savings you can have before you become subject to a tax charge - these will mainly affect some higher paid people. Further information can be found in Tax Controls and pensions.
Transferring into the LGPS
You can stop paying into a personal or stakeholder pension plan and transfer it into the LGPS. Under the regulations we may decline to accept a transfer from a personal or stakeholder pension plan. You should check first.
Transfers are subject to time restrictions. You have only 12 months from joining the LGPS to opt to transfer your previous rights unless your employer allows you longer. This is an employer discretion; you can ask your employer what their policy is on this matter.
If you opt to transfer into the LGPS, a sum of money called a transfer value is offered by your previous pension provider to buy extra pension in the LGPS. Your LGPS pension account will include the extra you have bought with the transfer.
Any request you make to investigate a transfer is not binding until you have been supplied with full details and confirm that you wish the transfer to proceed.
Carefully consider whether to transfer or not, as a transfer may not always be advantageous. Compare the quotation of the value of extra benefits in the LGPS against the value of the package of benefits if left in your previous pension scheme.
Transferring your pension rights is not always an easy decision to make, and you may wish to seek the help of an of an independent financial adviser (IFA).
Find a list of IFAs on the Financial Conduct Authority website
If you transfer in previous pension rights from a personal pension scheme and you leave the LGPS within 2 years, you will not be entitled to a refund of your contributions. You will be awarded a deferred pension in the scheme.
Find out about the process of transferring in pension rights