Your normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is the earliest age you can access workplace or personal pensions. The NMPA is 55 now, but the government is increasing it to 57 on 6 April 2028.
What happens to your pension if you're made redundant over age 55 (or 57 from 6 April 2028)
If you meet all the following conditions, your LGPS pension will be paid immediately and without reduction:
- you are made redundant
- you are an active member of the LGPS
- you have at least two years' LGPS membership
- you are aged 55 or over (or 57 from 6 April 2028)
Once you have met the conditions above, your pension will be automatically paid. Even if you get another job afterwards, your LGPS pension will continue to be paid.
Although you are taking your pension before your State Pension age, the amount is not reduced for early payment because your employer will meet the cost.
When you will not qualify for a redundancy pension
You don't qualify for a redundancy pension if you are under age 55. You cannot take your pension immediately; it becomes deferred. We will contact you with your options and send you an annual statement.
You don't qualify for a redundancy pension if you have less than 2 years in the LGPS. However, you may be able to have a refund of your contributions. We will write to you to explain your options.
If you paid additional pension contributions (APCs)
You pay APCs yourself, so there is no employer funding to support the early payment. If you bought extra pension by paying APCs and your APC contract had not finished when you were made redundant:
- the extra pension element will be reduced
- you will only receive the additional amount that you have already paid for
If you paid additional voluntary contributions (AVCs)
If you have an AVC fund, we will give you options for using it when you take your pension. We'll provide these details once we have confirmed the value of your AVC fund. Note that this step may add extra time to the process.
