You can pay additional pension contributions to buy back lost pension if you are away from work with no pay.

Before you apply

To buy lost pension you will need to find out, from your employer, the amount of pensionable pay you would have been paid if you had not been away from work. You may wish to keep a written record of this. 

Once you have this figure you can use the Buy lost pension calculator to find out the amount of lost pension and how much it will cost to buy it back.

Find out the cost

You can find out the cost of buying APCs for lost pension at the LGPS member website. The Buy lost pension calculator provides the payment options available and creates the application form required to buy APCs.

Making an application

When you have completed the application form you should send it to your employer for approval. By signing the application form to buy lost pension, you will agree to the payable amounts shown to be deducted from your pay.

After verifying the application, your employer will arrange for the deduction of the APC from the next available pay period and notify the Fund. 

If you delay your application past your next birthday, causing the cost of purchasing the lost pension to change, a new quotation should be generated by your employer and you will have to submit a new application.

If you have more than one job you must specify which job the lost pension is to be credited to. If you want to pay APCs for each job, you will need to submit separate applications for each job.

Your employer will let you know once your application has been accepted and provide us with your application for processing.

Paying for your lost pension

If you are paying APCs from your salary your employer will start taking the payments from the next available pay period after we have agreed your application.

The Fund has the right to refuse your application for regular payments if it thinks it is not practical. Your employer will check that you earn enough to be able to make the payments you wish to pay.

If there is delay in processing your application form which is caused by you, you will be asked to submit another application form if you pass a birthday, or your payment period exceeds the maximum.

The lost pension you buy is for your benefit only. No lost pension is paid to your dependents when you die.