A lump sum death grant will also be paid if you:

• die in service as a member of the LGPS
• leave before retirement with deferred benefits and die before receiving them
• die after receiving your pension, if less than ten years’ pension has been paid.

How much will the lump sum death grant be?

This will depend on whether you die in service, after leaving but before you take your pension or when you are receiving your pension: 

If you die when you are still paying into the LGPS

If you die when you are paying into the LGPS, a lump sum death grant of three times your annual pay is paid. It does not matter how long you have been a member of the LGPS; you are protected from the day you join the Scheme.

The annual pay used to work out the death grant is based on Assumed Pensionable Pay. If an independent registered medical practitioner certifies that you were working reduced contractual hours because of the ill health which led to your death during the period used to work out Assumed Pensionable Pay, the amount will increase.

The Assumed Pensionable Pay is instead the pay you would have received if you had not been working reduced contractual hours.

If you pay Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) arranged through the LGPS, the value of your AVC fund is also payable.

If you die after you have left the LGPS but not yet taken your pension

If you die after leaving the LGPS and before you take your pension, you hold a deferred benefit in the LGPS. The lump sum death grant payable depends on when you left:

• if you left after 31 March 2008 – five times your deferred annual pension is paid
• if you left before 1 April 2008 – three times your deferred annual pension is paid

However, if you left with deferred benefits and die before receiving them and you are also an active member of the LGPS when you die, the death grant payable is the higher of:

• your deferred death grant as calculated above, or
• three times your Assumed Pensionable Pay in your active employment

If you hold more than one deferred benefit in the LGPS a death grant will be paid from each deferred benefit, provided you are not also an active member of the LGPS.

If you paid Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) arranged through the LGPS, the value of your AVC fund is also payable.

If you die after you start receiving your pension

If you left after 31 March 2008 and you die within 10 years of receiving your pension, the death grant payable is ten times the amount of your pension before you gave up any pension for lump sum (if applicable), less the pension and lump sum that has been paid to you. There is a slight difference to the calculation for any part of your pension that relates to membership before 1 April 2014.

If you are also an active member when you die, the death grant payable is the higher of the amount calculated as above, or three times your Assumed Pensionable Pay in your active employment.

If you left before 1 April 2008 and you die within five years of receiving your pension, the death grant payable is five times the amount of your pension, less the pension already paid to you.

If you left before 1 April 1998 – the calculation is more complex. You can contact us for an estimate of the amount that may be payable.

Who is the lump sum death grant paid to?

The LGPS allows you to say who you would like any death grant to be paid to by completing your expression of wish. The Fund retains absolute discretion when deciding who to pay any death grant to. 

You can read more information in the expression of wish nomination section.