My pension
Payslips and P60
When will I get paid?
Your pension is paid to you on the 18th of every month except where the 18th falls on a weekend or a bank holiday when the pension will be paid on the Friday before.
Month | Pay Date |
|---|---|
April 2025 | 17-April 2025 |
May 2025 | 16 May 2025 |
June 2025 | 18 June 2025 |
July 2025 | 18 July 2025 |
August 2025 | 18 August 2025 |
September 2025 | 18 September 2025 |
October 2025 | 17 October 2025 |
November 2025 | 18 November 2025 |
December 2025 | 18 December 2025 |
January 2026 | 16 January 2026 |
February 2026 | 18 February 2026 |
March 2026 | 18 March 2026 |
When will I get a payslip?
We don’t send pensioners a payslip every month. A full payslip run only happens three times each year in March, April, and May. You will only receive another payslip if your pension changes by more than £1 from the previous month.
So don’t worry, there will be months when you will not receive a payslip. But you will still receive your pension in your bank account every month.
P60
Your P60 contains details of pension and tax paid in the previous tax year. This will be issued by 31 May each year.
If you require a new copy of your P60 you will need to contact the Transactional Service Centre via email at TSPensions@ecwip.co.uk. Mark the e-mail for the attention of Pensioner Payroll and include your name and Pension Ref or National insurance number.
How do I change my bank details?
Click here to find out what you need to do.
Pensions increase
What is the pensions increase?
Every April your LGPS pension is increased, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) announced in the previous September. As your Occupational Pension was earned through employment in the public services, your pension is increased in the same way as a Civil Service Pensioner, Retired Teacher or N.H.S employee.
The pension increase is 1.7% as of 7 April 2025.
You can read more about this in our Pensioner Newsletter.
Who qualifies for an increase?
All pensioners who are over the age of 55 and, those under 55 who retired on ill-health or injury grounds. Widow’s, Widower’s, Civil Partners, Nominated Cohabiting Partners, and Children’s and Dependant’s Pensions are increased automatically regardless of age.
Does the increase apply to the entire pension?
For all Pensioners under State Pension Age the whole increase will be paid with your Occupational Pension. Once you reach State Pension Age, if your pension includes a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP), part of the increase will be paid by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) together with your State Pension.
Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP)
The government changed the State Pension system from 6 April 2016. If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 you are unaffected.
The basic and additional state pensions were replaced by a flat-rate, single-tier State Pension. As a result of this, the rules about increases on Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) are different.
The government stated that, as an interim solution, those who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 and before 5 April 2021 continue to receive full increases on their GMP.
The government is expected to address this issue in the longer term. When we know more about this we will let you know.
If you only paid into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) after 1997, you will not have a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) amount. However, if you transferred some pension rights in from another contracted-out scheme that you paid into before 1997 you may have a GMP.
If you paid into the LGPS before 1997, and you have reached State Pension age (SPa), you will probably have a GMP.
From 6 April 1978 to 31 March 2016 the State Pension was made up of 2 parts:
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basic pension
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additional pension, known as the State Second Pension (S2P) and previously known as the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS).
Occupational pension schemes could ‘contract-out’ of the S2P and in return members pay a lower rate of National Insurance contributions. The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), along with all public service pension schemes, is contracted-out of the S2P.
The LGPS must ensure that the pension paid to a member is as much as they would have been paid under S2P. This is known as the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). It isn’t a separate pension; it’s simply the minimum amount your LGPS pension must reach. Usually your LGPS pension is more than your GMP.
With effect from 6 April 1997 Guaranteed Minimum Pensions no longer accrued.
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Your GMP is calculated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and will be notified to you with your State Pension entitlement. The DWP will inform us of the amount and provide an annual update. Your GMP is paid as part of your Local Government pension, and not in addition to it. In correspondence from the DWP they may refer to the GMP as Contracted out deduction (COD).
If you have a GMP amount all the pension increase is still paid but, instead of it all being paid with your LGPS pension, it is paid partly with your LGPS pension and partly with your State Pension.
Government legislation changed in 1988 so the GMP is made up of 2 elements:
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pre 1988 and
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post 1988 amounts.
The table shows what pension increase is paid on the different parts of your pension and who is responsible for paying it.
Who is responsible for paying it
Part of the pension
How much pension increase is paid
Where it is paid
Cheshire Pension Fund
Basic LGPS pension, less pre and post 1988 GMP amount
Total % increase
With LGPS pension
DWP
Pre 1988 GMP amount
Total % increase
With State Pension
Cheshire Pension Fund & DWP
Post 1988 GMP amount
3% or total % increase if lower than 3%
Any remaining % over 3%
With LGPS pension
With State pension
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Tim retired last April at age 65 and was awarded a LGPS pension of £3,000 a year.
The DWP notified Tim that he had a GMP amount of £1,000, made up of £400 for pre 1988 and £600 for post 1988. This is the minimum amount of pension the LGPS must pay him. His LGPS pension is much more. The GMP amount is included as part of the LGPS pension.
Tim’s total pension of £3,000 is made up of these parts:
Basic pension £2,000
Pre 88 GMP £400
Post 88 GMP £600
£3,000
The pension increase awarded was 3.5%. The increase was calculated and paid like this:
Part of the pensionHow much pension increase is paidWhere it is paidWho is responsible for paying itBasic LGPS pension less pre 1988 and post 1988 GMP amount (£3,000 – £400 – £600)3.5% of £2,000 = £70With LGPS PensionCheshire Pension FundPre 1988 GMP amount (£400)3.5% of £400 = £14With State PensionDWPPost 1988 GMP amount (£600)3% of £600 = £18 0.5% of £600 = £3With LGPS pension, With State PensionCheshire Pension Fund, DWPAll the pension increase totalling £105 is paid to Tim. However, £88 is paid with his LGPS pension and £17 is paid with his State Pension.
Overseas Pensioner
If you live abroad, and receive a pension from us, you will be sent an annual ‘Life Certificate’ which requires you to confirm that you are alive and eligible to continue receiving your pension.
We have hired an external agency, Target Professional Services, to assist us in ensuring the eligibility criteria is met, and that we have the most up to date details.
Target Professional Services will be contacting you, either by post or email, with details of what you need to do, in-order for your pension to continue to be paid to you.
There will be an option to verify your identity by downloading a free app, or by completing and returning a form. Please be advised if you choose to return the form we will require a photocopy of your proof of identity, or a ‘Witness Statement’.
Your full options are:
Option 1 – download the mypensionID app for free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, to verify your details. All you’ll need is a mobile device capable of taking photographs; a valid, government issued photo document such as passport or driving licence; and your security code, which can be found at the top of this letter. If you are already registered on the app, use your 5 digit passcode to access your data.
The mypensionID app is a safe and secure method of verifying your identity.
When you’ve downloaded mypensionID, the app instructions will guide you through your registration and verification process. You can watch a short video on how to us the app here How does mypensionID work?
Option 2 – fully complete Part A of the Life Certificate form you are being sent, with your personal details and supply a high-quality copy of your valid Passport or Driving Licence or National ID card. Don’t forget to sign and date the form.
Option 3 – fully complete Part A of the Life Certificate form you are being sent, with your personal details and sign the form in the presence of an independent witness (who should not be a relative or a financial dependent). Your independent witness should complete Part B of the form. Please note both you and your witness must sign the form on the same date.
Any of the people listed below can be a witness for you. The witness may not be a relative.
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Bank Officer / Doctor / Lawyer / Minister of your religion
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Any person of an official capacity who can stamp the certificate
If you choose Option 2 or Option 3 and have access to a computer or a smartphone, please email a high-quality scan or photograph of the form and any supporting documents to: pensions@targetprofessional.co.uk with the subject line of (insert name of pension fund)
Alternatively, please return your completed form and, if using Option 2, a high-quality photocopy of your identification to:
Target Professional Services (UK) Ltd, Unit 3, Sherrington Chambers
Sherrington Mews, Manor Road
Selsey, West Sussex
PO20 0FJ
United Kingdom
Failure to comply with the request could result in your pension being suspended until the eligibility process has been completed.
For more information on this process, please visit the Target Professional website https://targetprofessional.co.uk/faq/verification/ where you will find further information on what they do.
If you wish to talk to us about this, please use the contact details below. If you write to us, please ensure you title your correspondence as ‘Overseas Pensioner’.
Keeping track of all your pensions
You may have built up pension savings with another employer(s). Make sure you keep in touch with them so they can pay your pension when it’s due.
If you’ve lost track of previous pensions, the Pensions Tracing Service can help. Visit www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details or phone 0845 600 2537.
Government Pension Credits
In light of the recent announcement by the Government to scrap the winter fuel subsidy, we are mindful that some pensioners will be worse off as a result.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urging hundreds of thousands of pensioners to apply for Pension Credit, worth an average of £3,900 per year.
It is estimated that as many as 880,000 eligible pensioners are missing out on the benefit and so the DWP is encouraging friends, families and neighbours to reach out to retired people they know to check if they qualify.
Pension Credit can provide vital support to low-income pensioner households. It is especially important now that it is linked to winter fuel payments.
Retirees could be eligible for pension credit if they are above state pension age and have an income of less that £218.15 a week, or less than £332.95 as a joint weekly income with a partner.
Disabled people, those caring for someone, and those with housing costs could still be eligible even if they have more income or savings.
Even if you are not eligible, we encourage you to talk to other pensioners to share this information in case they are.
Useful Contacts
State pension
You have started receiving your local government pension but you may not have reached State Pension Age yet.
Find out what pension the State will provide and from when at www.gov.uk/state-pension-age or phone the Future Pension Centre Helpline on 0800 731 0175.
Tax queries
I think my tax code is wrong
Please don’t tell us, we cannot change this for you. Only HMRC can amend your tax code.
We receive a large number of queries from pensioners about their tax codes. Unfortunately we are unable to answer how HM Revenue & Customs set, or why they have amended your tax code.
Please raise any queries with HM Revenue & Customs:
Tel: 0300 200 3300
Text phone: 0300 200 3319 (for hearing and speech impaired members)
You should have your National Insurance Number available.
Quote the Tax Reference 083/CCC
Government Pension Credits
In light of the recent announcement by the Government to scrap the winter fuel subsidy, we are mindful that some pensioners will be worse off as a result.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urging hundreds of thousands of pensioners to apply for Pension Credit, worth an average of £3,900 per year.
It is estimated that as many as 880,000 eligible pensioners are missing out on the benefit and so the DWP is encouraging friends, families and neighbours to reach out to retired people they know to check if they qualify.
Pension Credit can provide vital support to low-income pensioner households. It is especially important now that it is linked to winter fuel payments.
Retirees could be eligible for pension credit if they are above state pension age and have an income of less that £218.15 a week, or less than £332.95 as a joint weekly income with a partner.
Disabled people, those caring for someone, and those with housing costs could still be eligible even if they have more income or savings.
Even if you are not eligible, we encourage you to talk to other pensioners to share this information in case they are.
