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Death benefits

Death benefits

As a member of the Essex Pension Fund, you get valuable benefits for your loved ones in the event of your death.

Survivors' pension

Death grants

Death benefits - active

Death benefits - deferred

Death benefits - pensioner

Report a death

Survivors' pensions

Following the death of a member

Following the death of a member, a pension may be payable, known as a ‘survivors’ pension’. Generally, this is:

  • 30.625% of the pension you built up from April 2014
  • 37.50% of the pension you built up between April 2008 and March 2014
  • 50% of the pension you built up before April 2008.

The pension increases in line with CPI (Consumer Prices Index) each year.

Spouse/civil partner pension

Spouse or civil partners may receive a pension payable for the rest of their life.

Cohabiting partner pension

Cohabiting partners may be eligible to receive a partner’s pension subject to certain criteria. A pension can only be paid to your cohabiting partner if you paid into the Scheme after 31 March 2008.

To be eligible, cohabiting partners must meet the following conditions for a continuous period of at least two years immediately prior to your death:

  • both you and your cohabiting partner are, and have been, free to marry or enter into civil partnership with each other, and
  • you and your cohabiting partner have been living together as if you were a married couple or civil partners, and
  • neither you nor your cohabiting partner have been living with someone else as if you/they were a married couple or civil partners, and
  • either your cohabiting partner is financially dependent on you, or you are financially interdependent on each other.

These will need to be verified, and documents will need to be provided to support your application.

Children’s pension

A pension may also be payable to your dependent children. These pensions are usually paid up until age 18, or age 23 if they remain in full-time education.

Please note, if there is more than one dependent child, they will have equal share of the pension.

Death grants

A lump sum payable on death

A death grant is a lump sum that may be paid to people and/or organisations you nominate. There are several factors that determine how the death grant is calculated.

We make the final decision about who to pay the lump sum to. Before we make any decision, we will consider your wishes.

You should complete an Expression of Wish form to tell us who you would like the money paying to. You can complete a form, or if you’ve completed one, you can review and update your Expression of Wish form on Member Online.

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Death benefits whilst working and paying into the Fund

Death grant following the death of an active member

In the event of your death whilst you’re currently paying into the Fund, we’ll pay a death grant of three times your annual assumed pensionable pay (APP).

If you also have a deferred benefit and/or a pension in payment from a previous period of membership in the LGPS, the death grant amount may be affected.

Deferred death benefits

Following the death of a deferred member

As a deferred member (a member that has benefits in the Fund but is no longer contributing and isn’t yet receiving their pension).

The value of the lump sum death grant will depend on when you left the Fund:

  • If you left after 31 March 2008: The death grant is calculated as five times your deferred annual pension.
  • If you left before 1 April 2008: The death grant is calculated as three times your deferred annual pension.
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Death benefits as a pensioner

Following the death of a member in retirement

A death grant may still be payable after you have started to receive your pension depending on the below.

You stopped paying into the Fund on or after 1 April 2014

If you die within 10 years of retiring, and you’re under age 75 when you die, there may be a death grant lump sum payable. How much depends on what option you took at retirement:

  1. If you elected to take standard benefits, the death grant is 10x your annual pension less the amount of pension you already received.
  2. If you elected to exchange some of your pension to receive a larger lump sum, the death grant is 10x your annual pension (before commutation) less the extra lump sum you received and less the amount of pension you already received.
You stopped paying into the Fund between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014

If you die within 10 years of retiring and you’re under age 75 when you die, there may be a death grant lump sum payable. This will be equal to 10 years’ annual pension, less any pension you already received.

You stopped paying into the scheme before 1 April 2008

If you die within five years of retiring, and you’re under age 75 when you die, there may be a death grant lump sum payable. This will be equal to five years’ annual pension, less any pension you already received.

You left before 1 April 1998

There is no guarantee of a death grant. In some instances where you are aged under 75 and you die, a death grant may be payable.

Report a death

Speak to us

How to report the death of a member

In the event of a death, you should telephone or email us as soon as possible and provide us with the following information about the member:

  • Full name, address and date of death.
  • Payroll reference number*
  • National Insurance number*
  • The name and address of their next of kin or person dealing with the estate
  • Your name and address, if not next of kin or person dealing with the estate
  • Sight of the death certificate**

    • *These can be found on a recent pay slip or their P60

    **We will require sight of the death certificate when it is available.

The Tell Us Once service

You can use the government's 'Tell Us Once' service to report a death to most government organisations in one go. The registrar will give you details about this when you register the death.

Please note, Teacher’s compensation payments paid by Essex Pension Fund are not covered by this service and we will need to be informed directly of the death.

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