Death in service pension information exchange
A guide following an employee’s death in service
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Death in service notification
Inform Pension Services of the member’s death using the death in service notification form (docx format, 800Kb).
If you do not have all the information, complete what you can immediately and send to Pension Services.
You can provide more information as it becomes available.
Provide full leaving and pay details on your next i-Connect submission.
Survivor pensions will may be delayed if we do not get the correct details.
What we need for a death in service
At the date of death, we need a 'death in service notification' form with the member's details and the following information.
1. Annual rate of assumed pensionable pay (AAPP)
This provides us with a notional pensionable pay figure to assess death grant and survivors’ pension. The annual assumed pensionable pay for a death grant is calculated as the average of the pensionable pay for the member for the three months (or 12 weeks if weekly paid), starting with the pay period before the one in which the death occurred.
This average figure is then grossed up to an annual rate, and when the employer policy provides it, any regular lump-sum payment from the previous 12 months is added.
It is essential you use the death in service notification form to tell us of this AAPP, you cannot use the MARS return to pass on this information.
2. Completed medical certificate
Use an IRMP certificate to disregard a reduction in pensionable pay when the reason for the reduction is linked to the condition which caused or contributed to the death.
The Death in Service notification form (v2015) refers to the medical statements needed. The medical opinion will allow the benefits to be assessed on the more representative pay figure for the enhancements for survivor pensions. See Ill Health Guidance
3. Next of kin details
We will use the contact details you can provide to collect information to help us determine eligibility and entitlement to benefits.
4. Death certificate
If you have the certificate, please send a copy when you submit the 'death in service notification form'. Please do not delay sending in the form while you wait for the certificate or other information. Send in a further form as you receive more details.
5. Authorisation
The form should be completed and signed by the HR or payroll contact recognised by Pension Services.
6. I-Connect submission
You must complete your i-Connect submission to Pension Services before the 19th of the month following the relevant month, to show:
- death as the reason for leaving, and
- the appropriate CARE details of pay, and
- the details needed for the ‘final pay’ calculation.
What we need for optant outs
We need a 'death in service notification' form with the member's details and the following information.
1. Death certificate
If you have the certificate, please send a copy when you submit the 'death in service notification form'. Please do not delay sending in the form while you wait for the certificate or other information. Send in a further form as you receive more details.
2. Authorisation
The form should be completed and signed by the HR or payroll contact recognised by Pension Services.
3. I-Connect submission
You must complete your i-Connect submission to Pension Services before the 19th of the month following the relevant month, to show the personal details and confirm date and reason for leaving employment (death). There are no care pay details.
The pension entitlement, if any, would have been calculated when they left the pension scheme. The member will not get the same level of benefit as a contributing member, but we still need to know about the death.
What we need for employees over 75
Employees over 75 will already have their pension in payment. We need the following information to stop the pension and assess any survivor pensions. After the age of 75 there will be no death grant due.
1. 'Death in service notification' form
Completed with members' details, death in service notification form (docx format, 800Kb).
2. Death certificate
If you have the certificate, please send a copy when you submit the 'death in service notification form'. Please do not delay sending in the form while you wait for the certificate or other information. Send in a further form as you receive more details.
3. Authorisation
The form should be completed and signed by the HR or payroll contact recognised by Pension Services.
Timescales for payment
The following is a broad guide only:
- Step one - Pension Services receives 'notification of death in service' from the employer
- Step two – Work is logged as highest priority.
- Step three – Pension Services await provision of the following from the employer:
- AAPP
- CARE pay
- ‘final pay’ details,
- death certificate
- information from next of kin
- Step Four—We will try to make any death grant payment within 10 working days of receiving all the information required to make that decision.
Paying a death grant
The administering authority has sole discretion concerning who will receive any payment; however the member’s nomination – the expression of their wishes- is taken into account.
Other LGPS records
If the employee has other LGPS pension records, whether or not in this fund, it can take longer to establish entitlement . There may be restrictions to the amount we can pay as a death grant.