If you choose to take your benefits after your Normal Pension Age (NPA), your pension is increased by a Late Retirement Increase (LRI) factor.
Your NPA is the later of your State Pension Age (SPA) or age 65 and may change if your SPA changes before your benefits are paid.
The LRI applied to your benefits will depend on when your benefits were built up.
- For benefits built up before 1 April 2014 - your pension receives an increase for each day the pension is drawn later than 65.
- For benefits built up after 1 April 2014 - your pension receives an increase for each day the pension is drawn later than the higher of your SPA or age 65.
- For automatic lump sums (built up before 1 April 2008) - your automatic lump sum receives an increase for each day lump sum is drawn later than 65. The increase does not apply after 1 September 2023. So, if you turn 65 on or after 1 September 2023, your automatic lump sum will not include any LRI.
LRI factors are provided by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government via the Government Actuaries Department. These are reviewed (and usually updated or replaced) every 2 to 4 years.
Remember that your pension has to be paid by your 75th birthday. Also, all pension benefits, if drawn voluntarily, must be drawn at the same time (unless you take partial retirement), irrespective of whether they were built up in the career average scheme or the final salary scheme.
Members in the final salary scheme retiring due to ill health before age 65
If you joined the scheme before 1 April 2014, and you're retiring due to ill health before age 65 (your NPA under the former final salary scheme), you will not be eligible to receive a late retirement increase on your pre-2014 final salary benefits. However, the late retirement increase is included in the projection of your benefits to NPA (State Pension age) on your annual pension statement, as the statement assumes that you’ll carry on contributing to the EAPF up to your State Pension age.
For more details about ill health retirement, visit our Ill health page.
If you’re considering retiring after your NPA and you want more details about the LRI factors being applied to your benefits, please contact our EAPF pensions help team using one of the methods on our Contact us page.