If you become too ill to work, you may be able to have your deferred pension brought into payment early on the grounds of ill health.

This will be subject to you having the five years’ service requirement and the Group’s Medical Adviser confirming that, in their opinion, you meet the criteria to receive an ill-health pension, as set out in the Rules.

In the first instance, you should contact Broadstone, who will arrange for you to complete the necessary medical consent forms, so the Group’s Medical Adviser can obtain reports from the doctors or consultant treating you.

If your claim is successful, your unreduced deferred pension will be put into payment with effect from the date you applied for an ill-health pension. If your claim is unsuccessful, you have the right to appeal under the Internal Disputes Resolution Procedure.

Different benefits apply to deferred NGEG members who were former Gas Scheme members. Please click here for more information.

If you were to die before payment of your pension starts, a lump sum is payable.

This would be equivalent to five times your annual pension, plus the lump sum that would have been payable if you had started to receive your deferred pension on ill-health grounds on the day that you died.

Lump sums are held under discretionary trusts for distribution by the NGE Group Trustee to members’ beneficiaries. Lump sums paid under discretionary trusts are currently not counted as part of your estate for inheritance tax or probate purposes.

In order to assist the Group Trustee, you are encouraged to complete an expression of wish form (available in the library below). In the event of your death, the Group Trustee will normally distribute the lump sum in accordance with your wishes. However, the Group Trustee is not legally bound to pay the lump sum to a nominated beneficiary and will take account of your circumstances at the time. It is important, therefore, that you keep your expression of wish up to date.

Dependants and children 

Your dependant will receive a pension of up to two-thirds of the pension you are receiving. The dependant’s pension is payable from the day after your death and is paid throughout the dependant's life.

The child's pension is one quarter of the dependant's pension for each child for up to four children, or if you leave more than four children the dependant's pension will be divided between the number of eligible children. If you joined the Scheme before 1 April 1992, there is a minimum child's pension payable of £1,452.60 per annum (from 1 April 2009).

Children's pensions are only payable to children born before you left service and are subject to reduction if other children’s benefits are payable as a result of your membership of a subsequent pension scheme or arrangement.

If you get divorced, your solicitor will need to take account of any pension benefits you and your spouse may have when arranging your divorce settlement.

This applies if you are a contributing member, a deferred member or are in receipt of your pension. It is essential that you or your solicitor contact Broadstone for information on the value of your pension before finalising the division of your assets.

If you would like more information, please visit the MoneyHelper website here (you will be directed to an external site).

Even though you are no longer a contributing member paying into the Group, if you have Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) with the Group it's still important that you regularly review where they’re invested and your target retirement age to check whether this is still right for you.

You will be issued a Statutory Money Purchase AVC benefits statement from your AVC provider each year which provides the current and projected value of your fund at Normal Retirement Age. The value of your AVCs is not guaranteed and will rise and fall in line with the price of the investment funds used for your investment choice.

If you have Money Purchase AVCs, you can change your investment funds at any time. Please click here for information on the funds available via your AVC provider.

If you are invested with Legal & General (L&G), please read the L&G microsite. This includes a link to their online portal where you can manage your account.

The Group’s AVC arrangement with L&G is subject to two charges - an annual management charge of 0.20%, and a fund management charge, which varies from fund to fund.

The annual management charge covers the cost of L&G administering your pension policy. It’s calculated daily and deducted once a month by selling units in your pension savings. The AMC deductions (0.20%) are shown on your annual statement received from L&G.

The fund management charge covers the cost to L&G of the investment management charges plus additional expenses for each fund. It includes investment management fees, fund administration fees, custody/custodian fees, auditing and accounting fees as well as regulatory charges and is reflected in the unit price of each fund. Please see the L&G microsite to understand the individual rates applicable to each fund. If you’re invested with one of the other Group Money Purchase AVC providers: Aviva, Prudential or Utmost, please contact Broadstone to make any changes to your current investments. It’s sensible to review your fund choices / target retirement age from time-to-time.

The following explains the process for what happens after a deferred member’s death and how the payment of any death benefits due is made.

The benefits payable

After a member dies, there’s usually provision for the payment of a pension to an adult dependant and the member’s children, and there may also be a lump sum payment. Once Broadstone is notified of a member’s death, they will set up any dependant’s and children’s pensions payable and organise payment of any lump sum due. It’s important to inform them as soon as possible so that they can make these payments without undue delay.

The dependant’s pension

If you’re married or in a civil partnership at the date of your death, your legal spouse or civil partner will automatically receive the dependant’s pension (even if you are separated).

If you’re not married or don’t have a surviving spouse or civil partner, it may be possible for the Group Trustee to pay a pension to one or more people who were dependent on you. Please complete a Nomination form to notify the Group Trustee of any dependant(s) you may have. If you're a former Gas Scheme member, please complete this Nomination form.

Payment of the dependant’s pension

To set up the dependant’s pension following a member’s death, Broadstone will need some information from the next of kin (or person notifying them of the death). This is to establish what’s payable and to whom this should be paid.

Broadstone will require copies of the following documents (these will need to be provided as original or certified copies):

• The full death certificate
• The spouse or dependant’s birth certificate
• Their marriage certificate, if applicable
• Bank account details for future dependant pension payments

If a dependant’s pension is payable, this will be set up as soon as possible once Broadstone has received and processed the required information. The dependant’s pension is paid from the day after the member’s death, throughout their life.

Dependants’ pensions are paid by Broadstone on the 24th of each month and subject to annual increases in the same way as pensioners, e.g., based on the percentage RPI in September each year, capped at 5% subject to Company discretion, and applied from 1 April.

Payment of the lump sum

A lump sum may also be payable by the Group Trustee to the late deferred member’s spouse, civil partner, children, relatives or other nominated beneficiary. Payment is made at the discretion of the Group Trustee, who will take into account the person or people nominated on the deceased member’s Expression of Wish form. This means the lump sum can be paid without delay.

The lump sum is currently exempt from inheritance tax; however, the government has announced plans to make certain pension scheme lump sums subject to inheritance tax from 6 April 2027. How this will work in practice is still being established, and we’ll update the website once more is known.

Deferred members should review their nominations regularly to ensure they remain up to date and complete a new form – available on PenNet – if they wish to update their nomination at any time. Expression of Wish forms can also be downloaded from the Library / Forms on the Group website and should be completed and returned to Broadstone.