Tracing Benefits
Tracing your benefits
We can check if you have a pension with Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) if you are unsure or have lost touch with us.
Please call our Customer Services Team on 0161 301 7000. We will ask you for some information, do some security checks, and will then be able to tell you if you have a pension or other benefits with us.
Usually, to have benefits with GMPF, you must have worked for an employer that offered membership in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in the Greater Manchester area or have worked for the Probation Service.
Often, members looking to trace their pension chose to receive a refund of contributions when they left or transferred their benefits to a new pension provider. We will be able to tell you if you did this.
However, if we cannot trace any details for you and you want us to investigate further, our Customer Services agent will ask you to return to this webpage and complete the 'Tracing your benefits form'. See the information below on how to do this. Please do not complete the form without contacting us first.
Some of the reasons why you might not have a pension with us are:
Due to your age when you began work
In the past, the LGPS had a minimum entry age of 18. So, if you were younger than 18 when you started work, this might explain why you were not in the pension fund.
Qualifying periods
The LGPS has a rule called a qualifying period. This period is the minimum time you need to be a member before you qualify to receive pension benefits. If you left before the end of your qualifying period, your only options were to take a refund of your contributions or transfer your benefits to another pension provider or a different LGPS fund.
The qualifying periods have changed over the years. In summary, they have been:
| The date you began employment | Length of the qualifying period |
|---|---|
| Before and including 5 April 1988 | Five years |
| From 6 April 1988 to 31 March 2004 | Two years |
| From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2014 | Three calendar months |
| From 1 April 2014 onwards | Two years |
You were in a different pension scheme
Many public sector workers belong to other public sector pension schemes. If you were a teacher, your pension is likely with the teachers’ pension scheme. Police officers and medical workers also have dedicated pension schemes - the Police Pension Scheme and NHS Pension Scheme. We suggest contacting your former employer and asking them to confirm which pension scheme you paid into.
You were a manual worker
The LGPS rules for manual workers in the past sometimes meant that you had to have twelve months of continuous membership before you could join the LGPS. This rule might have affected you if you began working on or before 1 April 1990.
You were part time
In the past, the LGPS rules for part time workers meant that if you worked less than 30 hours a week, you could not join the pension scheme. From 1 April 1987, you could join if you worked 15 hours a week or more. This rule existed until 17 August 1993. All part-time employees could join the Scheme after this date.
Completing the form
After reading the information above, if you think your benefits are elsewhere, you might find it helpful to contact ‘The Pension Tracing Service’ or use the Government’s online service ‘Find pension contact details’ to help you find your pension.
However, if you still believe you should have pension benefits with GMPF, please complete the Tracing your benefits form to provide us with more details.
Please only complete this form if our Customer Services team has confirmed we cannot find any details for you. We will only investigate the matter further if you can supply us with evidence indicating you have been a member of GMPF in the past.
Examples of evidence that might help would include:
- a copy of any correspondence you received from GMPF
- a copy of a payslip from the relevant period of employment showing pension contributions deducted
- a letter or similar documentation from your former employer referring to your membership with GMPF
- any other documents you can find to show you contributed to a pension with GMPF.
You will be asked to upload your evidence when you have completed the online form.