If you elected to pay extra contributions to the Fund before Additional Pension Contributions (APCs) were introduced on 1 April 2014, they're still valid. They were previously known as Additional Regular Contributions (ARC) and Added Years.
As with an APC, if you take your pension early, your ARC or Added Years extra pension will be reduced (unless you retire on the grounds of ill health, redundancy or business efficiency).
Unlike an APC, you had the option to include extra pension for your dependents should you die before taking payment. If you elected for your dependents to benefit, we'll make sure your extra pension is reflected in the benefits they receive.
Additional Regular Contributions (ARC)
This is where you elected to purchase extra pension payable when you retire on top of your standard Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) benefits. Whether you’ve completed your ARC payments or are still making them from your monthly pay, you'll still receive the benefit from ARC benefits when you retire, assuming that your contract has been completed by then.
Added Years
This is where you elected to pay a percentage of your pay to buy extra membership in years and days under the final salary arrangements before 1 April 2014.
Whether you have completed your Added Years payments or are still making them from your monthly pay, you'll still receive the extra membership in the final salary part of your pension benefits when you retire. This will be on the same basis that you agreed to buy them, assuming that your contract has been completed by then.
You can visit the national LGPS member website for more information.