Clergy pensions

The clergy pension scheme – known as the Church of England Funded Pension Scheme (CEFPS) – provides a typical ‘defined benefit’ pension.

You receive a pension based on your service and the National Minimum Stipend. Your Responsible Body (this could be your diocese or employer) meets the cost of providing your pension.

My membership

Joining is easy; it's all done for you when you start stipendiary ministry.

Your Responsible Body covers the cost of your pension, but you can save more on top of this.

How do I go about saving more into my pension?

You can boost your pension by saving Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). We invest your AVCs in a separate pot with Legal & General.

If you are thinking of saving AVCs, first decide how much you would like to save. There are two ways you can save.

Monthly through your salary

This way, your extra savings are taken from your salary before tax. You can start, stop, increase or decrease your savings whenever you like. To do this, you will need to contact hr.operations@churchofengland.org.

To change your AVCs, visit PensionsOnline.

One-off lump sum payment

You can save one-off lump sums. To do this, fill out an AVC form and send this to us. Anything you pay into your pension is tax-free up to a limit. As you will have paid tax on your lump sums, you can claim any tax relief on your self-assessment tax return.

How to invest my AVCs

Lifestyle invests your savings with a view to buying a guaranteed income for life when you retire.

The aim is to make the most return on your money while you are still some way from retirement. Then, as you get closer to retirement, your money switches automatically to less risky funds so that by the time you retire.

Pick my own investments

If you are confident picking your own investments, we have 11 funds you can choose from. You can pick one or more of these. You might want to pick several funds to spread your risk.

Click on each fund to see its performance page.

Legal & General take a fee each year to manage the investment fund. This is called an Annual Management Charge, or AMC. The charge is in brackets.

How much can I get back tax-free?

When you retire, you can often get back all, or most of your AVCs back as a tax-free lump sum. But, there is a limit.

Change my investment choice

You can change your investment choice at any time. Before you do, remember your pension is a long-term pot of money. There is no fee to switch your investments, but while your money is being switched there can be transaction costs. We aim to complete switches in 5 days.

Change my AVC target retirement date

Most people don’t know exactly when they will take their pension pot. If you don't tell us when you think you'll take your pot, we will pick age 68 for you. If you think you might take your pot before or after this, make sure you update your target retirement date so that we can line your pot up correctly.

My annual pension statement

Each year we send you a statement which tells you how much is in your pension pot. It also includes information about what you could get when you reach your target retirement date.

If you pay AVCs, we'll send you a statement letting you know how this is progressing. In this, we talk about what your AVCs could be worth in the future. To do this we need to make some assumptions.

Find out the assumptions we use in our SMPI guide.

My retirement

When you are ready to take your pension, let us know.

We will pay you a pension for life, plus a tax-free lump sum. We aim to pay your lump sum as soon as possible after you retire.

You don’t have to keep your pension with us. You can transfer it to a ‘defined contribution’ pension provider and take it in more flexible ways. We will tell you all about these options and how you can take advantage of them closer to your retirement.

Pre-retirement loans

We know that a number of Clergy would like access to their lump sum early. While we cannot pay this to you in advance, the Churches Mutual Credit Union offers interest-only 'Pre-Retirement Loans' up to three years before retirement.

My pension if I leave

If you leave service before you retire, we will keep your pension here with us until you decide to take it, transfer it to another provider or die.

We will still send you annual updates to let you know how your pension is progressing.

Transferring my pension

You do not have to keep your Clergy pension with us. You can move all or some of your Clergy pension to another pension provider. This can give you access to more cash lump sums, or the ability to take money as and when you need it. You could also leave more money to your loved ones when you die.

Find out more about transferring your Clergy pension here.

Get in touch with us if you would like to transfer your pension and we can help you do this.

My pension if I die

If you die before or after you retire, we will pay two-thirds of your pension to your spouse or civil partner.

We guarantee your pension for 12 months. If you die within this period, we will pay the remaining payments as a lump sum.

If you die while in active service (and before age 75), we will also pay a tax-free lump sum of 3x the previous years’ National Minimum Stipend, plus your AVCs with Legal & General, if you have saved these.

Tell us the person, people or organisations you would like to leave any lump sum to – a href="https://pensions.churchofengland.org/">head to PensionsOnline to add your nomination.

If your circumstances change, remember to update your nomination. To keep this tax-free we have discretion over who receives any lump sum but we'll be guided by your wishes.

We make every effort to provide you with an efficient and effective service. However, if you are unhappy with the service you receive, please contact us first and we will do our best to resolve your issue. You can download our complaints procedure here.

If you have a complaint or dispute concerning your workplace or personal pension arrangements, you can also contact the Pensions Ombudsman. If you have general requests for information or guidance head to MoneyHelper.

The Pensions Ombudsman

• Telephone: 0800 917 4487
• Email: enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
• Website: https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk

Contact us

We are here to help. You can contact us by:

• Telephone: 020 7898 1802 (9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday)
• Email: pensions@churchofengland.org