The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

Death grants: pensioner members

51.—(1) If a pensioner member dies before attaining the age of 75, the Committee shall pay a death grant.

(2) The Committee may, at its absolute discretion, pay the death grant to or for the benefit of the member’s nominee, personal representatives or any person appearing to the Committee to have been a relative or dependent of the member.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the death grant is ten times the annual amount the member would have been entitled to receive as retirement pension at the date of death if there had been no commutation under regulation 34 (election for lump sum instead of pension), reduced by the amounts of any such commuted lump sum and any pension paid to the member.

(4) Where any pension paid to a member derived from a pension credit, the death grant is ten times the annual amount the member would have been entitled to receive as that pension at the date of death if there had been no commutation under regulation 34 (election for lump sum instead of pension) reduced by the amounts of any such commuted lump sum and any pension paid to that member.

(5) If the Committee has not made payments under paragraph (1) equalling in aggregate the member’s death grant before the expiry of two years—

(a) beginning with the member’s death; or

(b) where the Committee did not know about the member’s death before the expiry of that period, beginning with the date on which the Committee could reasonably be expected to have become aware of the member’s death,

it shall pay an amount equal to the shortfall to the member’s personal representatives.