What's an AVC?

• An AVC plan is a separate pot of money you build up alongside your LGPS, that aims to give you extra retirement benefits.

• If you pay tax, you benefit from tax savings as your contributions are taken from your pay before tax. Tax savings will depend on your individual circumstances and rules can also change.

• You can pay AVC contributions regularly or as a lump sum. You can also change your contributions at any time online.

• AVCs are invested in funds, so they have the potential to grow over time. It also means the value of your fund can go down as well as up so you might get back less than you put in. When it comes to choosing where to invest your AVC pot, there’s no need to feel overwhelmed. The 'Your investment options' section of this site will take you through the options available to you.

• The size of your AVC pot will depend on how much you pay in, how long you pay in for, the impact of costs, charges and how well the fund(s) you invest in perform.

• You have a number of options to choose from when you decide to take money from your AVC pot, which you can currently do from age 55 (57 from 6 April 2028, unless you have a protected pension age), or possibly earlier if you're in ill health.

• If you pass away before you’re eligible to take your money, we’ll pay the value as a lump sum. This will normally be to your spouse, civil partner, dependants or your legal representative.

For more information, please read your Key Features Document in the 'Applying for an AVC plan' section of this site.

Prudential is an international financial services company, and long established provider of life insurance and pensions in the UK. We’ve been helping people save money for over 170 years.

Prudential has been working with LGPS members since 1988, and is appointed as an AVC provider.