HOW MUCH SERVICE DO I NEED TO QUALIFY FOR A PENSION?
To be eligible for any of the pensions mentioned in this page, you must have at least 2 years’ pensionable service in the FPS. If you have less, you would still be eligible if you have had a transfer of personal pension scheme rights into the FPS.
AT WHAT AGE WOULD I BE PAID MY PENSION?
Normal pension age for all members of the FPS is age 55. If you choose to retire at or after this age, your pension would be put into immediate payment. Or you could retire earlier with immediate payment of benefits provided you have reached age 50 and have at least 25 years’ service. An ill-health pension may be payable at any age. If you leave the FPS before becoming entitled to payment of age or ill-health retirement benefits you may be awarded a deferred pension. This would be payable
from –
• Age 60, or
• Subject to appropriate medical certification, at any age, on grounds of permanent ill health which prevents you from undertaking any regular employment.
Your fire and rescue authority may require you to retire if they consider that your retention in the fire and rescue service would not be in the general interest of efficiency. You must, however, be eligible at that time for immediate payment of an age retirement pension, having attained age 50 and having at least 25 years’ pensionable service.
HOW IS A PENSION CALCULATED?
How each of the various types of pension are calculated is explained on the following pages, but there are certain basic principles. The FPS is a final salary pension scheme which means that your pension will be a proportion of final average pensionable pay. The proportion will depend, in part, upon how much pensionable service you have at the time of leaving the Scheme.
For age and ill-health pensions, a principle of “fast accrual” is used. For each of the first 20 years of pensionable service, you will get 1/60th of average pensionable pay and for each of the following years you will get 2/60ths of average pensionable pay. Each day of pensionable service will count as 1/365th of 1/60th. The maximum number of 60ths that you can count is 40 (after 30 years’ service). For example, if you retire at age 55 with 30 years of pensionable service and average pensionable pay of £30,000, your pension would be assessed as –
(20 x 1/60) + (10 x 2/60) x £30,000 = 40/60 x £30,000 = £20,000.00 a year or, if you retire at age 50 after 27 years with the same pay, your pension would be – (20 x 1/60) + (7 x 2/60) x £30,000 = 34/60 x £30,000 = £17,000.00 a year.
DOUBLE ACCRUAL GUARANTEE
Double accrual service for former FPS 1992 members who have moved into the 2015 scheme is protected by a formula in the scheme rules.
The formula proportions the expected double accrual benefit if the member had stayed in the FPS 1992 by the service built up in the FPS 1992 before moving to FPS 2015.
More details can be found on this on the link below
Double accrual guarantee | Firefighters’ Pension Scheme (fpsmember.org)
WHAT IS PENSIONABLE SERVICE?
This is your service as a member of the Scheme and in respect of which you have paid contributions. If you have ever worked part-time, the starting point for assessment of your pension is based on the pensionable service you would be able to count if whole-time. Various other periods may count as pensionable service, e.g. that credited on receipt of a transfer value from another pension arrangement, unpaid leave (including additional maternity and adoption leave) for which contributions have been paid, or service which previously counted towards an award which has since been cancelled. “Purchased 60ths” paid for by additional contributions would also be included in the assessment of pension.
WHAT IS AVERAGE PENSIONABLE PAY?
In most cases this will be your pensionable pay averaged over the last 365 days of pensionable service.
If either of the two preceding periods of 365 days would produce a greater amount, the final pensionable pay from one of those earlier periods could be substituted.
If at any time you have worked part-time, the starting point for assessment of your pension is based on the pensionable pay you would be able to count if whole-time.
AGE RETIREMENT PENSION
This award would be payable to a firefighter who is age 50 or over with at least 25 years’ service (called an “ordinary pension” in the FPS rules), or age 55 or over with at least 2 years’ service (called a “short service pension” in the FPS rules). The basic formula is used.
For example, if you retire at 55, with 22 years’ pensionable service and average pensionable pay of £28,000, your pension would be – (20 x 1/60) + (2 x 2/60) x £28,000 = 24/60 x £28,000 = £11,200.00 a year Part of the annual pension can be commuted to provide a lump sum if you wish.
ADJUSTMENT FOR PART-TIME SERVICE
If you have ever worked part-time, the pension is first assessed as if you had worked whole-time throughout your service. Then account is taken of the proportion of whole-time service you have accrued.
For example, if you retire at 55 having worked whole-time for 20 years and half-time for 6 years (i.e. 26 calendar years) the starting point for working out your pension would be to assume you had worked whole-time throughout those 26 years. Even if you have been working half-time during your final year, average pensionable pay is based on the wholetime pay. Let’s suppose it is £36,000. The whole-time pension would be – (20 x 1/60) + (6 x 2/60) x £36,000 = 32/60 x £36,000 = £19,200.00 a year
Then account is taken of the hours actually worked during the calendar length of service: 20 + (1/2 x 6) = 23 years
The whole-time pension is then multiplied by the actual length of service as a proportion of the whole-time length to give the “part-time” pension –
23/26 x £19,200.00 = £16,984.62 a year.