Firefighters' pension death benefits: a husband, wife or partner usually gets a pension, eligible children can too, and a lump sum death grant may follow.
We are sorry if you are reading this because a firefighter has died. Cruse Bereavement Support's trained volunteers answer a free helpline, 0808 808 1677, for anyone in the UK affected by grief.
What the family receives turns on which scheme the firefighter was in and whether they were still serving, had left with a deferred pension or had retired.
A firefighter's family unsure which of the three schemes applies can raise it, without paying anything, with an FCA-authorised adviser. Only your own details are needed on the form on this page. The fire and rescue authority and its administrator still confirm the figures.
What happens to my fire service pension when I die?
Your pension does not simply stop: the firefighters' schemes pay a survivor's pension to a spouse, civil partner or, in the newer schemes, a cohabiting partner, a pension to eligible children, and sometimes a lump sum. Three questions decide the detail.
- Which scheme? The 1992 scheme closed to new members in April 2006, the 2006 scheme is for people who joined before 1 April 2015, and the 2015 scheme is the current one, according to the LGA's member site. Some firefighters have benefits in more than one.
- What stage? Serving, deferred (left but not yet drawing) or already in payment each use a different base figure.
- Who is left? A partner, children, both or neither.
The 1992 and 2006 schemes no longer provide death in service benefits because they are closed to active members, so death in service is a 2015 scheme matter. The figures below are England's, from the LGA's member site and the 2014 England regulations; Scotland and Wales differ (see near the end).
Firefighters' pension death benefits: who gets the survivor's pension?
2015 scheme
A husband, wife, civil partner or cohabiting partner receives a survivor's pension if the firefighter had been a member for at least three months. It is paid for life and does not stop on marriage, remarriage or a new partnership. The amount is half of:
- the pension in payment, not reduced for early retirement;
- the higher-tier ill-health pension the member would have received, if they were still serving; or
- the deferred pension plus all of any added pension, if they had left.
2006 scheme
The survivor's pension is again half, but of the pension after the retirement lump sum has been taken out and before any early-payment reduction. A cohabiting partner counts, and the pension is payable for life even if the survivor remarries.
1992 scheme
The rules are tighter. The survivor must be a husband, wife or civil partner, the member needs at least two years' pensionable service, and they must not have been living separately. The scheme does not pay unmarried partners. Half is worked out on the pension before any reduction for a lump sum. Payment stops on remarriage or a new civil partnership, with an exception for marriages after 1 April 2015 where the death was caused by an injury on duty or travel to or from work, and the authority may reinstate it if the new marriage ends in the other person's death. The half can be lower for service before April 1972, a marriage after retirement or a separated couple. See what happens to a widow's pension on remarriage for the general position.
In the 2006 and 2015 schemes, a partner more than 12 years younger than the member has the pension cut by 2.5% for every year or part year above 12, to a maximum of 50%.
Do children get a firefighter's pension when a parent dies?
Yes: eligible children receive their own pension on top of any partner's. In the 2015 scheme (England regulations, 2014) one eligible child gets a quarter of the base pension, and several share half equally. The 2006 scheme uses the same fractions.
The 1992 scheme is different. The LGA's table gives up to two children 18.75% of the pension each if there is a surviving parent and 25% each if not, and three or more share 37.5% or 50% respectively.
In the England 2015 regulations an eligible child must have been financially dependent on the firefighter, be unmarried and not in a civil partnership, and meet one age or health test: under 18; under 23 and studying full-time or on a course lasting at least a year; or dependent through permanent incapacity of mind or body. The LGA's 2015 scheme page adds that with no surviving partner, the children receive what the partner would have had, split evenly. See also children named as pension beneficiaries.
The 13-week bereavement pension
For the first 13 weeks, a surviving partner also receives a bereavement pension, which tops the survivor's pension up to the firefighter's pensionable pay (if serving) or full pension (if retired). Nothing is paid if the member had a deferred pension. If no partner qualifies, the children receive it between them.
Death grant, five-year guarantee and nominations
A death grant of three times final pay is paid under the 2015 scheme when an active member dies. The grant is paid per pension account, there is none for a deferred pension not yet in payment, and the LGA's member site says tax rules stop death grants for members aged 75 or over.
After retirement, if the pension had been paid for less than five years, the balance of five years' payments is paid as a lump sum. The 2006 scheme has the same guarantee.
The scheme manager chooses the recipient. Under the England 2015 scheme, regulation 95 lets it pay "at its absolute discretion" the nominee, personal representatives or anyone it considers a relative or dependant. A nomination records wishes but does not bind the authority. LPPA's notes on its 2015 scheme nomination form say a member can name several people, with percentages totalling 100%, and change or cancel the form at any time. See also pension expressions of wish.
Where a death grant, survivors' pensions and a second scheme overlap, the call-back form here leads to a phone conversation about the family's position with an adviser.
Scotland and Wales
The England regulations quoted here do not govern everyone. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) publishes its own rules for Scotland, with a similar pattern: half for a spouse or partner, a quarter for one child, half shared by several, and normally a death grant of three times pensionable pay when a member dies in service. SPPA's 1992 scheme table gives one or two children 18.75% each and three or more 35.7% shared, and its survivor's pension stops if the survivor cohabits, remarries or forms a civil partnership.
Wales has its own statutory instruments, according to an LGA factsheet for Welsh authorities, so a Welsh family should ask their authority which rules apply.
How to tell the scheme a firefighter has died
In England, the LGA's contact page says to start with the fire and rescue authority if you are unsure who runs the pension. For Scotland, SPPA's bereavement team is on 01896 893000 (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm; Friday, 9am to 1.30pm). It asks for the person's name, date of birth, National Insurance or pension reference number, details of any surviving partner or dependent children, the executor's contact details and a copy of the death certificate, and says paying what is due usually takes around eight weeks once it has everything. SPPA says GOV.UK's Tell Us Once service can notify it instead.
Which forms an English authority sends, and how long payment takes, can be explained without charge when you ask for a call-back here.
Payments made after the death are covered in pension overpayments after death. The wider picture is in how pension death benefits work, and for comparison police pensions on death, the 1992 and 2015 schemes compared and annual increases to firefighters' pensions.
Firefighter pension death questions
What happens to the other children's shares when one child stops qualifying?
Under the England 2015 regulations, that child's pension stops and, where more than one eligible child remains, its amount is shared among the others. A child usually stops qualifying at 18, or at 23 if still in full-time education.
Can a dependent relative who is not a partner or child receive anything?
In the 1992 scheme, the LGA describes a dependent relative's gratuity, paid at the fire and rescue authority's discretion to a relative who was substantially dependent on the member and is not entitled to any other award. It cannot exceed the total contributions the member paid in.
What if the firefighter had no partner or children?
Then no survivor's or child's pension is payable. Under the England 2015 scheme a death grant or five-year balance can still go to a nominee, personal representatives, a relative or a dependant; in the 1992 scheme, the LGA says any shortfall of benefits against the member's contributions goes to the estate. See what happens if there is no beneficiary.