A police pension is a guaranteed public service pension, rising with CPI once paid, that the Home Office ranks among the UK's most valuable.
How good a police pension is for one officer depends on whether their service sits in the 1987, 2006 or 2015 scheme, and on pay, health, family and any other pensions. Below, scheme by scheme, is what the Home Office and GOV.UK print for England and Wales. Your own service record is what an FCA-authorised adviser weighs it against when they phone you back, at no charge, after a request sent on this page's short form; your force's pensions administrator and MoneyHelper are free routes too.
What makes a police pension good, in the Home Office's words
The Home Office's guide to the 2015 scheme (GOV.UK, © Crown copyright 2021) says that when a member reaches retirement age "they receive one of the most valuable pensions available in the United Kingdom (UK)." It lists what the scheme provides:
- a pension for life in retirement, and an optional lump sum;
- special provisions if you are forced to retire through ill health;
- income for dependants after your death, and a lump sum on death in service.
The same guide says the force, as employer, pays around double the member contribution. It also compares the scheme with saving privately, assuming a 5% annual investment return, and says a saver outside the scheme would need to contribute "around 60% on current annuity pricing" of salary to buy matching increases and a dependant's pension. That is the Home Office describing its own scheme, with its own assumptions as at 2021, not an independent ranking. The pension annuity explainer shows how annuity pricing works.
Which police pension scheme are you in?
Three schemes exist, and the Home Office says a high proportion of members belong to more than one of them. The table draws on the comparison annex of the Home Office's 2015 member's guide, last updated on GOV.UK in November 2017, and on its 2021 benefits guide.
| Scheme | Who it covers | How the pension builds | Pension age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 (legacy) | Officers who started before 6 April 2006; closed to new members then | Final salary: 1/60 of earnings for the first 20 years and 2/60 for each year after, to a maximum of 30 years | Any age with 30 years' service, or from 50 with 25 years; other cases depend on rank and service |
| 2006 (legacy) | Officers who started from 6 April 2006 until the 2015 scheme began | Final salary: 1/70 of pensionable earnings per year to a maximum of 35 years, plus a separate lump sum | 55 |
| 2015 (reformed) | Joiners from 1 April 2015, and officers moved across from the legacy schemes | Career average: 1/55.3 of pensionable earnings added each year, no maximum length | 60 |
Legacy rights do not vanish when an officer moves to the 2015 scheme. The 2021 guide says "Essentially your legacy pension will continue to be uprated in line with your final salary up until the point of retirement", and that 1987 members keep their "double accrual". The police pension scheme explainer compares the three in more depth.
These guides cover England and Wales. The Home Office notes that separate schemes exist for Scotland and Northern Ireland; see the Scottish police pension.
Pension age 60: what retiring earlier does to a police pension
In the 2015 scheme normal pension age is 60, and the 2021 guide gives the minimum as "currently age 55". The general minimum pension age rises to 57 on 6 April 2028, but section 10 of the Finance Act 2022 keeps 55 for uniformed services pension schemes, a category that covers police officers (the Civil Nuclear Constabulary apart). The 2021 guide says "The reduction to the amount payable is roughly 5% for each year that you retire before 60 (the actual reduction is based on actuarial calculations which are updated periodically)." Someone who leaves before 55 has the 2015 pension deferred to State Pension age. The 2015 member's guide adds that carrying on past 60 brings an actuarial uplift.
Officers with older service keep earlier ages. The 2021 guide says 1987 members retain the option to retire after 25 years' service from age 50, or after 30 years' service. If that comes before 55, their 1987 pension can start while the 2015 part is deferred or, from 55, taken reduced. 2006 members can retire from 55, with a reduction to the 2015 part if before 60. How a police pension is worked out covers the sums, and the lump sum limit the cash option (up to 25% of the pension, at £12 for each £1 given up, in the 2015 scheme).
Protected members and the McCloud remedy
When the 2015 scheme opened, officers who on 1 April 2012 were ten years or less from age 55 kept their old scheme (full protection; some 1987 members qualified by a second route), and those within four years of qualifying for full protection had tapered protection. The 2015 member's guide says the tapered protection period ends at some point before 1 April 2022, after which the member joins the 2015 scheme unless they opt out. That protection was later found to discriminate unlawfully on age. The GOV.UK consultation outcome (updated 10 August 2023) says the remedy period runs between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, and that "Eligible members will be able to choose to receive legacy pension scheme benefits or benefits equivalent to those available under the 2015 reformed scheme for service during the remedy period."
The legacy schemes closed to future accrual on 31 March 2022, and since 1 April 2022, says the Home Office's 2023 remedy consultation, "all police officers have been members of the 2015 reformed pension scheme." The Police Pensions (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/831) came into force on 1 October 2023: officers already drawing a pension then, or the representatives of those who had died, choose straight away, while active and deferred members choose at retirement. The police pension remedy page sets out the steps. Facing that choice yourself? Remedy-period options are something an FCA-authorised adviser will discuss by phone, unpaid, once this page's short form reaches them.
Contribution bands: the Home Office's table to March 2023
The 2021 guide prints the 2015 scheme member rates for 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023:
| Annualised pensionable earnings | Member rate |
|---|---|
| £27,000 or less | 12.44% |
| More than £27,000 but less than £60,000 | 13.44% |
| £60,000 or more | 13.78% |
It adds that 2006 scheme contributions are between 1% and 1.5% lower and 1987 scheme ones between 2.2% and 3.25% higher. Contributions come out of pay before income tax, so at a tax rate of 20% every £10 of contributions costs £8. Those were the bands the guide printed for the years to 31 March 2023; your payslip or your force will show the band you pay now. See police pension contributions and the employer's share.
Lower and upper tier ill-health pensions, and death benefits
The 2015 member's guide describes two ill-health levels. A lower tier is paid if an officer is permanently medically unfit for ordinary police duties but not for all regular work, calculated on the accrued pension; "There will be no reduction for early payment and no enhancement." An enhanced upper tier is paid on top if they are permanently unfit for any regular employment. The Selected Medical Practitioner decides the level, and even then "it does not automatically follow that you will be granted ill-health retirement." Injury benefits are separate and governed by separate regulations. For the detail see ill-health retirement for police officers.
Death benefits depend on the scheme and on whether death comes in service or in retirement. The lump sum, the spouse, partner and children's pensions are covered in police pension on death.
Who pays for police pensions
The 2015 scheme is set up by regulations made under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, so it is a public service scheme, not a private pension. The 2006 scheme's members' guide (March 2009) said the 1987 and 2006 schemes were each "technically an 'unfunded' scheme. This means that there is no pension fund as such. The two police pension schemes are funded by the contributions from officers and police authorities, topped up by central Government." The 2021 guide describes the 2015 scheme as a defined benefit scheme with a guaranteed income at retirement. Part of the benefits can be withheld after certain convictions; see police pension forfeiture.
Leaving the scheme while still serving
Officers are enrolled automatically. The 2015 member's guide says you can opt out at any time by written notice, and if you do you are re-enrolled every three years unless you opt out again within a month. It lists consequences: with two years or more of qualifying service you are entitled only to a deferred pension; an officer who dies in service while opted out has no lump sum death grant, though a surviving adult's pension and an eligible child's pension may still be payable; and you cannot get an ill-health pension if you leave as permanently unfit. It also says "you are strongly recommended to take independent financial advice before you make a decision." You can rejoin, but that may need a medical examination at your own expense, and you may be readmitted with or without access to ill-health benefits.
What else people ask about police pensions
Is a police pension a private pension?
No. It is a public service scheme under the 2013 Act, paid for by contributions and central Government top-up, as set out above.
Do police pensions keep up with inflation?
Pensions in payment rise each year in line with CPI under the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, according to the 2015 member's guide, which says the same of an ill-health pension for as long as it is paid.
Can a police officer retire at 50?
Only some can. The 2021 guide says 1987 scheme members retain the option to retire from 50 after 25 years' service. In the 2015 scheme the earliest age is 55, with a reduction, and the 2028 rise to 57 does not apply to police schemes.
What happens to the pension if an officer leaves before 55?
With two or more years' qualifying service, the 2015 member's guide gives the choice of a transfer to another registered scheme or keeping a deferred pension, which the 2021 guide says is paid from State Pension age. With less than two years the choice is a transfer or a refund of contributions.
Does the pension build up the same on part-time hours?
Yes, in the 2015 scheme, according to its member's guide, though the amount follows the pay you earn.
Officers unsure which scheme their years sit in, or how the remedy choice plays out for them, can put those questions to an FCA-authorised adviser, whose call-back costs nothing; serving and retired officers alike use this page's short form to arrange it.