Pension Protection Fund death benefits: a surviving spouse or partner can get half the member's compensation, and eligible children are paid too.
If a member of a scheme taken over by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) dies, the compensation does not simply stop. A spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner may be paid half of it for life where the member's old scheme rules provided for a survivor, and eligible children receive a share. Who qualifies in your family turns on those rules, which an FCA-authorised adviser can read with you for free; this page's short form is where to leave your details.
What the Pension Protection Fund pays after a member dies
Survivors are paid a fraction of the member's own compensation (see the PPF explainer). Under Schedule 7 to the Pensions Act 2004 a pensioner's widow or widower "is entitled to periodic compensation commencing on the day following the pensioner’s death and continuing for life", at "half of the annual rate" the pensioner would have received.
The PPF's survivors booklet (PPF02 JANUARY26) applies this to every eligible partner: "Eligible spouses, civil partners or relevant partners will receive half the compensation the retired member was receiving before their death." If the member had not yet retired, a partner receives "half the compensation the member would have received, had they reached their normal pension age the day before they passed away". Once a partner starts to be paid it lasts for life, and no payments go to other beneficiaries after that partner dies.
There are limits. Eligibility "will depend on the rules of the member’s former pension scheme", and the regulations say a widow or widower is not paid this way where those rules make no provision for a survivor's pension, or where the member validly nominated a relevant partner instead. For the bigger picture, see are final salary pensions protected? and the final salary pension guide.
Spouse benefits and widow's benefits: who counts as a partner
The PPF recognises spouses, civil partners and relevant partners, meaning "someone who you aren’t married to, or in a civil partnership with, but who you live with as if you’re married or in a civil partnership". A civil partner counts if the civil partnership still existed at the date of death, and must supply a certified copy of the register entry.
A relevant partner qualifies only where the old scheme's rules allow a survivor's pension for an unmarried partner, "whether discretionary or otherwise". Then comes evidence. If the member gave the PPF a signed notice naming them, the partner must show they lived with the member at death. If not, they must show they were "financially dependent on, or interdependent on" the member as well as living with them. For those financial ties the booklet accepts proof such as joint bills, a joint tenancy agreement or joint bank accounts, dated within twelve months before the death.
Why nominating a partner matters
The PPF says members "should nominate a spouse, civil partner or relevant partner" on its member website, even if the details went to the old scheme. Without one the survivor can still apply but "will however have to provide more evidence". Its example is a member who separated but never divorced: unless the new partner is nominated, "compensation would automatically be paid to your spouse". Nominations are re-confirmed every 12 months. The PPF says it can confirm what a former scheme's rules allowed. To understand what they mean for an unmarried partner, request a call-back here: whichever FCA-authorised adviser phones can explain it without charge.
Pension Protection Fund death benefits for children
Children are paid automatically, with no nomination. They must be the member's biological child (including one born after the death) or adopted child, or show they were financially dependent on the member, and be under 18, or under 23 and in full-time qualifying education or unable to work full time because of a disability covered by the Equality Act 2010. Qualifying study means "more than 12 hours a week in normal term time"; a child who stops studying loses the payments but can ask for them to restart on another course.
| Eligible children | A spouse or partner is also paid | No spouse or partner is paid |
|---|---|---|
| One child | 25 per cent of the member's compensation | 50 per cent |
| Two or more children | 50 per cent, divided equally | 100 per cent, divided equally |
These match the booklet and the regulations. A family may have several payments to weigh, and the booklet notes that a bereavement support payment can be claimed if a husband, wife or civil partner dies. To look at them together, the quick form here sets up a talk, costing nothing, between your family and an FCA-authorised adviser.
Payments start the day after the death, and if one child stops qualifying the PPF recalculates the others' shares, unless the scheme was already paying them before it entered assessment.
A terminal illness lump sum for the member
If you or someone close to you has a terminal diagnosis, Samaritans will listen free, day or night, on 116 123. Cruse Bereavement Support, which the PPF's booklet also names, has a free helpline on 0808 808 1677 and supports children and young people too. There is no need to read on today.
This lump sum is paid to a living member, not to survivors. A member with "twelve months or less to live", confirmed by a doctor, can take a one-off lump sum "instead of receiving regular compensation payments", but only before those regular payments have started. The PPF's member booklet (PPF05 MAY 2026) says it "will be twice the amount of all the payments you’d otherwise be entitled to receive from the PPF in a year": annual payments of £4,000 give £8,000. Schedule 7 sets the same multiple, and works out a widow's or widower's later compensation as if the member had kept the right to regular payments.
Claiming Pension Protection Fund death benefits: who to tell
The person dealing with the estate should contact the PPF as soon as possible: delay can mean payments carry on after the death and are recovered from the estate. They can use the PPF's bereavement notification form or the free, optional Tell Us Once service, which reports a death "to most government departments and local councils in one go". The PPF then suspends the member's payments, contacts the beneficiary or executor, and asks them to complete a paper or online claim form; nominated beneficiaries can do this online. Under the 2005 compensation regulations, a claim is backdated to when the person became eligible, but no further than five years before the claim.
The PPF's booklet says its payments are taxed as earned income; is PPF compensation taxable? and is a widow's pension taxable? go further. If the scheme was in the Financial Assistance Scheme instead, see how the FAS differs.
Pension Protection Fund death benefits: questions people ask
Does the Pension Protection Fund pay a widow's pension?
Yes, where the member's former scheme rules provided for one: half the member's compensation, for the survivor's life. A widower or civil partner is treated the same way.
Can an unmarried partner claim after a member dies?
Possibly, as a relevant partner, if the scheme rules allow a survivor's pension for an unmarried partner and the PPF is satisfied they lived with the member. A nomination made in life reduces the evidence needed.
Do PPF payments continue after the partner dies?
Not to other beneficiaries, says the PPF's booklet, though children may be paid in their own right while they qualify.
Is there a beneficiary claim form?
Yes, paper or online, completed by the executor or person dealing with the estate. The PPF may also ask for a marriage or civil registration certificate or a divorce or dissolution final order.
Does the PPF pay survivors a lump sum?
What Schedule 7 and the 2005 regulations give a partner or child is periodic compensation, a regular payment. If the death came while the old scheme was still being assessed, the Pensions Act 2004 generally limits any lump sum the scheme pays to what PPF compensation would allow; the enquiry form lets an FCA-authorised adviser untangle that rule with you free of charge. For schemes outside the PPF, see what happens to a final salary pension on death.
Your next step
A surviving partner is generally paid half, where the old scheme's rules allow, and eligible children a share. If you would like those rules read against your family, State Pension and savings, enter your telephone number in the enquiry form further down and expect a ring back, with no charge made, from an FCA-authorised adviser. Whatever you later do with money that comes to you, the value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in.
Sources: PPF, Payments for spouses, partners and children (PPF02 JANUARY26), Welcome to the PPF (PPF05 MAY 2026), Using Tell Us Once, beneficiary nominations and bereavement process; Pensions Act 2004, Schedule 7 and the Pension Protection Fund (Compensation) Regulations 2005, regulations 3 to 8; Pensions Act 2004, section 138.