The 2015 Scheme is a Career Average Revalued Earnings (“CARE”) pension scheme, which came into effect on 1 April 2015. It is open to Firefighters who took up employment on or after 1 April 2015 or are transitional members from previous schemes, and whose roles include:
- resolving operational incidents, or
- leading and supporting others in the resolution of such incidents, and
A CARE scheme pension is calculated using a portion of your Annual Pensionable Pay each year and adding this to your CARE pension pot. The portion used is 1/59.7 and each year the pot is increased by inflation (Average Weekly Earnings index):
- i.e., Pensionable pay for each year multiplied by 1÷59.7 = Accrued pension for that year;
There is also the option to convert some of your annual pension to give you a tax free lump sum (max 25%). Your benefits are based at age 60 but you can access these at age 55 with reductions.
If you were a Firefighter serving before 1 April 2015 and a member of FPS 1992 or FPS 2006, you may be able to continue paying into your existing scheme. Please contact the Pensions Administrator.