All new recruits to the Fire Service become members of the Firefighters Pension Scheme (FPS) 2015 which is a Career Average Revalued Earnings Scheme (CARE). Your employer has to enrol you in FPS 2015 when you take up a new contract as a firefighter, or after three years if you previously opted out.
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). There is also the option to convert some of your annual pension to give you a tax free lump sum.
Your benefits are based at age 60 but you can access these at 55 with reductions. For more information on the Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015 please see the section on the menu called ’Firefighters Pension Scheme 2015’.
Benefits of Membership
- A secure pension with benefits set out in law
- A pension of 1/59.7th of your pay every year, added to your pension account and protected against inflation
- The option to convert part of your pension into a tax-free lump sum when you retire
- Immediate payment of pension benefits if you:
- retire at your normal pension age (60)
- retire early from age 55 (but with an early payment reduction)
- have to retire because of permanent ill health or injury at any age
- take partial retirement, at or after the age of 55 without leaving employment - A lump sum of three years’ final pay if you die in service
- Family and dependent benefits
- A substantial employer contribution towards the cost of your benefits
- The opportunity to transfer previous benefits into the scheme in the first 12 months of membership
- The choice of deferring payment of your pension benefits until State Pension Age if you leave the scheme early, or transferring them to another pension arrangement (unless you were a member for less than three months when you would get a refund of contributions instead).