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ARMED FORCES PENSION SCHEMES 1975, 2005 and 2015

By December 15, 2021No Comments

 

Scheme Details AFPS 75 AFPS 05 AFPS 15
Open No – Closed to new members since 2005.

Members of AFPS 75 who are

in service on or after 1 April 2015, will be transferred to AFPS 15 except if you were within ten

years of pension age (aged 45 or over) on 1 April 2012. This group will remain in the AFPS 75 scheme

No- Closed to new members since 2015 Automatically member if on 01st April 2015 not in transitional (full protection) in another AFPS and have more than 10 years until reach age 55.
Pension Calculation Final Rank and length of service (actual years and days that count towards pension. Same rank and same service get the same pension regardless of the level of pay.  Greatest amount of pay received in last 3 years of service. Career Average. Pension is calculated according to your average earnings over your career
Tax Free Lump Sum 3 x Pensionable Salary 25% of final salary 25% of Career Pension
Pension Contributions No No No
Age can Access Pension (vesting members) 55 55 60 or over, you will be entitled to an immediate pension.
Deferred members can access pension  60 pre 06/04/2006

65 post 06/04/2006

65 55 but will reduce the amount of pension entitled to otherwise

paid at State Pension Age

Pension Increases By the CPI and applied annually in April By the CPI and applied annually in April. By the CPI and applied annually in April
Dependants Pension Surviving Spouse/Civil Partner may receive up to 50% of the member’s pension.

Pensions for eligible children may also be payable. Pensions for eligible partners may

be payable if death is attributable to service

Death in Service (DIS) 62.5% of Pension

Death in Retirement (DAR) 62.5% of Pension

DIS 62.5% of Pension

DAR 62.5% of Pension

What Happens if moved Schemes Before the introduction of AFPS 15, the Government made a commitment to protect pension

benefits already earned in existing schemes. 

At April 2015 you and have earned benefits in another Armed Forces Pension Scheme, such as AFPS75, these benefits are protected.

These benefits will remain payable at the time they were expected to be paid. They will also be linked to your final pensionable pay/rank at the point of leaving the Services, not the salary and

rank at the time of transfer to AFPS 15

Additional Benefits Members can buy  • Death in Service lump sum – increase from 3 times representative pay to 4 times

representative pay at the full career point, or 4 times pensionable pay at the date of

death.

• Surviving spouse/civil partner’s pension – pension worth 4/9ths of representative pay.

• Rate of pay upon which the pension is calculated – the actual rate of pensionable pay is used if it is more than the representative rate.

The limit on payments towards the purchase of Additional Voluntary Contributions is 15% of pensionable earnings.

If you moved from AFPS 75 to AFPS 15 on 1st April 2015, the option to

make Additional Voluntary Contributions in AFPS 75 is no longer available to you.

No but allows inverse commutation.

Part of the pension that you will receive under AFPS 05 is a pension lump sum of 3 times your annual pension. However, your benefits may be improved if you choose to ‘give up’ your

pension lump sum in order to increase the amount of taxable pension payable to you and your

dependants. This is known as inverse commutation

No but Allows added Pension
Added Years The limit on payments towards the purchase of Added Years is 15% of pensionable earnings. As a member of AFPS 05, you can purchase Added Years. 

If you moved from AFPS 05 to AFPS 15 on 1st April 2015, the option to purchase Added Years in AFPS 05 is no longer available to

you.

The limit on payments towards the purchase of Added Years is 15% of pensionable earnings. You can have more than one Added Years contract, provided you stay

within this 15% limit.

The total amount of Added Pension that can be purchased over your public service career 

Is capped and, from 2015, it is capped at an increase of £6,500 in pension benefits per year

Ill Health Benefits Non-Attributable

An immediate

pension and a tax-free lump sum based on the length of your Service and, where that is 5 years or more, is normally at an enhanced rate. 

LS x 3 of attributable pension

Attributable Pension

Enhanced tax-free immediate ill-health pension

LS x 3 of immediate attributable pension

compensation award.

Your pension is based on the length of your Service and your rank on leaving. Your lump sum is

worth 3 times the immediate ill-health pension.

Your compensation award depends on when your injury or illness was caused by Service:

• For conditions arising before 6th April 2005, attributable ill-health benefits may be

payable under the Armed Forces Attributable Benefits (AFAB) Scheme and the War

Pensions Scheme (WPS).

• For conditions arising on or after 6th April 2005, attributable benefits are paid under the

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). 

There are three levels of ill-health award that can be made if you are medically discharged

under AFPS 05, depending on the severity of your medical condition.

Tier 1: A Tier 1 award is made if you are deemed to be unfit for Service in the Armed Forces

because of physical or mental impairment, but your ability to obtain gainful civilian employment

is not deemed to be significantly impaired.

Tier 2: A Tier 2 award is made if you are deemed to have suffered a breakdown in health, as a

result of which, your capacity for gainful employment is significantly impaired and is expected to

remain so until you reach age 55 (normal pension age).

Tier 3: A Tier 3 award is made for the most serious conditions and is granted if you are deemed

to have suffered a permanent breakdown in health involving incapacity for any gainful full-time

employment.

There are three levels of ill-health award that can be made if you are medically discharged

under AFPS 15, depending on the severity of your medical condition.

Tier 1: A Tier 1 award is made if you are deemed to be unfit for Service in the Armed Forces

because of physical or mental impairment, but your ability to obtain gainful civilian employment

is not deemed to be significantly impaired.

Tier 2: A Tier 2 award is made if you are deemed to have suffered a breakdown in health, as a

result of which, your capacity for gainful employment is significantly impaired and is expected to

remain so until you reach age 60 (normal pension age).

Tier 3: A Tier 3 award is made for the most serious conditions and is granted if you are deemed

to have suffered a permanent breakdown in health involving incapacity for any gainful full-time

employment.

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