Firefighters 1992 scheme – Active
At what age would I be paid my pension?
Normal pension age for all members of the FPS1992 is age 55. If you choose to retire at or after this age, your pension would be put into immediate payment. Or you could retire earlier with immediate payment of benefits provided you have reached age 50 (unless you are a Chief Fire Officer appointed before 1 July 2013, in which case you will need the authorities consent to retire before age 55) and have at least 25 years' service.
An ill-health pension may be payable at any age.
If you leave the FPS1992 before becoming entitled to payment of age or ill-health retirement benefits you may be awarded a deferred pension. This would be payable from:
- age 60, or
- subject to appropriate medical certification, at any age on grounds of permanent ill-health which prevents you from undertaking firefighting or any of the other duties appropriate to your former role as a firefighter.
Age retirement pension
This would be payable to a firefighter who, upon retirement, is age 50 or over with at least 25 years' service (it is referred to as an "ordinary pension" in the FPS1992 rules), or age 55 or over with less than 25 but at least 2 years' service (this is referred to as a "short service pension"). The basic formula is used – see "How is a pension calculated?"
For example, if you retire at 55, with 22 years' pensionable service and average pensionable pay of £28,000, your pension would be:
(20 x 1/60) + (2 x 2/60) x £28,000 = 24/60 x £28,000 = £11,200.00 a year
Part of the annual pension can be commuted to provide a lump sum if you wish this is called "Commutation".
