Firefighter Pension Death Benefits: Death Grant and Survivors

The four benefits in FPS 2015: an overview

The official member website groups the English FPS 2015 death benefits into a death grant, a survivor’s pension, a bereavement pension and a children’s pension. Most need at least three months’ membership. Together they are part of why the scheme’s value is greater than the pension alone: they provide life cover and family income without extra premiums, funded through your contributions and the employer’s.

The benefits depend on your status when you die: an active member still contributing, a pensioner already in payment, or a deferred member who left before drawing benefits. Deferred members receive much less: there is no bereavement pension and no death grant for a deferred pension that has not started, although a survivor’s pension is payable.

This guide describes the English rules using the LGA’s official website and an administrator’s member guide. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regulations and their own published information; where I could verify a difference I say so, and where I could not I tell you to check with your administrator. For the wider scheme see the FPS 2015 guide; for what happens if you must leave early through illness see firefighter ill-health retirement; and note that opting out removes death in service cover.

The death grant: three times final pay

The official website says a payment of three times your final pay would be made to your beneficiaries if you die in service. On the competent firefighter rate of £40,358 from 1 July 2026 that is 3 × £40,358 = £121,074, as an illustration; the actual figure uses your final pay as defined in the scheme, so check your own. If you contribute to more than one pension account, for example by paying additional contributions for added pension, a death grant would be payable from each account, and if you are an active member also receiving a pension from another firefighters’ scheme the administrator compares the two accounts and the highest value is payable.

If you die in retirement having received pension payments for less than five years, the scheme pays the balance of five years’ payments. For a pension of £16,000 a year, if you die two years after retiring, five years’ payments are £80,000, two years have been paid (£32,000), so £48,000 is paid. If you have benefits in FPS 2006 or 2006 (special), additional death benefits may be payable.

There are two restrictions. Tax rules stop death grants being paid for members who have reached age 75, and there is no death grant for a deferred member whose pension has not come into payment. GOV.UK’s lump sum and death benefit allowance of £1,073,100 applies to certain lump sum death benefits paid before age 75, so a very large grant would be tested against it, though most grants are far below.

Survivor’s pension: who qualifies and how much

Your survivor can be your husband, wife, civil partner or cohabiting partner. If you had at least three months’ membership, they receive a survivor’s pension for life; it does not stop on marriage, remarriage or a new partnership. Once your pension is in payment, the survivor’s pension is half the value of the pension you were receiving, and is not reduced if you took early retirement; the official statement notes describe it as worked out after commutation of any lump sum, so exchanging pension for cash also lowers it. If you die while contributing, it is half of the higher-tier ill-health pension you would have received if you had retired for ill-health reasons on the date of death. For a deferred member, it is half the deferred pension plus all of any added pension.

A reduction applies if the survivor is more than 12 years younger: 2.5% for every year or part year above 12, to a maximum of 50%. For a £16,000 pension the standard survivor’s pension is £8,000. If the partner is 16 years younger, four years above 12 gives a 10% reduction, so £7,200. If they are 32 years or more younger, the reduction reaches the 50% cap (20 years above 12), so £4,000.

Because a cohabiting partner has to be recognised by the scheme, the administrator’s own guidance suggests recording who you want the pension paid to. The official website says there is no legislative requirement to nominate, but it is best practice and saves your partner administrative work; ask for the nomination form.

Bereavement pension and children’s pensions

For the first 13 weeks after a death, a bereavement pension tops up the survivor’s pension to either the member’s pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay (if they died in service), or their pension (if they had started to receive it). If no bereavement pension is payable to a partner, any eligible children receive it, and if a partner dies within the 13 weeks the remaining period passes to the children. No bereavement pension is paid for a deferred member whose pension had not started.

As an illustration, a firefighter with pensionable pay of £40,358 dies in service leaving a partner who receives a survivor’s pension of £6,000 a year. Weekly pay is about £776.12 and the survivor’s pension about £115.38, so the top-up is roughly £660.73 a week for 13 weeks, about £8,590 in total. The survivor’s pension figure here is invented; the real amount depends on the higher-tier ill-health calculation.

A child is someone financially dependent on the member and under 18 who is a natural, step, adopted or related child, or a child of a partner. Over 18 they may qualify if under 23 and in full-time education or on a course lasting at least a year, or dependent because of permanent incapacity. An administrator’s member guide describes a child’s pension as a quarter of the relevant pension, with half shared where there is more than one child, but check current rules with your administrator.

Allocation and expressing your wishes

Allocation lets you give up part of your own pension so that a survivor gets more after your death. The official website says you must choose it in the two months before your benefits become payable, you may be asked for medical evidence of good health, up to one third of your pension can be given up, and the final amount depends on your gender, age and the age of your partner. The allocated pension is paid from the date of death, and in the FPS 2015 scheme, if your survivor dies before you, the allocated portion is given back. Ask your administrator for a personalised quote.

Separately, an expression of wish form lets you tell your fire and rescue authority who you would like to receive a death grant or a child’s pension. The authority makes the final decision, and has discretion if a person is incapable of managing their own affairs. It is worth completing after any change in your life, such as a new partner, a child or a divorce, and reviewing every year when your annual statement arrives; see the annual benefit statement guide.

Differences in FPS 1992 and FPS 2006

If you have 1992 or 2006 benefits as well, the official pages say those schemes no longer provide death in service benefits because they are closed to active members; the FPS 2015 cover applies while you serve. After retirement or for deferred members, they provide survivor benefits with some differences.

In the 1992 scheme, a survivor’s pension needs at least two years’ pensionable service and is paid to a husband, wife or civil partner, not an unmarried partner; it is half the pension calculated before any reduction for a lump sum or allocation, and it can stop on remarriage subject to exceptions. Children’s pensions are 18.75% each for up to two children when there is a surviving parent and 25% each when there is none. In the 2006 scheme, the survivor’s pension is half the pension before any early payment reduction but after commutation, with the same 12-year age reduction as in 2015, and cohabiting partners are included. Five years of pension are guaranteed in the 2006 scheme too.

So the choice to take a lump sum has different consequences for survivors in each scheme: 1992 survivor pensions ignore commutation, whereas 2006 and 2015 survivor pensions are worked out after commutation. See FPS 1992 explained and FPS 2006 explained for more, and the lump sum guide.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The structure is similar across the UK, but figures differ. SPPA’s page on the Scottish 2006 scheme lists a lump sum death grant of two times pay, a survivor’s pension normally half of the pension after lump sum deduction, and pensions for dependent children under 23. Its retained modified scheme has a death grant of two times pensionable pay. I could not verify the Scottish 2015 death in service multiple, so check with SPPA.

The Northern Ireland 2015 scheme page says a lump sum death grant is paid if you die as an active member, to a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner, or to someone you nominate on the death grant form, and that a cohabiting partner can be nominated for pension benefits if conditions are met. It does not give the multiple on that page. I could not verify Welsh death benefits from a Welsh source. If you are not in England, ask your administrator for the equivalent of each figure above.

If a member dies because of an injury on duty, separate compensation arrangements apply under the Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme; see injured on duty entitlements.

What to do now: a family checklist

Death benefits only work smoothly if the paperwork is right. A short annual routine makes a large difference to a family in a hard moment.

1. Complete or update your expression of wish form for the death grant and any child’s pension.
2. Record your partner in a nomination form if you are unmarried and cohabiting.
3. Tell your family which administrator holds your pension and where your statement is.
4. Check whether allocation might suit you before retirement, and ask for a quote in the two months before benefits start.
5. Review the effect of taking a lump sum on survivor benefits before you decide.