Human Resources
Back to 1987 Police Pension Scheme (PPS)
Survivor Benefits
When you die, your 'survivors', which can include your spouse or civil partner and children, may be eligible to receive benefits from PPS. The benefits which may be payable will depend on whether you die in service or after you retire and on the length of your pensionable service at the date of your death. No survivors’ benefits will be payable if you had opted out of PPS at the date of your death. More details are given below.
Spouse or Civil Partner
A spouse/civil partner will get:
-
a lump sum death grant of two times pay.
-
a pension equal to your pay for the first 13 weeks after your death if you died in service. Otherwise it will be equal to your full pension for those 13 weeks.
- a widow’s pension of half the officer’s pension entitlement after the first 13 weeks (if he joined after 1 April 1972).
- a widower’s pension based only on service since 1990 (unless the female officer has paid additional contributions to uprate previous service).
Note that the pension for the surviving civil partner of a male officer is based only on service since 1988 and that the pension for the surviving civil partner of a female officer is based only on service since 1990, unless the female officer has paid additional contributions to uprate her service from 1988 to 1990.
Please also note: Pensions are not payable to unmarried partners who are not civil partners. Any pension for a spouse or civil partner ends on his/her remarriage or new civil partnership, or on cohabitation.
Children
Children will receive a pension if they are:
- natural, step- or adopted children, either if they are born or adopted before retirement or are of a marriage or a civil partnership dating from before retirement (the conditions are quite complex and you should refer to section 5.6 of the PPS Members’ Guide for a full explanation) and
- under 16 or
- over 16 and in full-time education, full-time training or are disabled. Pensions for non-disabled children which come into payment after 5 April 2006 must stop at age 23.
A child will get a child’s pension, which is normally 18.75% of your pension entitlement (less if there are more than two children), unless:
- the child is an orphan, in which case the pension is 25% of your pension entitlement (less if there are more than two orphans).
- no widow/widower pension is payable, in which case the child’s pension is increased for the first 13 weeks to equal your pensionable pay.
