Human Resources
Back to 2006 Police Pension Scheme (NPPS)
Membership and Contributions
If you are a regular police officer who joined after 6 April 2006, you are automatically admitted to NPPS on appointment unless you decide to opt out.
From 6 April 2006 all newly-appointed officers, and officers rejoining the police after a break in service, join NPPS. If you are a serving officer and a PPS member with less than 30 years’ pensionable service, you can opt out of PPS and join NPPS, if you wish, at any time before your retirement.
- You contribute 9.5% of pensionable pay, unless you are ineligible for an ill-health pension in which case you pay 6% (Pensionable pay includes basic salary, London weighting, additional salary on temporary promotion and competence related threshold payments. Overtime pay, housing allowance and transitional rent allowance are not pensionable).
- You need at least two years’ qualifying service for a pension. There is no further service requirement for the payment of an ordinary pension (payable from age 55 provided you do not opt out and you retire at or after that age).
- 35 years’ service is needed for a maximum pension. Your pension benefits cannot exceed the maximum.
- You cannot retire before age 55 even if you have 35 years’ pensionable service.
You may be asked to have a medical examination (free of charge) so that the police authority can decide whether you will be eligible for ill-health benefits. If this determines that the likely cost of providing ill-health benefits is disproportionately high, you can still join NPPS but you will not receive ill-health benefits if you became unable to work.
You will need to keep paying contributions whilst you continue to serve unless you opt out, but you would need to consider carefully the consequences of opting out.
It is possible for you to be a member of NPPS and to contribute to other pension schemes, such as a pension plan, at the same time. You are recommended to consult an independent financial adviser if you wish to obtain information about other pension schemes.
