Topical Pension Issues
Of the many thousands of actions we have addressed on behalf of members, the ones illustrated here show the more common problems that arise.
Are you receiving the correct pension? Thousands of veterans are being underpaid.
Forces Pension Society has written to the Veterans Minister on behalf of the thousands of retired Service personnel being underpaid. The issue has been taken up by BBC News who have published the following report....read more
AFPS - Tracking Changes
Are you keeping track of all the issues that have had an impact on the Armed Forces Pension Scheme in the past five years, and the likely changes that are to be implemented in the next five years?...read more
Public Services Pensions and the Armed Forces
The Forces Pension Society response to the interim report published by the Hutton Commission is posted on our website as a Note to Members. This paper sets out the issues of the wider public services pension review and its impact on the Armed Forces...read more
Pensions on Redundancy: with 10% manpower cuts planned, how would your AFPS75 or 05 be affected?
Armed Forces personnel have been informed by their respective single Service Chiefs that, as a result of the SDSR, there is going to be a programme of personnel redundancies in all three arms. The details of the respective redundancy programmes have yet to be finalised in terms of rank; branch; trade etc. Similarly there has yet to be any announcement of the time-frame over which these redundancies will take place, although the smart money is on three tranches: 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15. ....read more
National Insurance Credits for Spouses (and Civil Partners) accompanying Service personnel overseas outside the United Kingdom
In its aims to meet a Government-wide commitment to end any disadvantage that armed service causes members of the Armed Forces and their families, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced new rules (introduced on 6 April 2010) that allow spouses and civil partners accompanying Service personnel serving overseas outside the UK to be eligible to claim Class One National Insurance credits during such periods....read more
Justice For Widows - Widows Pensions For Life
Let me tell you about this ruling in case you are not aware of it. It is the rule whereby the vast majority of Service widows have their pension taken away when they, as a result of the happiness of finding a later love, choose to cohabit or remarry...read more
Pensions and Divorce
It is a sad sign of modern society that in the past four years the Service Personnel & Veteran’s Agency (SPVA) has administered over 10,000 requests for a valuation of pension for divorce purposes...read more
Divorce
In the past four years there have been over 10,000 divorces involving serving and ex-serving military personnel. Most are unaware of the rules and procedures to be followed for the award of a pension sharing order and the ramifications once it has been administered. The FPS deals with either partner (sometimes both!) in their quest for knowledge to understand their rights in a sensitive and understanding manner.
Pension Forecasting
Our experts can help you understand what your pension could be, whether you’re a serving member of the Armed Forces trying to make sense of your potential income once you leave the Services, an ex-Serviceman concerned about a potential widow's pension for your wife (should you predecease her), or ex-Service personnel who left before age 55 and keen to know how much their pension will increase by when they reach their 55th birthday.
Pension Entitlement
Questions usually come from ex-Service personnel who left the Armed Forces without an immediate pension on discharge – we help them find out whether any entitlement exists for them in the form of a Preserved Pension.
Post Retirement Marriage Widows’ Pensions
On 6th April 1978 the Armed Forces Pension Scheme was changed to allow widows who married their husbands after leaving the Armed Forces to have a pension. There was no opportunity to 'buy-in' previous service so there is a block that bars any service prior to 6th April 1978 from counting towards such a pension. Some widows have no entitlement because their husbands left the Armed Forces prior to this date; others have only a portion of entitlement because their husbands had service before and after that date. FPS have long campaigned on this matter and so far have had no success in persuading the Government to remove this unfairness.
One Third/One Half Widows' Pension
On 31st March 1973 the Armed Forces Pension Scheme was changed to allow widows to have a pension valued at half of their husband's pension, as opposed to one-third. Those serving on that date were given the opportunity of 'buying-in' all of their service prior to 31st March 1973 into the Half Rate Scheme. Those who had already left the Services were not permitted to take part in this new benefit.
Pension Troughs
This affects individuals who left the Armed Forces in a year that suffered a suppressed pay rise that was lower than the previous September's headline rate of inflation, resulting in a pension award lower than those who left the Services at the same time 12 months previously, in identical circumstances. We have successfully persuaded the MOD to insert a mechanism into the new pension scheme (AFPS 05) to ameliorate this serious problem, although it does not remove it completely.
Complaints Procedure
Some of the Society's members find cause to make an official complaint about the way the Armed Forces Pension Scheme has, in their eyes, served them unfairly. We will guide them through the complexities of the complaints procedure as painlessly as possible until a conclusion (hopefully satisfactory) has been reached.
Medical Discharge
Given the level of conflict the Armed Forces constantly find themselves in at present, medical discharges are becoming more prevalent. All too often the individual is given little notice of the impending medical board. More disturbingly, they seem to be unable to obtain any details of potential pension awards. Members of the FPS are given advice on the procedures.
