PENSIONS


there will be no drop in the commutation amount whilst subject to weighted accrual and even after that point no drop in the amount unless pay rises are below 1.5 per cent.


The 2015 pension is also growing with


accrual, pay rises and inflation. There may be other reasons to retire, the pension dropping is not one of them.


Working beyond age 60 attracts an


actuarial uplift of around 4 per cent per annum.


COMMUTATION Commutation is the lump sum payment that can be paid to you at the point you take your pension. All three police pension schemes have commutation available, but with different factors. With the 1987 scheme, you can


can be taken tax-free from all pensions in a lifetime. This will directly affect some members within the inspecting ranks and could also affect other members who


“The NPCC calculator is a useful resource as it will show your exit


points and a forecast of the expected amounts at those points.”


have pensions outside of the police. The limit is currently £268,275.


commute a maximum of 25 per cent of the gross pension as a cash lump sum. If an officer chooses to take the maximum lump sum and is younger than 62 years and two months there is an unauthorised tax charge payable by the scheme, which is passed on to the officer. This is not personal taxation and is to do with the commutation factor used to calculate the pension being over 20. It reaches 20 at 62 years and two months. There is also a maximum tax-free lump sum that sees no unauthorised tax charge. In the 2006 scheme the maximum


commutation is four times the gross pension, there is no loss in pension in securing the commutation. There is the ability to increase the annual pension and take no commutation or a lower level of commutation.


In the 2015 scheme members can commute a maximum of 35.7 per cent of the 2015 pension at the rate of £12 for every £1 commuted. There is no tax implication on any amount taken in commutation under the 2006 or 2015 scheme. There is a great deal of flexibility in the choices available. The unauthorised tax-charge is not


to be confused with the Lump Sum Allowance which is the maximum that


WHEN WILL I RECEIVE A FULL PENSION? There is no such thing as a ‘full pension’ anymore, as you can continue accruing pension for as long as you work and there is no compulsory retirement age. What is important now is exit points. When a member can leave with an immediate benefit from the pension or pensions, these are going to be different based on individual circumstances. There is an Exit Point tab on our website for further information. The NPCC calculator is a useful resource as it will show your exit points and a forecast of the expected amounts at those points. The caveat being only use your official figures from your pension administrator to make financial decisions. Will my pension drop after I reach 30 years’ service? Weighted accrual for the 1987 pension ceases at 30 years’ pensionable service across the schemes. However, that does not mean that the pension will drop, it will continue to increase with pay rises and promotion due to the final salary link. The commutation factors used to


calculate the commutation drop each month from 48 years and six months,


REMEDY If you have not yet received your remediable service statement (RSS), then we would suggest you write to the scheme manager for your force and ask them why you have not received the RSS and when you are going to receive it. It is time for that part of remedy to be completed, so a continued push locally will assist for those that still have not received their statements. Please have a look at our pension page. It has a lot of useful information, including the member guides for each of the schemes. The NPCC pension website is also a very good resource, particularly for remedy. The webinars we host are also


worth a watch, and we will be publishing some bite-size videos dealing with specific aspects of the pension schemes.


If you have any pension questions that remain unanswered after having a look at the above resources, then speak with your local federation office in the first instance.


Police Federation pension page: polfed.org/pensions


NPCC pension website: policepensioninfo.co.uk


All previous Police Federation pension webinars: youtube.com/ playlist?list=PL9U0B5b280_ xykhryC4knUfrtx_vtGcsV&si=t KUqZfoLcF3TpAD4


All pension webinar dates are promoted in our monthly newsletter Federation Matters, which is sent to your work email address the last week of every month. They can also be found on our Events website once they are confirmed: pfewevents.org


39 | POLICE | APRIL | 2026


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