How do I know if I am unprotected?
You are unprotected if you were a member of the FPS 2006 and were under the age of 46 on 1 April 2012, or as at 1 April 2012 you were not eligible to be a member of the FPS 2006.
What does that mean for me?
On 1 April 2015, you moved to the FPS 2015. Your existing FPS 2006 pension rights did not transfer with you, and they will remain fully protected in FPS 2006.
When can I access my pension?
As you will have pension rights in both FPS 2006 and FPS 2015 you will have a ‘two part’ pension.
Part 1 – The first part of your pension remains fully protected in FPS 2006 and can be taken on retirement from age 60. You can ask for these benefits to be paid from age 55 with a reduction if you are no longer in employment. Your FPS 2006 pension will still be calculated on your final salary at retirement.
Part 2 – The second part of your pension is built up in the FPS 2015. If you continue as an active member, this can be taken: from age 55 with a reduction, at age 60 without any reduction, or after age 60 with a pension enhancement. If you leave service before being entitled to take your FPS 2015 pension, it will come into payment in full at your state pension age.
At what rate will the FPS 2006 and FPS 2015 pensions be reduced?
The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 requires the normal pension age to be age 60 and pension taken before that to be reduced. The table below sets out the reduction to the separate FPS 2006 and FPS 2015 elements of your pension:
| 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | |
| FPS 2015 | 21.3% | 17.7% | 13.7% | 9.5% | 4.9% |
| FPS 2006 | 39.9% | 37.1% | 34.2% | 31% | 27.6% |
What pension will I get at retirement?
As explained earlier, you will receive a two part pension. The first will be based on your FPS 2006 service and your final pensionable pay at the date you retire. The second part will be a CARE pension built up under the rules of FPS 2015. There is no cap on the amount of pension that can be earned in the FPS 2015. Firefighters who transfer from FPS 2006 to FPS 2015 may be able to build up a bigger pension than had the reforms not taken place.
What contributions will I be paying?
The contribution rates for FPS 2015 are set out under the how much do I pay? section.
Opting out
Be aware that opting out or not joining FPS 2015 has long-term implications and members should not make any such decision until they are aware of all the implications.
Anyone who is considering opting out should take independent financial advice.
Withdrawing pension savings
From April 2015, people aged over 55 with defined contribution pension savings are able to withdraw those savings, subject to their marginal rate of taxation and scheme rules. As the Firefighters' Pension Scheme is a defined benefit public sector pension scheme, the change in the rules that allowed this could not be directly applied to the scheme.
From 6 April 2015 transfers out from defined benefit public sector pension schemes (such as the Firefighters' Pension Scheme) to defined contribution schemes are no longer possible.