Entitlement
to Pensions or Compensation
SPVA’s Veterans Services Directorate is responsible for the assessment, award, payment and maintenance of all pensions relating to the Armed Forces.
These
include occupational pensions, the Armed Forces Pension Schemes (AFPS) the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS),
war disablement pensions, war widows' pensions, related allowances
and other payments to veterans. We also administer the ex-gratia
payments scheme to former prisoners of the Japanese in WWII.
The
Armed Forces Pension Schemes
War
Pension Scheme
Armed
Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)
Armed
Forces Compensation Scheme survivors payment
War
Widow/ers Pension
How
to claim
Top Tips For Resettlement Advisers
The
Armed Forces Pension Schemes
There
are currently two AFPS available to service leavers; AFPS 75 and
AFPS 05:
• AFPS 75 pension benefits are based on rank and length of Service. All personnel serving between 6 April 1975 and 6 April 2005 will have served under the AFPS 75 scheme;
• AFPS
05 pension benefits are based on length of Service and final salary
and apply to personnel who joined after 6 April 2005. However, personnel
serving between July 2005 and March 2006 were given the option to
move to the AFPS 05 as part of the Offer to Transfer process. The
Reserve Forces Pension Scheme (RFPS) is an occupational scheme paid
for by the MOD. Individuals undertaking Full Time Reserve Service
(FTRS) are automatically enrolled into the scheme, members of the
Volunteer Reserve Forces who are mobilised for a period of Service
may choose to have this period of Service counted under RFPS. Service
pensions are administered by the SPVA but pension payments are made
by Xafinity Paymaster (1836) Ltd, the paying authority for the Armed Forces
Pension Scheme (AFPS).
SPVA also administers pension and compensation schemes for injuries, illness or death linked to service. A date determines under which scheme they are considered – 6th April 2005.
War
Pension Scheme
A
War Disablement Pension can be claimed under the War Pensions Scheme
by those who are no longer serving in HM Armed Forces if the condition
claimed arose before 6 April
2005. A
claim can be made for injuries or disablement caused through serving
in Her Majesty's (HM) Armed Forces including: The Ulster Defence
Regiment (home service), the Home Guard, nursing and auxiliary services.
Claims
can also be made by:
- civil defence volunteers (CDV) disabled through serving as a CDV;
- civilians disabled as a result of enemy action in the 1939 to 1945 war;
- merchant seamen, members of the naval auxiliary services or coastguard, who were disabled because of an injury received or a disease suffered because of conditions during a war or because you were a prisoner-of war;
- Polish Forces under British Command who served in the 1939-1945 war, or in the Polish Resettlement Forces and injured or disabled through this service.
If a claim is successful, payment may be made as a lump sum gratuity or weekly pension depending on the assessment made. There are also various additional allowances payable, for example, to those with mobility or employment problems caused by their disablement, providing qualifying criteria are met. (Case study)
Armed
Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)
This
scheme was introduced from 6 April 2005 as a simple and modern way
of compensating serving and ex-Serving Regular (including Gurkhas)
and Reserve personnel whose injury, ill health or death is caused
by service on or after 6 April 2005. This includes “warlike” incidents
and acts of terrorism. Under
the terms of the scheme, a lump sum is payable based on a 15-level
tariff which is graduated according to the seriousness of the condition. A
Guaranteed Income Payment, payable for life, will also be paid to
those in the higher tariff levels. The lump sum awards for injury
paid in service are tax-free. (Case
study)
Armed
Forces Compensation Scheme survivors payment
A
Guaranteed Income Payment is payable to surviving partners (including
unmarried and same sex partners) where the service person’s
death was caused by service and, in the case of unmarried partners,
where a substantial relationship can be demonstrated.
War
Widow/ers Pension
A
War Widow/ers pension is payable to the spouse or civil partner of
ex-Service personnel whose death was a result of service, war injury,
war risk injury, detention or war service injury before 6 April
2005. This includes members of civilian and Civil Defence
Volunteers, Ulster Defence Regiment (Home Service), Naval Auxiliary
Personnel, Mercantile Marines and Home Guard. War
Widows/ers Pension is paid, in certain circumstances to unmarried
partners. Additionally, child allowance is also payable to
dependant children of the deceased. (Case
study)
How
to claim
To
claim is simple, either call the Veterans-UK FREE helpline 0800
169 2277 or claim forms can be downloaded from the Veterans-UK website – www.veterans-uk.info
For more
information on the pension and compensation schemes visit www.veterans-uk.info
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