[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Comparison of benefits payable on injury, illness or death due to service

New AFPS & Compensation Schemes

COMPARISON OF BENEFITS PAYABLE ON INJURY OR ILLNESS DUE TO SERVICE

The new Compensation Scheme covers ALL Service personnel (Regulars, Reservists and TA) injured on or after introduction – even if the individual remains on the current Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS).

	NOW	FUTURE
	Current Attributable Benefits under the AFPS and War Pensions Scheme (WPS)¹	New Compensation Scheme Attributable Benefits Payable with either Column (c) or (d)	AFPS Non-Attributable² Benefits Payable with the New Compensation Scheme
			Benefits payable if member of new AFPS	Benefits payable if member of current AFPS
	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)
Remaining In Service	None	Lump sum payable for pain and suffering Normally no GIS ³ appropriate as still in employment	None	None
Medically Discharged	Tax-free War Pension Tax-free AFPS Service Attributable Pension⁴ Tax-free lump sum of approx 1 yr’s full career pension Attributable tax-free ill-health gratuity	Lump sum payable for pain and suffering For tariff levels 1-11 a GIS will be payable to compensate for loss of earnings but abated by benefits payable under their AFPS.	Ill-health award dependent on severity of condition based on three tiers. At highest two tiers enhanced ill-health pension and tax-free lump sum; at the lower tier a gratuity.	Service Non-Attributable Invaliding Pension Tax-free lump sum of approx 1 yr’s full career pension

¹ This includes non-attributable benefits payable where an injury or death is due to Service.
² Where an injury is due to Service and leads to medical discharge, non-attributable benefits are also payable.
³ Guaranteed Income Stream paid to compensate for loss of earnings capacity.
⁴ Except where Service Invaliding Pension is of greater value, but would become tax-free

COMPARISON OF BENEFITS PAYABLE ON DEATH DUE TO SERVICE

The new Compensation Scheme covers ALL Service personnel (Regulars, Reservists and TA) injured on or after introduction - even if the individual remains on the current Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS).

	NOW	FUTURE
	Current Attributable Benefits under the AFPS and War Pensions Scheme (WPS)⁵	New Compensation Scheme Benefits Payable with either Column (c) or (d)	AFPS Non-Attributable⁶ Benefits Payable with the New Compensation Scheme
			Benefits payable if member of new AFPS	Benefits payable if member of current AFPS
	(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)
Attributable Death-In-Service	Death-in-service tax-free lump sum of up to approx 1½ times pensionable pay ⁷ Short term family pension paid to dependants for six months Where spouse or partner - 90% of member’s full career AFPS pension ⁸ Children’s enhanced AFPS pension War Widows’ Pension from WPS for spouse War Widows’ Children’s pension	Widow’s GIS⁹ Registered unmarried partners covered as well as spouses Children’s GIS	Non-attributable Widow’s Pension based on 62.5% of member’s pension based on highest tier ill-health Death-in-Service lump sum of four times pensionable pay Childrens’ pension Benefits payable to registered unmarried partners	Non-attributable Widow’s pension based on ½ of member’s pension Death-in-Service lump sum of up to approx 1½ times pensionable pay³ Children’s Enhanced AFPS pension
Attributable death in retirement	Short term family pension paid to dependants for six months 90% of spouse’s full career AFPS pension ⁶ Children’s enhanced AFPS pension War Widows’ Pension from WPS for spouse War Widows’ Children’s pension Discretion to pay gratuity where death occurs less than 1 yr after retirement	Widow’s GIS £20K Bereavement Grant ¹⁰ Registered unmarried partners covered as well as spouses Children’s GIS	Non-attributable Widow’s Pension based on 62.5% of the member’s pension at the date of death Children’s pension Benefits payable to registered unmarried partners 5 yr guarantee ¹¹	Non-attributable Widow’s pension based on ½ of member’s pension Children’s enhanced AFPS pension

⁵ This includes non-attributable benefits payable where an injury or death is due to Service.
⁶ Where a death is due to Service, non-attributable benefits are also payable.
⁷The non-attributable part of the lump sum is approx one times pensionable pay, and where there are dependants an attributable gratuity worth a further ½ times pensionable pay is paid
⁸ Less the amount by which the War Widows' Pension exceeds the basic State Widow's Pension.
⁹ Designed to give income at 60% of the GIS the member would have received at highest tier but is abated by the pension to avoid double compensating - takes into account 75% of spouse's AFPS pension.
¹⁰ This may be paid for a death-in-service where the member was in the current AFPS. In the new scheme, the widow will receive either four times death-in-service benefit or 3 times death-in-service benefit plus £20K bereavement grant - whichever is the greater.
¹¹ Early death in retirement means that the widow(er) would be guaranteed an income of at least the pension their spouse would have received during the first 5 yrs of retirement, but abated by the terminal grant and pension already received.

Last Updated: 20 Apr 04