Police ill health retirement calculator: lower and upper tier
Last updated · By Mustafa Bilgic · Rules from the Police Pensions Regulations 2015 (England and Wales) and the Home Office administrators' guide
This page explains the two tiers, how the upper tier and final pay are worked out, what happens to 1987 and 2006 scheme service, and how reviews and appeals work. The calculator estimates both tiers from your dates, final pay and pension statement, including the five-year rule and the 2006 scheme lump sum.
Lower tier and upper tier
The medical questions are decided by a selected medical practitioner (SMP), a doctor or board of doctors chosen by the police pension authority. Permanent means the unfitness is likely to last until normal pension age, 60, and the SMP assumes you receive normal appropriate medical treatment. Regular employment means employment for an annual average of at least 30 hours a week.
| Tier | Selected medical practitioner's decision | What you get | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower tier | Permanently unfit to perform the ordinary duties of a police officer, but not permanently unfit for regular employment | The 2015 scheme pension you have built up, with no reduction for early payment | Paid for life; can be reviewed until normal pension age, and stops if you become fit for police duties again |
| Upper tier | Also permanently unfit for any regular employment, meaning work averaging at least 30 hours a week over a year | The lower tier pension plus the enhanced upper tier pension | The upper tier part can be reviewed at intervals of at least 5 years until State Pension age |
Police ill health pension calculator
2015 scheme lower or upper tier, England and Wales
Only the 2015 scheme (CARE).
If your April 2015 to March 2022 service was moved back to the 1987 or 2006 scheme under the McCloud remedy, your 2015 scheme service counts from 1 April 2022.
Who qualifies
Regulation 102 gives an active member under normal pension age an ill health pension for life if three conditions are met: the police pension authority, as employer, requires you to retire; you have at least two years' qualifying service, or you are permanently unfit because of an injury received without your own default in the execution of duty; and you are eligible under the scheme for ill health benefits. A new joiner can be examined before joining, and is ineligible for ill health benefits only if the scheme manager decides the likely cost would be disproportionately high, meaning more than 50% above that for an officer who is not at risk.
The SMP decides you are permanently unfit for the ordinary duties of a police officer if the inability is caused by infirmity of mind or body and is likely to continue until normal pension age, or until death if that is likely to come first. For the upper tier the SMP must also find that you are unable to engage in regular employment, other than as a police officer, until normal pension age.
How the upper tier is worked out
Regulation 104 sets the lower tier as your retirement earned pension without the early payment reduction. The enhanced upper tier depends on your aggregate period of service:
| Aggregate period of service | Enhanced upper tier pension a year |
|---|---|
| 5 years or more | Final pay / 55.3 x assumed period of pensionable service / 2 |
| Less than 5 years | The lesser of 3 x total accrued earned pension and final pay / 55.3 x assumed period of pensionable service / 2 |
The assumed period of pensionable service runs from the day after your service ended to the day before your 60th birthday, in years. In effect the upper tier adds half of the pension you would have built up by 60 at 1/55.3 of your final pay. Part-time service counts as full time for the five-year test, but the assumed period is treated as part time in the same proportion as your past service.
Final pay, under regulation 159, is the greater of your pensionable earnings for the 12 months ending with your last day of service and your pensionable earnings in any of the 10 scheme years before your last active scheme year, increased for inflation. If you moved from the 1987 or 2006 scheme, earlier pay under that scheme counts.
If you have 1987 or 2006 scheme service
Officers who moved from the older schemes are paid from the 2015 scheme until the older scheme's normal pension age, when that part of the pension moves to the older scheme. The Home Office guide describes the amounts:
- 2006 scheme: you get the pension built up in the 2006 scheme, which is the same as its lower tier ill health pension, and the 2006 scheme lump sum. The upper tier is worked out under the 2015 rules, and your 2006 service counts towards the five-year test and the three times limit.
- 1987 scheme: you get the 1987 scheme ill health pension you would have received had you retired on ill health grounds the day before you moved to the 2015 scheme, or, if better, a pension based on your 1987 service with the weighted accrual rate. Any upper tier is based on your 2015 scheme service alone.
The calculator estimates a 2006 pension as years of 2006 service x final pay / 70, with a lump sum of four times that pension, as in the Home Office examples; you can type the figure from your statement instead. A 1987 ill health pension has its own rules, so enter the amount from your force's quote.
Reviews and a later upper tier
While you are under normal pension age, the scheme manager can review a lower tier pension at any time, and must do so if told that your unfitness has worsened. If the SMP decides you have become fit for police duties again, the scheme manager can give you notice that you may rejoin the force within three months at a rank no lower than before, and the lower tier pension stops at the end of that period or when you rejoin. If the SMP decides at a review that you have become permanently unfit for any regular employment, you get the upper tier from the claim date, provided the claim is made within five years of your lower tier pension starting. That limit does not apply to a progressive condition, listed in the regulations or by the Secretary of State, that could have been expected at retirement to get worse.
An upper tier pension can be reviewed at intervals of at least five years until State Pension age. If the SMP decides you are no longer unfit for regular employment, the upper tier part stops three months after that report, or earlier if you return to police service, and you keep the lower tier pension for life.
Appeals
Within 28 days of receiving the SMP's report, or longer if the police pension authority allows, you can give notice of appeal to the police pension authority. You then have a further 28 days to give a statement of your grounds, and the appeal goes to an appeal board unless you and the authority agree to send the question back to an SMP.
Lump sum and injury awards
You can give up pension for a lump sum at £12 for every £1 of yearly pension. An ill health pension is separate from an injury award: if you are permanently disabled by an injury received without your own default in the execution of duty, you may also get an injury award under the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, which our police injury pension calculator covers.
The McCloud remedy
If you were in pensionable service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 and were in the 1987 or 2006 scheme before, the remedy has moved that service back to the legacy scheme, so it is treated as never having been in the 2015 scheme, and you will choose legacy or 2015 scheme benefits for that period when you retire. Enter your current 2015 scheme dates and figures, and check with your pension administrator which service counts.
Scotland
For Police Scotland officers, the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) describes two levels: a standard ill health pension based on the benefits earned so far, and an enhanced top-up for officers unable to do any regular employment of at least 30 hours a week, which increases the pension by up to half of the additional pension they might have built up. This calculator follows the England and Wales regulations.
Worked example
The Home Office guide takes a 30-year-old officer with 6 years in the 2006 scheme and 2 years in the 2015 scheme, pensionable salary £30,000 and a 2015 scheme pension of £1,100 a year. The 2006 pension is 6 x 1/70 x £30,000 = £2,571.43 and the 2006 lump sum four times that. The aggregate service of 8 years is at least 5, so the upper tier is £30,000 / 55.3 x (60 - 30) / 2 = £8,137.43 a year, which the guide rounds to about £8,100. The upper tier pension is £11,808.86 a year, about £11,800 in the guide. With only 4 years of service and pensions of £500 and £1,285.71, the upper tier would be limited to 3 x £1,785.71 = £5,357.13.
Sources and methodology
The calculator applies regulation 104 with dates counted in whole years and days, the days as a fraction of 365, and a normal pension age of 60 under section 10 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013. It reproduces the Home Office examples 3 to 6 to the nearest £100 they are shown to. It does not work out 1987 scheme pensions, part-time proportions, added pension or the McCloud remedy choice.
- Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulations 74 to 76, 101, 102, 104, 110 to 114 and 159, Schedule 1 and Schedule 4, paragraph 23, on legislation.gov.uk, and the printed Statutory Instrument (PDF).
- The police pension scheme 2015: administrators' guide, Home Office on GOV.UK.
- Public Service Pensions Act 2013, section 10, on legislation.gov.uk.
- Chapter 1 pension scheme guidance (McCloud remedy), HMRC on GOV.UK, and SPPA for Scotland.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between lower tier and upper tier police ill health retirement?
Lower tier is for officers who are permanently unfit for the ordinary duties of a police officer but could do other regular work. Upper tier is for officers who are also permanently unfit for any regular employment of at least 30 hours a week on average, and adds the enhanced upper tier pension.
How is the police upper tier pension calculated?
In the 2015 scheme it is final pay divided by 55.3, multiplied by half of the years from the day after you leave to your 60th birthday. For a 30-year-old with final pay of £30,000 that is £30,000 / 55.3 x 30 / 2 = £8,137.43 a year, on top of the lower tier pension.
What happens if I have less than five years' service?
The upper tier is the lesser of the normal formula and three times your total accrued earned pension. For a former 2006 scheme member the 2006 pension counts in that total, and 2006 service counts towards the five years.
Is a police ill health pension reduced for early payment?
No. The lower tier pension is your retirement earned pension without the early payment reduction, and it is paid for life unless a review finds you fit for police duties again.
Can I move from the lower tier to the upper tier later?
Yes, if a review finds you have become permanently unfit for any regular employment. The claim must normally be made within five years of the lower tier pension starting, but that limit does not apply to a listed progressive condition that could have been expected at retirement to get worse.
Is an ill health pension the same as a police injury award?
No. The ill health pension comes from the pension scheme. An injury award under the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 is a separate payment for officers permanently disabled by an injury on duty.