The firefighter death in service benefit in the Firefighters' Pension Scheme 2015 (England) is a lump sum of three times final pay, paid if a member dies while still an active member, with pensions for a partner and for children alongside it. On-call firefighters count as members when their role meets the scheme's test, and whether private life insurance costs more because of the job is something each insurer decides on application.

Anyone weighing private cover beside the scheme can ask an FCA-authorised broker how insurers would read their duties; the quote here costs nothing and a broker rings you back.

Which firefighters are in the scheme, and does on-call work count?

The rules here come from the Firefighters' Pension Scheme (England) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2848), as revised on legislation.gov.uk. A firefighter employed outside England should check the scheme their own authority runs.

Regulation 6 puts a person in scheme employment if they are "employed as a firefighter by an authority" and, for anyone who started on or after 1st April 2015, their role includes "resolving operational incidents" or leading and supporting others in resolving them. The test does not mention hours, and regulation 17 counts permanent emoluments as pensionable pay, "including, in the case of a retained firefighter, any retaining allowance". The regulations use the word retained; whether a particular on-call contract fits it, and how call-out payments are treated, is for the authority's pensions team to confirm.

The grant depends on being an active member when the death happens. Someone who opts out within three months of starting is treated as never having been in pensionable service (regulation 15), and a later opt-out ends pensionable service from a following pay period (regulation 16). A protected member of the 1992 Scheme or the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme, or someone whose authority pays into another pension scheme for them, is not an eligible person under regulation 7; their administrator can set out what those older schemes pay.

How large is the lump sum, and what pay is it based on?

Regulation 96 is short: "If an active member dies, the scheme manager must pay a lump sum death benefit", and the amount is "three times the amount of the member's final pay".

Final pay, under regulation 93, takes whichever is higher: pensionable pay in the 365 days ending with the last day of pensionable service, or pay over the last three years divided by three. A member with less than a year's continuous service has their pay annualised. Periods of assumed pensionable pay, such as sick leave or injury leave on reduced pay, count as if full pay had been received. Members who moved across from the 1992 or 2006 schemes have extra provisions in Schedule 2 that can change the amount; their administrator works it out.

Does a nomination form decide who receives the money?

Not on its own. Regulation 95 says the scheme manager "may, at its absolute discretion, pay any lump sum death benefit" to the member's nominee, their personal representatives, or anyone who appears to have been a relative or dependant. A nomination records wishes; it does not bind the scheme.

Local Pensions Partnership Administration's notes to its nomination form (April 2021) explain that the authority picks whoever it judges to be the most appropriate recipient or recipients, and can weigh the firefighter's wishes in doing so. The form is optional, can name one person or several with shares adding up to 100%, and can be changed or cancelled at any time. Members are asked to report changes in circumstances or wishes straight away.

What pensions follow for a partner and for children?

WhoPension for an active member's deathConditions in the regulations
Spouse or civil partnerHalf the pension the member would have drawn if retired on ill-health grounds "with the award of a higher tier ill-health pension on the date of the member's death" (regulation 78)The member had at least three months' qualifying service
Cohabiting partnerThe sameLiving with the member; not married to or in a civil partnership with anyone else; free to marry the member; financially dependent on the member or mutually dependent; in a long-term relationship (regulation 76)
One eligible childOne quarter of that same ill-health pension (regulation 89)Financially dependent on the member at the death, not married or in a civil partnership, and either under 18, or in full-time education or on a course of at least a year and under 23, or dependent because of permanent incapacity (regulation 85)
Two or more eligible childrenHalf of it, split equallyEach child meets the same tests

The higher tier ill-health pension is worked out in regulation 66 using an "assumed period" running from the end of service to the day before normal pension age, so a partner's pension takes in years the member had not yet worked. A relationship counts as long-term after at least two years, "or such shorter period as the scheme manager may in any particular case think fit".

For the first 13 weeks after the death, a partner may also receive a bereavement pension, again only where the member had at least three months' qualifying service (regulation 81). It is the difference between the member's weekly pensionable pay and the weekly partner's pension. Where nobody qualifies for a partner's pension, the children also share the amount a partner would have had (regulation 90). A child's pension stops if the child stops being eligible but continues for life if they never do; for a child under 18 it is paid to a person the scheme manager chooses, to use for the child.

If the partner is more than 12 years younger than the member, regulation 82 reduces the pension by 2.5 × (N − 12)% of it, where N is the number of whole years between their ages, with the reduction capped at 50%. The regulations also word the service condition for children two ways: regulation 84 refers to a member "who has three months qualifying service", while regulation 86 says "has qualifying service of more than three months". A family for whom that matters can ask the administrator how it is applied.

Support for a firefighter's family

The Fire Fighters Charity describes itself on its website (read 20 October 2026) as providing "clinical care, personal wellbeing and practical support for every member of the fire service and their families". It lists dependants of serving or former fire services personnel among those it helps, notes that "qualifying criteria may apply", and says it decides support on eligibility and an assessment of need. Its Support Line is 0800 3898820, and it also has an online enquiry form. Questions about the pension itself go to the authority's pension administrator.

What is paid if the firefighter had retired or left the service?

The three-times-pay grant is for active members only. Where a member had retired and dies within five years of the pension starting, regulation 97 pays a lump sum of the annual pension "multiplied by five", less the pension payments already made. A retired member's partner receives half the retirement pension that was being paid (regulation 80).

A member who left with benefits still to come is a deferred member. Regulation 79 gives that member's partner half of the deferred pension in their account plus any added pension, and regulation 87 provides children's pensions on the same proportions as above.

How does the April 2027 inheritance tax change treat these payments?

For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, sections 66 and 71 of the Finance Act 2026 bring most unused pension funds and pension death benefits into a person's estate for inheritance tax. Two kinds of payment are carved out. HMRC's technical note (updated 29 May 2026) says death in service benefits that meet its conditions "are treated as excluded benefits", and dependants' scheme pensions meeting its conditions are excluded as well. The new section 150A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ties the first to the member being in employment or other work of a particular description immediately before death.

On that wording, an in-service grant and survivor pensions that meet the conditions fall within the excluded categories. Whether a five-year guarantee payment after retirement is treated the same way is a question for the administrator or a tax adviser. Tax law can change, and this describes the rules rather than advising on any estate. Whether a life insurance payout is taxable covers private policies.

Can firefighters, including on-call crews, get private life insurance at normal rates?

No one can promise that. Legal & General's guide to hazardous jobs (20 June 2023) names firefighters among the occupations it discusses, pointing to "evidence that firefighters face health risks from smoke inhalation, workplace injuries and exposure to harmful substances", but gives no rating for them. More generally, it says applicants are screened against a list of occupations; one on that list might lead it to limit the situations in which a claim would be paid, or to charge more than for lower-risk work, and an applicant hears about any limit before the policy begins. Such a job need not rule cover out, it adds, since age, smoking and existing health conditions are weighed too.

The guide asks applicants to describe their occupation truthfully, warning that wrong information could invalidate a future claim, and says follow-up questions may cover duties, the share of time spent on them, and workplace injuries. For an on-call firefighter with a separate main job, the questions worth asking follow from that: how the insurer treats part-time emergency work, whether it asks how much time it takes up, and whether any restriction or extra cost would follow. Health questions are separate; life insurance with medical conditions deals with those.

Whether anything beyond the scheme is needed is for each household to weigh; death in service and your own life insurance sets out the general questions. Those in other services can compare police officer death in service, armed forces death in service and NHS death in service, and who needs cover is the wider guide. To have an FCA-authorised broker raise those occupation questions with insurers, leave your details in the free form here and they will phone you.

Frequently asked questions

Are London firefighters in the same scheme?

The England regulations apply to anyone employed as a firefighter by an authority whose role meets the regulation 6 test, and regulation 6 was rewritten in 2018 by regulations dealing with the London Fire Commissioner. A London firefighter's pension administrator can confirm which scheme their own benefits sit in.

Can a firefighter get life insurance?

Legal & General says a hazardous job will not necessarily prevent cover, though it can affect the terms or the cost. Each insurer decides on the application, so the occupation questions need full answers.

Can an unmarried partner of a firefighter get a pension?

Yes, a cohabiting partner can qualify if every condition in the table is met. That includes a relationship of at least two years, unless the scheme manager accepts a shorter period.

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