The NHS death in service benefit is a lump sum of two times pay, plus pensions for a partner and any eligible children, paid by the NHS Pension Scheme if a member dies while working in the NHS. The exact rules depend on which section the member belonged to: the 1995 Section, the 2008 Section or the 2015 Scheme.

This page sets out what each section pays and who qualifies, then the questions to weigh when deciding whether extra cover is worth having. If you want a view on what personal cover might add to the scheme, the form on this page sends your details to an FCA-authorised broker. There is no charge for that.

How much does the NHS Pension Scheme pay if you die in service?

The lump sum is a multiple of pay, and what counts as pay differs by section. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which publishes the guides for "the NHS Pension Scheme for England and Wales", sets out each section's rule in its Survivors guide (April 2024), and its article on how the lump sum is calculated says it "depends on" which "Section or Scheme the member was contributing to at the time of their death".

1995 Section. The guide's table gives the lump sum on death in membership as:

2 x annual pensionable pay or average uprated earnings for practitioners

For officers the calculation uses "2 times the best of the last 3 years actual pensionable pay."

2008 Section. The guide's table gives:

2 x reckonable pay or average uprated earnings for Practitioners

For officers it is "2 times the actual reckonable pay."

2015 Scheme. The guide's table gives:

The higher of: 2 x the relevant earnings in the last 12 months of pensionable service or 2 x the revalued pensionable earnings for the Scheme year, up to 10 years earlier, with the highest revalued pensionable earnings

For a member with less than 365 days membership, "the earnings used are built up to 365 days using the amount already earned."

All three use a multiple of two, but the pay it applies to differs. For practitioners, the 1995 and 2008 rows add a separate basis, an average of uprated earnings.

In Scotland the scheme is run separately. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) page for the NHS (Scotland) Superannuation Scheme says, for its 2015 Scheme: "All employees: Either: 2 x actual pensionable earnings in the 12 months prior to death or 2 x best full scheme year’s revalued pensionable earnings." Staff in Northern Ireland should check their own scheme's guides.

Who qualifies for NHS death in service benefit, and who is paid?

The benefits are for members of the Scheme. Eligible staff are automatically enrolled "unless you decide to opt out after joining", and the 2015 Members Guide (May 2024) says anyone opting out "should carefully compare the relative cost to you and the whole package of benefits provided." If you are thinking of opting out, ask NHS Pensions what, if anything, would be paid on your death.

Bank staff and freelance GP locums are covered only while working. The guide says "Bank staff or a freelance GP locum is regarded as being in pensionable employment if they are at work and paying into an NHS Pension Scheme." and "A bank worker or freelance GP locum who is available for work but who is not actually at work when they die is not covered for ‘death in service’ benefits." In that case the Scheme "would pay death benefits as if they had died within 12 months of leaving pensionable employment."

On who receives the lump sum, the guide says it "will be paid to the legal spouse, registered civil partner or qualifying scheme partner unless the member has nominated someone else on the lump sum on death benefit nomination form (DB2)." With no spouse, partner or nomination it goes to the member's estate.

An unmarried partner is a "qualifying scheme partner" only if "all the following conditions" are met at the date of death and have lasted continuously for at least two years:

  • neither person has a legal partner, meaning a spouse or registered civil partner
  • "they are not related to each other in a way which would prevent marriage or registered civil partnership"
  • "they are living together in an exclusive relationship as if they were husband and wife or civil partners"
  • "the member and partner are financially interdependent or the partner is financially dependent on the member."

Dependency is checked after the member dies.

What pensions does the NHS pay a partner and children?

The Survivors guide gives each section its own fractions. For a member who dies in service with at least two years' membership, the adult dependant's pension is a share of a notional pension, which the guide defines as "the amount that would have been payable as at the member’s date of death".

Section or schemePartnerOne childTwo or more children, shared
199550%25%50%
200837.5%18.75%37.5%
201533.75%16.875%33.75%

The guide also says "higher rates may be payable if there is no adult dependant’s pension payable". A short-term pension is paid at the start too, at a rate tied to pay or pensionable earnings, and the guide gives "for 6 months only" where membership is under two years.

The adult pension is paid for life: "If membership is extended to or beyond 1 April 2008, an adult dependant’s pension is payable for life regardless of whether the recipient remarries, forms a civil partnership or lives with someone else as a spouse or partner." SPPA gives the same 2015 percentages for Scotland, and adds for its 2015 Scheme: "If there’s no surviving spouse, the children’s pension is payable at a rate of 22.5% of the member’s pension if there is one child, or an equal share of 45% if there are two or more dependent children."

Children's pensions go beyond the member's own children: the list includes "step children and adopted children" and "a grandchild". Where membership extended to or beyond 1 April 2008, the child must be dependent and "under age 23"; the 2015 Members Guide says the pension "can be paid indefinitely" if the child cannot earn a living because of a condition present at the member's death and retirement.

Is the NHS death in service benefit taxable?

The Survivors guide says "The lump sum on death benefit must be paid within two years of the member’s death first being notified to us." and "After two years the lump sum will be subject to a HMRC tax charge of up to 45%." On inheritance tax it says "A lump sum on death benefit is not included in an Inheritance Tax assessment if paid to the member’s spouse or registered civil partner." A lump sum paid to a qualifying scheme partner or a nominated individual, it adds, may be subject to inheritance tax.

On income tax, HMRC's technical note says that where a member dies below age 75, lump sum death benefits are usually tax-free where the member's lump sum and death benefit allowance has not been exceeded, and that "Dependants’ scheme pensions are always taxed at the recipient’s marginal rate", adding in the same sentence that they are an excluded benefit for inheritance tax.

Finance Act 2026 changes inheritance tax on pensions. According to HMRC's technical note (updated 29 May 2026), where someone dies on or after 6 April 2027, most pension death benefits and most pension funds left unused will form part of their estate when inheritance tax is worked out. Death in service benefits are treated separately. To qualify, the benefit must be payable because, immediately before their death, the member had been in employment or other work of a particular description; for those, the note says "Death in service benefits that meet these conditions are treated as excluded benefits for Inheritance Tax purposes".

The note adds that payments from pension schemes related to previous jobs where the deceased was a deferred member do not meet the conditions for this exclusion. The scheme's guides pre-date the note, so this is HMRC's general position, not a statement about any particular payment. Tax rules can change, and this is not tax advice. For a private policy see whether a life insurance payout is taxable.

Do NHS staff need life insurance on top of the scheme?

Whether extra personal cover is worth having depends on what a household needs, as the who needs cover guide explains. These are questions to weigh, not advice; the wider question for any employer benefit is answered in do you need life insurance if you have death in service benefit.

  • How large is two times pay against what the household owes and spends? The lump sum follows pay and section; what a household owes and spends is a sum only the household can work out.
  • Is the right person named? The default recipients are a spouse, civil partner or qualifying scheme partner, and an unmarried partner has to meet the two-year conditions above.
  • How long are the pensions needed? Children's pensions usually stop at 23, as above.
  • Does cover continue if the member leaves NHS work or works bank shifts? The bank staff rules show death in service cover depends on being at work.
  • Would illness, not death, be the bigger risk? The benefits above are paid on death. Life and critical illness cover and income protection for NHS staff answer that different question.

A personal policy is a separate contract, and its terms are the insurer's own. Nurses, doctors and other NHS staff who want one apply to an insurer or broker in the usual way; what an insurer asks about an NHS job, and how it treats it, is something to check with that insurer. What moves the price is explained in how much life insurance costs, and the main kinds of policy are in term life insurance. How a trust changes who is paid is in life insurance trusts.

If you would like to set your own situation against these figures, filling in the form on this page lets an FCA-authorised broker go through it with you, using several insurers' terms. It takes a few minutes and is free to you.

Frequently asked questions

Do NHS nurses and doctors get death in service benefit?

Nurses, doctors and other staff who are members of the NHS Pension Scheme and in pensionable employment are covered by the rules above, under whichever section they belong to. Practitioners in the 1995 and 2008 Sections have their lump sum based on "average uprated earnings".

Does the NHS provide life insurance?

The Survivors guide says "The NHS Pension Schemes provide lump sum and pension benefits to eligible dependants in the event of the member’s death." That is a pension scheme benefit, paid under the Scheme's regulations, not a policy you hold with an insurer.

Does the benefit still pay after retirement?

The guide says a lump sum "may be paid if a member dies before retiring or within five years of their retirement", with the amount depending on the retirement benefits already received. Sometimes none is payable, for example if some pension was exchanged for a lump sum at retirement.

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