Police officer death in service benefits come mainly from the police pension scheme: in the Police Pension Scheme 2015, a lump sum death grant of three times annual pensionable earnings, plus pensions for a surviving partner and eligible children. Group insurance through a local Police Federation is separate and differs from force to force.

Older schemes, Federation cover and private policies follow. If you want private cover looked at alongside all this, you can send your details through this page's form and be introduced to an FCA-authorised broker, free.

What does the Police Pension Scheme 2015 pay as a lump sum if an officer dies in service?

The Home Office's members' guide (GOV.UK, November 2017) says the scheme took effect on 1 April 2015 and covers police forces in England and Wales; "a different scheme is established for both Scotland and Northern Ireland", which this page does not cover. For an active member who dies, the grant is three times annual pensionable earnings at the time of death, called final pay. Three times annualised final pay applies where service was under 12 months; the Police Pensions Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/445), as revised, set the same multiple. There is no minimum period of service, and a part-time officer's grant is three times the pay for part-time work, not full-time equivalent pay.

The grant depends on being an active member at death. An officer who has opted out is a deferred member and, in the guide's words, is "not covered for death in service benefits therefore no lump sum death grant is payable", although a surviving adult pension and an eligible child pension may still be payable. Ask the pensions administrator before opting out.

Who is paid the lump sum, and what does a nomination form do?

The regulations, as now revised on legislation.gov.uk, set an order of payment:

  1. a surviving spouse or civil partner, who must be paid unless the couple were separated by a court order or decree and the officer was neither required to support them or a child of theirs nor doing so;
  2. if not, a surviving adult partner, at the scheme manager's discretion, where the couple had cohabited for at least two years;
  3. if neither, a person the officer nominated, again at its discretion;
  4. otherwise, at its discretion, the legal personal representative, usually the executor, so the money forms part of the estate.

A shorter period of cohabitation can be accepted only if the scheme manager is satisfied the couple would have reached two years had the officer not died. A nomination is made on a form from the pensions administrator: a signed notice to the scheme manager, which can be altered or revoked the same way. It comes into play only where no spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner is paid.

What pensions does the 2015 scheme pay to a partner and children?

For a spouse or civil partner the guide requires an active member with at least two years of qualifying service. The pension is 50% of the ill-health pension the officer would have received if permanently medically unfit at the time of death, and is payable for life, whether or not the survivor remarries; the regulations state the same 50% and two-year test. Two reductions can apply: 2.5% for every year the spouse or civil partner is more than 12 years younger than the officer, up to a maximum of 50%, and the scheme manager may withhold the pension if the marriage or civil partnership began within six months before the death.

For an unmarried partner, the 2017 guide describes a joint declaration form. The regulations as first made required one, but amendments in 2018 (SI 2018/997) replaced that with conditions to be met: the couple were cohabiting in an exclusive, committed long-term relationship, the partner was financially dependent on the officer or they were financially interdependent, and they were able to marry or form a civil partnership. The partner must satisfy the scheme manager that this still held at the death and that they had lived together for at least two years, with the same discretion over a shorter period. Because the guide and the current regulations differ, it is worth asking the pensions administrator how a claim is assessed.

Eligible children are natural, step and adopted children, and any other child substantially dependent on the officer. The pension is generally 25% of the entitlement, or, with three or more eligible children, 50% divided between them. It stops at 19 unless the child is in full-time education on a course of at least a year (not beyond the 23rd birthday), or cannot work because of an impairment likely to be permanent, when it is payable for life.

What did the 1987 and 2006 schemes pay?

Officers who joined earlier may hold rights in an older scheme. The 1987 scheme's guide (2006) gives a grant of twice annual pensionable pay, to a surviving spouse or civil partner (otherwise the personal representative), "irrespective of your length of service". Its widow's pension normally needs at least three years' pensionable service, and the guide says a pension is not payable to a surviving cohabitee who was not married or in a civil partnership. The 2006 scheme's guide (2009) gives three times annual pensionable pay, with a pension for a spouse or civil partner after two years' qualifying service. Both guides pre-date later changes, so ask the pensions administrator which scheme or schemes the record sits in.

Where can a police family find support after a death?

Police Care UK describes itself as providing "free and confidential support for serving and veteran police officers and staff, volunteers and their families who have suffered harm as a result of policing", and as independent of the police service. Its eligibility page says its objectives are to support those "incapacitated as a result of an injury received in the execution of duty", and that every enquiry is triaged and assessed case by case. Its number is 03000120030; its bereavement page points to Cruse Bereavement Care. For the pension benefits, the contact is the force's pensions administrator.

What life cover does the Police Federation provide?

No national policy turned up. The cover found is arranged by local Federations through group insurance schemes, so amounts differ. Hertfordshire Police Federation's booklet (1 April 2024) describes its life assurance as "payable on the death, by any cause, of the member or their subscribing partner up to the age of 70 years", paid to Federation trustees under a trust deed, and stresses keeping beneficiary details up to date.

Bedfordshire Police Federation's Insurance Benefits Trust (effective 1 January 2025) lists £120,000 of life insurance for a serving member or police staff member aged under 70, written in trust so that the proceeds can reach dependants without waiting for probate. Another force may offer more or less.

Conditions from the two booklets:

  • Each is a summary; Bedfordshire's says members have no ownership of the underlying policies, which sit with the trustees.
  • Monthly subscriptions must be maintained to qualify for benefits.
  • Hertfordshire lets new recruits join if actively at work and within six months of starting; serving officers can apply if not absent through ill health or injury in the eight weeks before.
  • An officer who transfers, resigns or is dismissed cannot stay in the scheme. Hertfordshire says retiring members may stay as retired members, with benefits for their age, but the move must be agreed before retirement.
  • In Hertfordshire, partner cover ends when the officer leaves the scheme or either reaches 70.

Is the lump sum taxed, and what changes in April 2027?

The 2015 guide describes the death grant as free of tax, "subject to limitations", and the older guides say the grant is tax free for survivors. Whether a life insurance payout is taxable covers private policies.

For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, Finance Act 2026 (section 66, which inserts section 150A into the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, and section 71) brings most unused pension funds and pension death benefits into the estate for inheritance tax. The new section 150A lists excluded benefits, among them a dependants' scheme pension and an amount payable only because the member was in employment or other work of a particular description immediately before death. HMRC's technical note (updated 29 May 2026) confirms that death in service benefits meeting those conditions are excluded. A qualifying police death grant and survivor pensions therefore stay outside the change. This describes the law as written in October 2026, which can be amended, and is not tax advice for any one estate. Federation cover is described in both booklets as paid through a trust; how life insurance trusts work explains what a trust does.

Does police work change the price of a private life insurance policy?

Two insurers' general pages were read. Legal & General's jobs page (20 June 2023) says it screens against a short list of occupations, and that a hazardous job can bring a claim restriction or higher cost, with any restriction explained before cover starts. It lists police officers among jobs it calls arguably more dangerous, yet says such jobs will not necessarily prevent cover. Royal London's guide to what affects cost (undated, read 20 October 2026) says a job is "an important factor in determining the cost of your policy", and a riskier occupation may cost more.

Neither page gives a police-specific rating, and one is from 2023 and the other undated, so an insurer's current approach is worth checking directly. No price can be given here: a premium depends on age, health, smoking, amount and term. Legal & General says to answer occupation questions truthfully, and that you may be asked about your duties, the share of the job involving them, and workplace injuries.

Questions worth putting to an adviser or insurer: how they treat your duties, whether cover could come with restrictions, and what happens to any Federation benefit if you leave the force. Death in service and your own life insurance sets out that comparison generally, and who needs cover is the wider guide; colleagues in other services may want firefighter death in service, armed forces death in service or life insurance for the military.

To find out how insurers would view your own role, whether response, custody, firearms or desk-based, the page's form leads to a call from an FCA-authorised broker who can ask insurers on your behalf.

Frequently asked questions

What is the death in service benefit for police officers?

For the 2015 and 2006 schemes it is three times annual pensionable pay; for the 1987 scheme, twice. Partner and child pensions come on top, subject to the conditions above.

Do police officers get free life insurance?

The death grant comes through the pension scheme for active members. Federation group insurance is a separate subscription, collected monthly, according to the two booklets read.

Does the death in service lump sum count towards inheritance tax from April 2027?

Finance Act 2026 excludes qualifying death in service amounts and dependants' scheme pensions from the change, which applies to deaths on or after 6 April 2027. The law can still be amended.

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