Calling all firefighters!
If you were a retained firefighter you're eligible for a backdated pension, says Paul Lewis.
The hunt is on for more than 10,000 ex-firefighters who are owed tens of thousands of pounds in backdated pensions. They are people who worked as retained firefighters between 7 April 2000 and 5 April 2006 anywhere in the UK. Even one shift in that period will entitle them to get a pension for the whole of their firefighting career. These officers work on-call, mainly in rural areas and many also have a full-time job outside the fire service. But when the call goes out, they rush to the fire station, which is always close to where they live or work, and go out to tackle fires and emergency rescues. They are very much a part of the community they serve and are separate from the full-time fire brigade staff found in large towns and cities.
In the past they were told their part-time status meant they were not entitled to a pension as their colleagues who worked fulltime as fire officers were. But changes in the law – one an EU Directive the other an employment Tribunal decision – mean they now are. If they pay the contributions towards the pension they would have paid while they worked, they can get their full pension now. They do not have to find any money up front – the contributions will be taken out of any lump sum they are due and they will get the balance of that and a monthly pension for the rest of their life. The amount will vary by rank, length of service, and how busy their station was. But it can be tens of thousands of pounds in a lump sum and a regular monthly income of well over a hundred pounds – more in many cases.
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More than 16,000 of these firefighters have already claimed their pension. But their union, the Fire & Rescue Services Association (FRSA), estimates there are around than 10,000 others who have not yet claimed. Anyone who worked in that period should contact the fire service authority which employed them to put in their claim. The FRSA can also give help and advice about a claim frsa.org.uk/contact-us. If the firefighter has died their spouse or heirs may be able to claim a proportion of the pension themselves.