Opting Out of the Firefighter Pension: What You Lose

Opting out is allowed, but it is a big decision

The LGA’s opting-out factsheet says membership of the firefighters’ pension schemes is automatic, but not compulsory, and asks members to give the matter careful consideration and look at the benefits they are giving up. It summarises the FPS 2015 as a guaranteed public service career average pension, a tax efficient way of saving for retirement, with benefits paid in full from 60 that increase with the cost of living, the right to retire from 55 with reduced benefits, a lump sum option, ill-health retirement benefits, a death grant of three times pay, dependants’ benefits, tax relief on contributions and an employer contribution of 37.6% of pensionable pay.

People opt out mostly because of cost. Contributions are deducted from every payslip and, for a young or lower-paid firefighter, retirement can feel very far away. That is understandable, and there are situations, such as severe debt or a short expected career, when it is worth exploring. But the numbers below show that the payslip cost is only part of the picture.

I found no 50/50 option, of the kind offered in the Local Government Pension Scheme, in the FPS member materials. Check with your administrator whether any reduced-contribution option exists in your nation; do not assume one does.

What happens step by step

If you opt out before completing three months of membership, the official website says you are treated as never having been a member and receive a refund of your contributions, minus an adjustment for tax relief. Once you have opted out, your contributions stop the following pay period, and you have no further cover under FPS 2015, though you continue to be covered by the firefighters’ compensation scheme if injured. To opt out, write to your fire and rescue authority or complete an opt-out form.

If you opt out after three months, and are under 55, your benefits become deferred. They are held in the scheme until State Pension age, when you can start to take them, and you may ask for early payment from 55 at a reduction, or, after taking advice, you may transfer your benefits out. Any added pension you bought is treated in the same way as your deferred pension.

The key practical point is that opting out affects death cover immediately. The LGA factsheet says that if you opt out while continuing to work as a firefighter you will not be eligible for the lump sum death grant if you die in service. Members with families should weigh this alongside the cost.

1. Read the LGA opting-out factsheet and your administrator’s guidance on what you would lose.
2. Ask your administrator for the deferred pension that would be preserved, and its early payment value at 55.
3. Talk to your family about the loss of death in service cover and dependants’ benefits.
4. Take independent financial advice if you are considering opting out for money reasons.
5. If you still opt out, put it in writing to your fire and rescue authority and keep a copy.

The real cost of staying in: worked numbers

England’s contribution bands from 1 April 2026 are 11.09% up to £36,130, 12.59% from £36,131 to £45,407, 14.09% to £66,908, 15.59% to £190,691 and 17.09% above, applied to actual pensionable pay. A competent firefighter on £40,358 pays 12.59%, or £5,081.07 a year, about £423.42 a month. Contributions come out before income tax, so a basic-rate taxpayer’s net cost is lower: the LGA factsheet’s own example is that paying £300 costs £60 less in tax, so the net cost is £240.

For the same year, the employer pays 37.6% of £40,358, which is £15,174.61, and your pension account gains £40,358 ÷ 59.7 = £676.01 of annual pension. For HMRC’s lump sum allowance tests, the scheme values a pension at 20 times the annual pension, £13,520 for the year’s £676.01, but that is a tax formula, not a market price. The point is the comparison of what you pay with what is built: about £5,081 of your money and £15,175 of the employer’s to secure £676 a year of inflation-linked pension plus cover.

Opting out to keep £5,081 a year would raise take-home pay by less than that, because you would lose tax relief; for a basic-rate taxpayer, about a fifth of the amount would go in extra tax. Use the pension contributions calculator to see your own figures, and the pay calculator for take-home effects.

Deferred benefits and legacy pensions if you opt out

If you also have legacy benefits, the LGA factsheet says that opting out of FPS 2015 makes you a deferred member of both your legacy and reformed schemes. Benefits from previous FPS 1992 membership are deferred with a normal payment age of 60, based on your pay at the date you opt out; standard FPS 2006 membership is deferred to 65; and special 2006 membership to 60. FPS 2015 benefits are payable from State Pension age, or from 55 with a reduction.

The final salary link is a valuable feature: it means your legacy pension is based on your pay at retirement. If you opt out, it is based on your pay when you opted out, unless you rejoin within five years. If you rejoin within five years the factsheet says the final salary link is reinstated for a 1992 or 2006 deferred benefit, along with the 2006 normal retirement age of 60 for standard members or 55 for special members. Leaving it longer can make the loss permanent.

See FPS 1992 explained, FPS 2006 explained and firefighter pension retirement age for the ages, and the transfers guide if you are thinking about moving deferred benefits.

Rejoining and automatic re-enrolment

If you opt out and later change your mind, you can rejoin provided you are in a qualifying employment. The official website says that employers must automatically re-enrol eligible employees into their pension scheme once every three years, even if they previously opted out, and that you can opt out again. Northern Ireland’s administrator says the same three-year pattern applies.

In practice, that means an opt-out is not a one-off: you may receive re-enrolment notices, and each re-enrolment is a chance to reconsider. If you opt out again within the window after re-enrolment you may be entitled to a refund of contributions paid since that date, as the older administrator guide describes, though check the current rule with your administrator.

If you rejoin after a break of more than five years, the official rejoining page says you keep a deferred account and begin a new one. That can leave you with several small pensions, so keep records of each and check your annual statements.

If you already opted out because of the 2015 reforms

Some members opted out between 2012 and early 2022 specifically because of the pension reforms introduced in 2015, including the move to a career average scheme and the protections applying to legacy members. The official contingent decisions page says you may be able to reverse that decision and have the opted-out service reinstated, if you opted out between 12 March 2012 and 28 February 2022 for those reasons. Only opted-out service in the remedy period, 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022, can be reinstated.

If a claim is accepted, you must pay the contributions that would have been due for the reinstated service, with interest, and your fire and rescue authority will explain payment options. You can submit a claim before or after your remediable service statement, and the official website recommends at least six months before retirement. Some members who opted out from the 1992 scheme may be affected by a regulation issue that the government intends to fix; ask your administrator.

See the remediable service statement guide for how this fits with the choice at retirement.

Part-time, retained and other UK nations

Opt-out rules are similar across the UK, but the money differs. In England, from 1 April 2026, part-time and retained firefighters pay a contribution rate based on the actual pensionable pay they receive rather than full-time equivalent pay, a change the government made partly because full-time equivalent banding could indirectly disadvantage part-time and retained staff. A retained firefighter on a low pensionable pay figure therefore pays the lowest band, 11.09% in England, on a small amount, and still builds pension and cover; see on-call firefighter pension.

In Scotland, SPPA’s page says enrolment is automatic but scheme membership is not compulsory, and you can opt out. In Northern Ireland the administrator says that if you opt out and remain with the same employer, you are automatically re-enrolled every three years, and you can opt out at any time. In Wales retained and volunteer firefighters pay the lowest tier, 13.0% from 1 September 2025, whatever their grade; see the Welsh scheme guide.

The deferred ages and lost cover described in this guide are the English FPS 2015 position from the LGA factsheet. If you are in another nation, ask your administrator for the equivalent, and see the Scottish scheme guide and the Northern Ireland scheme guide.

Alternatives to opting out, and what to ask first

If contributions feel unaffordable, look at the alternatives before opting out. Check that you are in the correct contribution band, because banding is based on actual pensionable pay, and that any temporary allowances have been excluded. Ask whether your absence periods, such as sick leave on reduced pay, use assumed pensionable pay so that your pension is unaffected. Look at your budget, including whether tax relief and tax codes are correct, and whether salary sacrifice schemes such as cycle to work, which count towards pensionable pay, might help.

If you are still considering opting out for cash flow reasons, ask whether it is temporary: you can rejoin, but you would lose the years’ pension and cover in between. Compare the cost of a temporary opt-out with the cost of, say, one year’s missing pension and cover. The pension report and Pension Command tools can show your own trade-offs, and general money guidance appears in firefighter budgeting and savings.