MOD’s Veterans UK organisation, part of Defence Business Services (DBS), has launched a campaign to encourage Service Personnel, Veterans and their families to get ‘Pension Ready’.
The campaign aims to promote the Armed Forces Pension Schemes, which are administered by Veterans UK, and motivate the Armed Forces Community to start thinking about their Pension throughout their Service career and not just as they are reaching the end of it.
Veterans UK provide several tools for Serving Personnel including; a yearly Pension Benefit Information Statement (BIS), one free Pension Forecast per year and the online Armed Forces Pension Scheme Calculator. Our Armed Forces are also encouraged to keep their Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) record up-to-date so when it’s time to apply for their Pension there will be no delays.
It’s also vital for the Veteran’s community to let Veterans UK know about any change of circumstances after they’ve left Service and to remember to apply for their Pension at the right time. Our former Armed Forces personnel deserve the Pension they are entitled to and at present our veterans are failing to claim £320M in Pensions they have built up during their Service.
‘You’ve earned it – you apply for it – we’ll pay it!’
Whether they are a new recruit, or a Serviceman or woman starting to think about the road ahead to Civvy Street, or a Veteran with a Preserved Pension, it’s never too early for them to start thinking about their pension.
Mark Lancaster TD VR MP, Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel, said:
“I am delighted to endorse the Veterans UK ‘Service to Civvy – Are you Pension Ready?’ campaign. Our servicemen and women make enormous sacrifices to protect our country and we need to do all that we can to ensure that they receive their Armed Forces Pension. The aim of the campaign is to encourage Service Personnel, Veterans and their families to think about their Armed Forces Pension throughout their career and beyond; we want to help them to help themselves become ‘Pension Ready’.”
Rob Rowntree, Head of Veterans UK, said:
“As Head of Veterans UK I am delighted to be able to help launch ‘Service to Civvy – Are you Pension Ready?’. At Veterans UK we strive to deliver the best service we can to all our customers and we hope this Campaign will help serving personnel, veterans and their families better understand the services we offer, especially the Armed Forces Pension Schemes. We want Serving Personnel to check their JPA HR records and for Veterans to get in touch when they move house or their details change. It’s easy to forget that you’ve got a Pension ready to be paid at retirement and if people don’t apply for their pensions when the time is right, we can’t pay them the money they deserve. Pensions are hugely important and we need to make sure that the wider Armed Forces community become much more ‘Pension Ready’. After all, they’ve earned it!”
Follow this link to a poster about this initiative.
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For more information:
For more information, please contact Janine Burnett, MOD DBS Veterans UK Communications Account Manager on 01253 332977.
Images: Crown Copyright unless otherwise stated.
Notes to Editors
About Veterans UK:
Veterans UK is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Veterans UK administers the armed forces pension schemes and compensation payments for those injured or bereaved through service.
They are responsible for:
Armed Forces Pensions – Assessment, award, payment and maintenance of all pensions relating to service in the armed forces. This includes the armed forces pension schemes and reserve forces pension scheme.
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) – A claim can be made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) for an illness or injury that was caused as a result of service on or after 6 April 2005.
War Disablement Pension – Assessment, award, payment and maintenance of war pensions, related allowances and other payments for those disabled or bereaved through service before 5 April 2005.
They also provide welfare support for veterans of any age, and their families through the Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) and the Veterans UK helpline: 0808 1914 2 18.
For more information on Veterans UK please visit gov.uk
