Forces Pension Society: can you help identify a Veteran with an unclaimed pension?
As part of a campaign to encourage Veterans with unclaimed pension benefits to come forward with their claims, the Forces Pension Society encourages you to help identify anyone you think might qualify. We know there are thousands of Veterans who have not yet made their claims. Our recent Freedom of Information request showed that during the 24-month period alone, between 1st June 2020 – 31st May 2022, over 4,000 Armed Forces pensions went unclaimed.
The AFPS Annual Report (July 2022) identified a larger total of 16,518 unclaimed benefits, with some Veterans having more than one entitlement.
Maj Gen Neil Marshall, CEO of the Forces Pension Society said:
“We can all play our part in encouraging Veterans we know, to come forward if they have not claimed their preserved pensions or preserved lump sums. These can be significant amounts of money. For example, a preserved pension of £1,500 for someone who left in April 1985, would now have a value of £4,500 pa.
Anyone serving after April 1975, now aged 60 or over, could have an unclaimed pension. AFPS pensions earned before April 2005 are payable at age 60 but will not be paid automatically – they have to be applied for.
“We urge you to encourage anyone who might be eligible, to visit the Veterans’ Gateway website without delay:
“Of course the Government also has a role to play in signposting the issue to the Veterans’ community, and we continue to encourage them to do just that.”
The Forces Pension Society is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that acts as a pension watchdog for the entire military community. If you would like to find out more about our work and how we empower our Members to make the best pension choices, visit our website – www.forcespensionsociety.org