Financial Matters - further information

Financial Information
In addition to the death in service benefits payable from MOD there are benefits payable from the Department of Work and Pensions, for example Bereavement Payment. This is a single tax-free payment of £2000 (As at 1 Oct 2003), payable immediately to widow / widower / civil partners under age 60 where the deceased has met the required National Insurance contribution conditions.

Compensation and Pensions

Widowed Parent’s Allowance - This is a taxable weekly benefit payable after the death, provided there is at least one child receiving Child Benefit, or a child is expected. If there are no children then there is Bereavement Allowance. This is a taxable weekly benefit payable for 52 weeks after the death, as long as the widow/widower/civil partner is aged 45 or over, and meets the conditions laid down.

Service Dependants' Fund - If the deceased was a member of a Service Dependants Fund then a grant can be applied for. This money is not part of the deceased’s estate and is paid directly to the named beneficiary, usually within 48 hours.

PAX Insurance Policy - Families are also able to benefit if the deceased was in possession of a PAX insurance policy.  The VO is able to check to see if this is the case.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) - The SPVA (Norcross) administers the AFCS which replaced  the current War Pension Scheme and the attributable benefits of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 for injuries, illnesses or deaths caused by service on or after 6 April 2005.

Survivor's Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) - To bereaved spouses, civil partners and eligible partners, for death caused by service, an SGIP for life will be awarded and a tax-free lump sum of up to £20,000 may be paid. Where there are dependent children, there will also be a child's payment until the completion of full time education.
The AFCS benefits will be in addition to those death-in-service benefits made under the Armed Forces Pension Schemes. But for any pension there will be a lowering of the SGIP and child’s payments to avoid double compensation. However any lump sum  due from the pension schemes will remain paid in full.

Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) - The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency at Glasgow administers the AFPS. If the service person had served for more than tw years and was a member of the scheme then a short-term family pension is payable for a minimum of three months which represents the rate of pay (excluding allowances) that would have been paid to the deceased for that period.  Where the beneficiary has dependent children this period may be extended to 6 months.

Education Allowance (CEA) - if the service person dies or is invalided from the Service, the following rules apply:

There will be no new entitlement for any child(ren) not already in receipt of CEA when the Service parent dies or is invalided, irrespective of any future parental aspirations for the education of their child(ren). CEA will continue to be paid up to the end of the current stage of education or for up to 2 full terms after the term in which the death or invaliding of the Service person occurred for each child, whichever is the longer extension. If the child is already studying for public examinations, CEA will continue to be paid for up to 4 years or to the end of the term in which the child takes the examination and then leaves school, whichever is soonest (eg for a child aged 14-16 years who moves onto A-level studies, this would normally be up to 4 further years, for a child aged 16-18 years it would normally be up to 2 further years). The entitlement to School Children's Visits continues in line with entitlement to CEA (JSP752 04.1230).

Local Overseas Allowance (LOA) - including Small Station LOA, will continue to be paid to the family of a deceased Service person until they move out of the overseas Service families’ accommodation.

Resettlement entitlement - the individual’s entitlement to resettlement  may be transferred to a legitimate member of the family,  under guidance from the Service Education Centre resettlement desk.

Back to the first page on Financial Matters