Payment of Benefits
Retirement pensions are paid by the Police Force from which you retired. Pensions are payable in advance, usually at monthly intervals by credit transfer to a bank or building society account.
Payment of survivors’ benefits begins as soon as possible after a member’s death (time is needed to make contact with the survivor and establish entitlement). Subsequent payments to survivors are made monthly.
Pensions and lump sums are paid to the survivor unless this person is under 18 or incapable of managing his or her financial affairs. An eligible child’s pension payable to an eligible child who is under 18 and who is in the care of your adult survivor must be paid to that adult survivor.
If your pension payments (for all your pensions excluding State Pension) are small and you have reached your SPA, you may ask for the whole of the remaining 2015 Scheme pension payments to be paid to you as a lump sum, the whole of which may be taxable. This is called ‘trivial commutation’ in HM Revenue and Customs terminology. HMRC rules govern what may be payable.
Please Note
Your pension from the 2015 Scheme can only be paid to you. The payment of an annual pension is treated as earned income for tax purposes, and tax is deducted before instalments of pension are paid, whereas your commuted lump sum is tax-free, as is the lump sum death grant for your survivors.