Abatement

If you take your pension then return to work as a police officer, your pension payments from the 1987 scheme may be reduced or stopped.

The aim of abatement is to protect the public purse i.e. you are not receiving a salary and a pension in respect of the role of a police officer. 

Your pension is likely to be wholly withdrawn during the second period of your service. You would be able to retain your lump sum and your new salary will not be affected.

If you retire before the minimum pension age (currently age 55 and increasing to age 57 from 6 April 2028), you are able to receive immediate payment of your benefits from the 1987 scheme as you have a protected pension age.

It is important that you retain your protected pension age. 

Losing protected pension age
You can lose your protected pension age if you retire and start to take your 1987 scheme pension and then return to work as a police officer, before you reach the minimum pension age. 

If you do this, any pension and lump sum payments that have been made between when you retired and up to the minimum pension age would become taxable. This is because the minimum pension age is set by the government and payments taken before this age are classed as unauthorised payments. An unauthorised payment tax would be applied, which is usually around 55%.

To keep your protected pension age, you must have a one-month break, or longer, between retiring and returning to work.

If you retire on or after the minimum pension age, you do not need to take a break unless you have pension in the 2015 scheme that is also in payment.