Retirement age
At a glance
You can take your 1987 scheme pension at different points, depending on your length of service, rank and whether you are a Metropolitan Police Officer.
Important: If you also have benefits in the 2015 scheme, you should consider the age you want to receive your benefits from both schemes, as different rules apply in each scheme.
You are in the
1987 scheme
When can you take your 1987 pension?
Your options
The age you can take your pension from the 1987 scheme depends on how many years of service you have built up. The 1987 scheme has a protected pension age. This means that you can take benefits from the scheme before the minimum pension age, which is set by the government.
30 years’ service
You can take your pension immediately once you reach 30 years of service. This may be before you reach age 50.
Over 25 years’ service
If you have over 25 years’ service, you can take your pension immediately from age 50. If you retire under age 50 then your pension can be paid when you reach age 50.
Less than 25 years’ service
If you have less than 25 years’ service, your pension will become deferred and becomes payable from age 60, unless you retire at the voluntary retirement age for your rank.
Depending on your rank
Voluntary retirement ages
You can select to retire at what was the voluntary retirement age for your rank. Voluntary retirement ages changed in 2006, but members of the 1987 scheme retained the former voluntary retirement ages, which are:
- Age 55 – for all constables and sergeants, and all federated and superintending ranks in the metropolitan police
- Age 57 – for deputy assistant commissioners and commanders in the metropolitan police
- Age 60 – for all other inspectors and superintendents, and the commissioner, deputy commissioner and assistant commissioners of the metropolitan police
If you retire at the voluntary retirement age, you can exchange up to 25% of your pension for a lump sum. This is the same as those retiring with 30 years’ service.
Making the right choice
Do you have benefits in the 2015 scheme?
Members retiring now are likely to have both 1987 scheme and 2015 benefits.
Since the earliest a member can access their 2015 scheme benefits is age 55, a 2015 pension always becomes deferred if the member leaves before age 55.
The rules of the 2015 scheme mean that deferred 2015 pensions are payable from the scheme’s deferred pension age, which is your state pension age. This is currently 66 but increasing to age 67.
| Age you take your 1987 benefits | Options for your 2015 benefits |
|---|---|
| Before age 55 |
|
| After age 55, but before age 60 |
|
| After age 60 |
|
The right balance for you
Your retirement age and tax free lump sum
Generally, you can exchange up to 25% of your pension for a tax free lump sum when you retire. This is known as commutation.
However, if you have less than 30 years’ service and you are under the voluntary retirement age for your rank, then the amount you can exchange is restricted to two and a quarter times your pension.
You can read more about commutation in the lump sum section of the website.
Three years before retirement
Temporary promotions
If you are promoted temporarily before you retire, it does not change the age you can take your pension. However changes in pay because of a temporary promotion, within the last three years’ are taken into account when calculating your pension.