Preserved and deferred armed forces pension explained
If you leave the forces before your normal pension age without qualifying for an immediate pension or an Early Departure Payment, the pension you have earned is not lost; it is preserved. A preserved, or deferred, pension sits waiting for you, rising with inflation each year, until you reach the age at which you can claim it. This guide explains who gets one, when it becomes payable, how it keeps its value, and the one thing many veterans forget, that you usually have to claim it rather than wait for it to arrive.
Key takeaways
- Leave before pension age without an immediate pension or EDP and your benefits are preserved (deferred).
- You need at least two years' qualifying service for a preserved pension to exist.
- Service before 6 April 2006 is normally payable at 60; later AFPS 75 and 05 service at 65; AFPS 15 at State Pension age.
- The preserved pension is revalued each year in line with prices, so it keeps its buying power while you wait.
- On AFPS 75 and 05 a preserved tax-free lump sum (three times the pension) is paid alongside it.
- It is not paid automatically; you usually have to claim it from Veterans UK, so do not let it go unclaimed.
What a preserved pension is
A preserved pension is the pension you leave behind when you go before your normal pension age, having served long enough to earn one but not long enough, or not at the right age, to draw it straight away. It is worked out from your scheme and your service at the date you left, and then set aside in your name until you can claim it.
You need at least two years of qualifying service for a preserved pension to exist at all. Below that you generally would not have a pension preserved, though other small leaving payments can apply, so two years is the threshold that turns service into a lasting benefit.
When you can claim it
The age you can draw a preserved pension depends on when the service was built up. Service before 6 April 2006 is normally payable at age 60. AFPS 75 and AFPS 05 service from 6 April 2006 onward is normally payable at 65. AFPS 15 preserved benefits are payable at your State Pension age.
Because many careers straddle these dates, it is common to have one slice of preserved pension payable at 60 and another at 65, drawn at different times. That split matters for planning, so it is worth knowing which part of your service falls on which side of the 2006 line.
How it keeps its value
A preserved pension does not sit frozen. It is revalued every year in line with prices, broadly the same inflation measure used to uprate pensions already in payment, so its buying power is protected across what can be a very long wait. A pension preserved in your forties and drawn in your sixties will be a much larger cash figure by the time you claim it.
On the final-salary schemes, AFPS 75 and 05, a preserved tax-free lump sum of three times the annual pension is paid alongside the pension when it comes into payment. AFPS 15 has no automatic lump sum, so if you want tax-free cash you would commute part of the pension at the point you draw it.
Claiming it, and what to do
The single biggest risk with a preserved pension is forgetting it exists. It is usually not paid automatically when you reach the right age; you have to claim it, normally using form 14 to Veterans UK, ideally several months before you want it to start. Pensions do go unclaimed simply because people lose track of them over twenty or thirty years.
Keep a note of your scheme, your leaving date and your expected pension ages, and keep your contact details current with Veterans UK so they can reach you. Use the preserved pension calculator here to estimate the revalued value, then request an official forecast on form 14 before you rely on a figure. This site is independent and provides estimates, not regulated financial advice.
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Frequently asked questions
James Hartley
James Hartley spent 22 years in the British Army, including unit personnel administration and pensions and records duties, and now writes the scheme guides and scenario pages on this site. He is not a regulated financial adviser, so the content is general information rather than personal advice.
Sources: gov.uk · GAD factors · Veterans UK · Forces Pension Society · MoneyHelper.