Unclaimed armed forces pensions

Why so many forces pensions go unclaimed

Answering a written question on 10 September 2026, the MOD said there were 17,018 unclaimed armed forces pensions for the financial year 2025-26, a figure taken from the scheme's annual accounts. The Forces Pension Society says that is up from 15,113 the year before, and that historically around 2,000 preserved pensions go unclaimed each year.

The reason is simple. A preserved pension sits with the scheme from the day you leave, sometimes for 30 or 40 years, and Veterans UK does not start paying it on its own. You have to claim it. People move house, lose their paperwork, or never knew a short engagement earned them anything at all.

Do you have a preserved pension?

Preserved pensions did not exist in the armed forces before 6 April 1975. Since then the qualifying rules have changed several times, and they were not applied backwards, so the rule that counts is the one in force on the day you left. The MOD's own guide sets them out like this:

Two kinds of service are in play, and they do different jobs. Qualifying service decides whether you have a pension at all. Reckonable service decides how much it is worth, and under AFPS 75 it only counts from age 18 for other ranks and 21 for officers. The MOD's example is someone who joined on 1 April 1986 and left on 20 July 1988: 2 years and 111 days of qualifying service gave them a pension, but it is worked out on the 1 year and 81 days of reckonable service after their 18th birthday.

Short Service and Short Career Commissions were on gratuity terms and did not earn a pension. Under the later schemes, AFPS 05 and AFPS 15 need at least 2 years' qualifying service.

Not sure which rules cover you? A forecast requested on AFPS Form 14 confirms whether you have a preserved pension and what it is worth. You get one free forecast a year.

When it becomes payable

If your AFPS 75 service spans 5 April 2006, you have two parts to claim: one at 60 and one at 65. Form 8 asks you to make them as two separate claims.

Any scheme can pay early if a permanent breakdown in health means you can no longer do any full-time work. You claim on the same Form 8 with the EPPP Annex B-C.

How to claim it

You claim on AFPS Form 8, the claim for payment of preserved pension benefits, which you download from the Veterans UK forms page on gov.uk.

• Send it about 3 months before your pension age. Form 8 asks for it 3 months before your 60th or 65th birthday on AFPS 75, 3 months before 65 on AFPS 05, and 3 months before State Pension age on AFPS 15.
• Already past that age? You can still claim using the same form.
• Changed your name since you left? Include a copy of your marriage certificate or deed poll. Send copies, not originals.
• Give an account in your own name. Veterans UK cannot pay into a Post Office account or to a third party. An overseas account needs the separate overseas payment mandate.
• Post it to Veterans UK, Process Team, MP330, Kentigern House, 65 Brown Street, Glasgow G2 8EX.

For help with the form or to check your record, call JPAC on 0800 085 3600 (from overseas, +44 141 224 3600) or email [email protected].

If you are claiming years after your pension age, ask Veterans UK how any back payment will be worked out. We have not found a published rule on how far back payments go, so get the answer in writing.

If the veteran has died

The Forces Pension Society says that if you were married to a veteran who met the rules above and they have died, you may be entitled to dependant's benefits, and you follow the same steps: contact Veterans UK on 0800 085 3600 or use Form 8. Our survivor pension guide explains what a dependant's pension is worth under each scheme.

Do you need the Pension Tracing Service?

Probably not. The government's Pension Tracing Service only finds the contact details of a pension scheme, and gov.uk is clear that it "will not tell you whether you have a pension, or what its value is". For an armed forces pension you already know the scheme, and the contact is Veterans UK through JPAC. Ask them directly.

What an old preserved pension can be worth

More than most people expect, because a preserved pension is increased in line with inflation while it waits and comes with a tax-free lump sum under AFPS 75. The MOD's guide gives two illustrations:

• An other rank who joined at 18 on 31 December 1974 and left as a sergeant on 31 December 1986 had a preserved pension of £1,687.56 a year at discharge. By 2024 it was worth £5,754.29 a year. At 31 December 2016 it had been £4,363.49 a year with a lump sum of £13,090.47.
• The private from the 1986 to 1988 example above left with £147.71 a year. By 2024 that was £472.91 a year, plus a lump sum of £1,418.73.

For a rough figure on your own service, try our preserved pension calculator, then ask for the official forecast before you claim.