Welcome to your Pensioner newsletter for 2025
which contains important information about your Fire pension
Message from the Scheme Manager
Hampshire Pension Services produce a newsletter each year, which is intended to keep members receiving a pension updated on useful information about the Firefighters' Pension Scheme (FPS) and your benefits and any changes to the FPS or the wider pensions industry which may affect you.
The 2025 newsletter has been published at a time when the team are working hard to implement the changes required to address age discrimination relating to protections introduced when the FPS (and other Schemes) changed in 2015 (known as the McCloud Remedy), and to provide the option to certain retained firefighters to join the FPS (known as the Matthews Second Options exercise).
- Whilst the McCloud Remedy doesn't affect all members, all eligible pensioner members should have received a statement which compares benefits available had the protections applied at the time of your retirement. If you receive a statement, you will need to make a choice on which benefits should be applied to your pension record and complete the claim form. We understand that pensions can be complex, but it is important that you make a decision based on your own circumstances.
- The payroll and pensions team continue to work to send out Matthews Second Options papers to everyone who is eligible and have expressed an interest to buy pension service as a special member of the FPS 2006, backdated to the start date of their employment. This involves collating information for nearly 300 people, and in some cases going back over 50 years. Cases are being prepared in the priority order approved by the Firefighters Pensions (England Scheme Advisory Board.)
The Newsletter itself:
- Provides information about when you should receive your pension and as your pension taxable income, we provide information about tax codes and payslips. Please check your pension payslip carefully, to ensure that we have used the correct tax code for your pension.
- Sets out how the pension increase of 1.7% will be to pensions in payment from 7 April 2025.
- Includes important guidance on how to identify a scam and what you can do to be scam aware and what we do to prevent fraud.
- Requests that you keep us up to date with changes to your personal information and provides information about what to do to allow a nominated relative or friend help you manage your financial affairs.
We hope that you find this helpful and welcome any feedback that you give us.
Thank you,
Rachel Wood
Head of Pensions
West Sussex Firefighter's Pensions
Scheme Details
Firefighters' Pension Scheme (FPS) - Advance payroll
Pay As You Earn (PAYE) reference: 120/BB92404
Contact details
We encourage you to visit our website for information and our latest news.
Please ensure that you quote your full name, date of birth and National Insurance number when contacting us.
| Send us a secure message through the Member Portal | To register or sign into Hampshire Pension Services Member Portal, visit: mypensionportal.hants.gov.uk |
| Website | www.hants.gov.uk/pensions |
| [email protected] | |
| Write to | Hampshire Pension Services The Castle Winchester Hampshire SO23 8UB |
| Telephone | 01962 845588 |
| Opening hours | Monday to Friday: 09:00 to 16:30 Weekends and public holidays: Closed |
Keep us updated
Your pension is very important so it it essential that you can access your pension information and keep us up to date with any changes in your personal circumstances.
The easiest way to do this is using our online Member Portal. This will allow you to:
- securely view payslips and your P60,
- change your address, name or marital status,
- update your bank details,
- view any changes in your tax code,
- add or amend 'expression of wish' nominations,
- send us a secure message.
To register or sign in, visit: mypensionportal.hants.gov.uk. Once you have registered, we will then contact you electronically when we need to share information with you about your pension.
Pension pay dates for 2025/26
| Month | Payment Date | Month | Payment date |
|---|---|---|---|
| May | 1 May 2025 | November | 31 October 2025 |
| June | 30 May 2025 | December | 01 December 2025 |
| July | 1 July 2025 | January | 31 December 2025 |
| August | 1 August 2025 | February | 30 January 2026 |
| September | 1 September 2025 | March | 27 February 2026 |
| October | 1 October 2025 | April | 1 April 2026 |
Tax codes
We can only apply tax code changes that are received from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Contact HMRC (not Hampshire Pension Services), at the following address, if you have a query with your tax code. You will need to quote your National Insurance number.
Telephone: 0300 200 3300
HMRC also provide an online personal tax account that allows you to view and check your tax records at any time.
Go to https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account to access this service.
Payslips and P60s
If you’ve opted out of electronic communications, we will post you:
- a payslip twice a year, before the April and May payments are made,
- your P60 after the end of the tax year (usually May) and
- a pensioner newsletter.
If you would like other payslips throughout the year, you will need to contact us to request this.
Any queries regarding your tax should be directed to HM Revenue and Customs
Changes to your personal details
Whilst we aim to communicate with our members electronically, there may be times when we need to contact you by post. Therefore, you need to inform us of any changes to your information by following the guidance below. 
Home address or email address
You can change your home or email address through our Member Portal. You can also write to us or email us. Please include the following information:
- Full name,
- Date of birth
- National Insurance number
- Previous address
- We cannot accept change of addresses by telephone.
Name
If you are changing your name, we will require a copy of the relevant certificate (Marriage certificate /change of name by deed poll). You can do this through our Member Portal. Alternatively, you can post us a copy or email us a scanned copy.
Bank details
The most secure way to change your banking details is via the Member Portal. Alternatively, you can write to us, but you must include your signature in the letter to verify the amendment and protect you from fraud. We can accept a scanned letter sent by email, but this must be a clear image and be signed.
Any requests for changes to bank details received after the 17th of the month may not be updated in time for your next pension payment. Instead, we will apply the changes to the following payment.
If your bank or building society returns a payment to us, we will suspend your pension payments until we have received up-to-date information from you. When your details have been updated, any arrears due to you will be included within the next available payroll run.
Acting on someone's behalf
Some pensioners ask relatives or friends to help with their financial affairs. To grant a nominated individual or company permission to discuss your pension details with us, we can accept a letter of authority form, found at:
https://www.hants.gov.uk/hampshire-services/pensions/fire-rescue/forms-guides/HantsIoWforms
To enable someone else to authorise changes to your pension record, such as change of address or bank details, we require evidence of either:
- a power of attorney or
- a Court of Protection order.
For information on how to make a power of attorney, see: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
Pensions increases
Your pension is reviewed each year, in line with inflation. Any increase is applied from April. This year the increase is effective from 7 April 2025.
The rate of the increase is set by HM Treasury based on the rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the previous September. Once the rate of increase has been approved by Parliament, we are formally notified and can apply the change to your pension.
The full increase for April 2025 is 1.7%.
However, you may not receive the full pension increase with your Firefighters’ pension. There are three main reasons for this - Your age, how long your pension has been in payment and the State Pension.
There are more details of how the pension increase is applied to your pension on our website. The flowchart below shows how your pension will be increased each year.
Latest news
McCloud Remedy
Members in scope for the McCloud Remedy will have received, or will shortly receive, an Immediate Choice Remedial Service Statement (IC-RSS) by the deadline of 31 March 2025. Those members who receive one of these statements will need to complete and return the enclosed ‘remedy choice form’.
The legislation requires all individuals with eligible service during the remedy period to be provided with a choice of how they wish their service to be treated. Members have 12 months to make a decision after receiving their IC-RSS.
Are you a low income pensioner?
The Government is asking pensioners to check if they could be eligible for Pension Credit. A person who receives Pension Credit is also entitled to a number of other benefits including the Winter Fuel payment.
If you are in any doubt about your eligibility please read: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pension-credit-awareness-drive-as-thousands-of-eligible-pensioners-yet-to-claim--2
Preventing online and telephone scams
The Money Helper website, which is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions provides information on various types of scams and what to do if you think you have been scammed. See: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/money-troubles/scams/a-beginners-guide-to-scams
To stay safe:
- You should always be careful with your personal details and your bank account details. Shred personal information before putting in a bin.
- Use our secure Member Portal to send a message to Hampshire Pension Services, update your personal information or submit an expression of wish regarding any death grant. We will never ask you for your Portal password, either in an email or by telephone.
- Use strong passwords. A password made of three random words is the most secure. Do not share this information with other people or leave it written down where someone else may see it.
- Do not open any email attachment without first checking that the email is from a trusted source. You should check the sender’s email address very carefully as some criminals use email addresses which are very similar to those of reputable organisations.
- If you visit a website to carry out a secure transaction, make sure that the green padlock and the https:// symbol are showing in your browser search bar. This means that the website has been set up to encrypt your transaction.
- Always check the web address of an organisation in your browser search bar. Some scammers set up websites which look similar to those of a reputable company and use a similar web address, but add numbers, hyphens, or other characters to the web address.
- Use caution if someone telephones you, do not give any personal information. It is fine to say “No” and end the call. If you need to give information to an organisation, look up the telephone number yourself and make the call, rather than accepting an incoming call.
- Allow your computer system to do regular software updates. The latest updates will give you the best protection from malicious activity.
- Ensure that you have a good quality antivirus software package on your computer to protect against computer viruses.
Fraud Prevention
To detect and prevent fraud, we regularly review members’ entitlement to continue to receive pension benefits. So, from time to time, to ensure our compliance with LGPS regulations and the Finance Act 2004, we will contact members – especially those who live overseas - and ask for confirmation of some details.
If we contact you, we will provide information on how to respond and ask that you do this promptly or there may be delays in future payments to you. There are online and paper-based forms to provide the information we need; completed forms can be returned by either post or email.
Our auditors may also request that we supply details of pension payments to third parties. This is to compare our records with those that other public bodies hold to help prevent fraud.
Overseas Payments
If you live overseas, you can have your pension paid into your overseas bank account.
We use a system Convera to pay pensions to overseas bank accounts. We need two weeks’ notice to set up the arrangement with Convera before we can make payment to overseas accounts.
Convera do not charge an administration fee. Instead, they make their margin through a reduction to the exchange rate payable.
Re-employment
If you are re-employed in any capacity with any Fire & Rescue Authority you must write to us with your salary, grade, hours, and any subsequent changes.
Such employment may affect your pension. If your pension is overpaid because you fail to notify us of your re-employment, the overpayment will be recovered from future payments.
Transfers and Divorce
Please note that it is not possible to transfer a pension in payment to another pension scheme.
You may be asked for a cash equivalent value (CEV) of your pension as part of divorce proceedings. If so, please send us your written request for a CEV. In all cases there will be a charge for providing this information.
Don’t forget to keep us updated with any change of address resulting from your divorce.
Modification
If you are affected by National Insurance modification regulations, then details of any modification to your pension benefit were included in your original retirement letter.
If modification applies to your pension, and you have not yet reached state pension age (SPA), we will write to you the month before SPA to inform you of the adjustment that will be made.
Injury Pension and State Benefits
If you are in receipt of an injury pension and are receiving any state benefits (which are paid specifically because of the injury that you received whilst on duty), these benefits are considered ‘additional benefits’ and may be deducted from your injury pension.
You must keep us informed of any changes in the scale or amounts of these benefits, other than the usual annual increases, so that the amount of injury pension payable to you can be assessed correctly. We also need to know if you are not entitled to receive any of these benefits, so that we can pay you the full amount of injury pension.
We will need to see copies of any letters from the Department for Work and Pensions to verify the benefits and amounts which you may or may not be entitled to.
Pensions payable to surviving dependents
If you die before your partner, they may be eligible to receive a pension. The rules for this depend on when you left the employment for which you are now receiving a pension.
The scheme regulations are very complicated and there is no straightforward answer to the question: ‘how much will my dependants get in the event of my death?’
The amounts that are payable depend on a number of factors, including:
- when you left the scheme,
- your pensionable service,
- your marital status, and
- whether you have eligible children.
Note: if you marry after you stop contributing into a membership, this may affect the amount of pension payable to your surviving partner.
You can find more information about dependants’ benefits on our website. If you require specific information based on your own circumstances, please use the ‘request for a partner pension estimate’ form on our website.
Tell Us Once
We participate in the ‘Tell Us Once’ service that is offered when a bereavement is registered.
You can find out more about the service at: https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death
Useful Contacts
GOV.UK - general information about government services
Website: www.gov.uk
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - queries about your State Pension
Telephone: 0800 731 0469
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - claim your State Pension
Money Helper - free and impartial advice on money and pensions, set up by the government
Website: www.moneyhelper.org.uk
Telephone: 0800 011 3797
TaxAid - help with a tax problem if HMRC can't sort it out
Website: www.taxaid.org.uk
Tax help for older people - tax advice for older people on low income
Website: www.taxvol.org.uk
Telephone: 01308 488066
Pensions Ombudsman
Address: 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, E14 4PU
Website: www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0800 917 4487
HMRC
Pay as you earn
Address: HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS
Telephone: 0300 200 3300
Our Service Aims
- Treat all members fairly and politely.
- Answer all calls promptly, within office hours.
- Reply to your letters or emails within five working days or contact you to explain why we need to take longer to resolve your query.
Hampshire Pension Services have maintained the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) certification following an annual review in January 2025. We have held this since first being awarded it in 2009.
We are continuously looking for ways to improve our service to you and we welcome any feedback that you give us, good or bad. If appropriate, we will change our processes to ensure that we provide you with an efficient service that meets your needs. You can write to us with your feedback or complete our online survey.
If you are not happy with the way we have dealt with your pension or with our service to you, please let us know. Most problems can be sorted out quickly. We are happy to put right any mistake that may have occurred, and an informal enquiry of this kind may save you a lot of time and trouble.
However, if you do wish to complain please email: [email protected]
Or write to:
Hampshire Pension Services
Hampshire County Council
The Castle
Winchester
SO23 8UB