FAQs on Entitlement

If you think you are entitled to FAS payments or were a member of a scheme that qualified for FAS and you haven’t received any information from us, please contact us on 0330 678 0000 or +44 (0)208 406 2121 if you are overseas, and we can discuss this with you.

You'll be eligible to start receiving your FAS payments at your Normal Retirement Age (NRA). This is based on your previous scheme rules and will be between 60 or 65. You may be able to take it earlier if you have ill health. For more information on ill health please read our 'Early Payments for Ill Health' booklet.

You can find your exact NRA on the FAS member website. Register now to access your benefit statement.

You can find out how much FAS assistance you will receive by checking your benefit statement on the FAS member website. Register now to access your benefit statement.

Receiving FAS payments, is just like receiving an occupational pension. Therefore it could affect any state benefits that you may already receive, such as Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit among others. If you are receiving FAS payments, you should tell the office that pays your state benefits.

There is a cap on the amount of expected pension we can take into account when we work out your assistance. Only a small proportion of our members are affected by the cap, which means the vast majority of members aren’t affected.

As of 1 April 2024, the FAS cap will increase from £41,888 p.a. to £44,695 p.a. The increase reflects the level of inflation over the period.

The new cap will apply to all members retiring on or after 1 April 2024. If you’re already receiving payments from us these changes don't affect you.

If you haven't heard from us regarding your FAS payments then please get in touch with us on 0330 678 0000 or +44 (0)208 406 2121 if you are overseas.

Send us a secure message (*you need to be registered and logged in to this website in order to use this function. You'll be notified when you’ve a reply from us and this is the safest way to raise a general enquiry or complaint.)

Any payments due to you will be backdated.

When calculating how much FAS assistance we can pay you, we need to consider any payment your previous scheme has arranged for you separately. Some schemes did this by purchasing an annuity (a yearly amount paid to you for life).

If your previous scheme has purchased an annuity for you, the value of it at the date you left the scheme would have been provided to us. We then apply something called ‘revaluation’ to these annuities which is based on how this annuity would have increased through the annuity provider, between the date of you leaving the scheme and your FAS Normal Retirement Date (FNRD).

This figure is then deducted from 90 percent of your expected pension and your FAS assistance payment is the difference.

If you have any questions regarding your ‘less annuity in payment’ figure, please contact us.

Please have a look at pages 5 - 7 of our 'When Your Retire' booklet for more information about increases.

If you have any concerns about your FAS payments or the data we hold please get in touch with us on 0330 678 0000 or +44 (0)208 406 2121 if you are overseas.

Send us a secure message (*you need to be registered and logged in to this website in order to use this function. You'll be notified when you’ve a reply from us and this is the safest way to raise a general enquiry or complaint.)

These changes don't apply to defined benefit (DB) schemes. FAS looks after former DB schemes and therefore you are not able to flexibly take your benefits with us. Some members may be entitled to a tax free lump sum when they begin taking their payments.