Since 1 April 2022 everybody has been a member of AFPS15 and many of you will have protected rights in AFPS05, thus giving you potential Early Departure Payment (EDP) entitlements under both schemes. In this article we explain what happens to EDP benefits if you subsequently take up further employment.
What is EDP?
Early Departure Payments (EDP) are a feature of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS), specifically for those leaving the service before the typical retirement age. They offer a combination of a lump sum and regular, taxable income payments to compensate for the shorter career length.
The EDP criteria are:
- AFPS 05 – at least 18 years relevant service and at least age 40 on discharge (the 18/40 Point).
- AFPS 15 – at least 20 years reckonable* service and at least age 40 on discharge (the 20/40 Point).
EDP benefits are not paid to those discharged with a pension in payment.
Those of you meeting the AFPS05 criteria and leaving before age 55 will get EDP benefits. These comprise a tax-free lump sum worth three times the preserved pension (PP) and an income worth at least 50% of the PP. For every year served beyond the 18/40 Point the income increases by 1.667% of the value of the PP.
On re-joining the Regulars or a Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) post (including Additional Duties Commitments) the AFPS05 EDP income stops and restarts when they leave again.
Depending upon how quickly the individual re-joins, the EDP lump sum may have to be repaid on undertaking this further service – how much depends upon how long it has been since they left. For example, if the EDP lump sum was equivalent to 430 days’ pay, and you join the FTRS 180 days after receiving it, they would have to repay almost 60% of the original lump sum.
An AFPS 15 member leaving the Regulars before age 60, who meets the 20/40 Point criteria will leave with a ’15 EDP. This scheme pays an EDP lump sum of 2.25 times the AFPS 15 Deferred Pension (DP) and an EDP income of at least 34% of the DP. At the 20/40 Point, the EDP income is worth 34% of the DP. For every year served beyond the 20/40 Point, the value of the income increases by 0.85% of the DP.
If someone enters into an FTRS commitment, they keep both the AFPS 15 EDP income and lump sum. If they re-join the Regulars after a break of 5 years or more, they will also keep both the AFPS 15 EDP income and lump sum.
If they re-join the Regulars with a break of less than 5 years they are invited to choose either:
- To keep the EDP benefits but they will not be recalculated on subsequent discharge; or
- To repay the EDP lump sum and see the EDP income stop. If they leave again before age 60, the EDP benefits will be recalculated based on the increased service and pension earned.
Finally a word of reassurance for those of you thinking of joining the Part Time Volunteer Reserve (PTVR). EDP benefits are NOT affected by PTVR service – both your EDP income and lump sum are safe!
We understand this can all sound rather complicated, and we’re here to help. Click here for further information about us.
*Reckonable Service is essentially the service time that is used to determine the amount of pension a person will receive
20 August 2025
