The Fire Services (Compensation) Regulations 1974

Retirement compensation payable to a person who would have become entitled to a pension

20.—(1) Where a person to whom these Regulations apply and who has suffered loss of employment before attaining what would have been the age of compulsory retirement—

(a) becomes incapacitated in circumstances in which, if he had continued to serve as a regular fireman, he would have become entitled to retire with an ill-health pension under the Firemen's Pension Scheme, or

(b) attains the age at which, had he continued to serve as a regular fireman, he would have been entitled to retire with an ordinary pension, he shall be entitled on the happening of either event to claim—

(i) in the case mentioned in head (a) of this paragraph, an annual sum equal to the amount of the ill-health pension which would have been payable under the Firemen's Pension Scheme calculated in accordance with Regulation 18(2), and

(ii) in the case mentioned in head (b) of this paragraph, an annual sum equal to the amount of the ordinary pension which would have been payable under the Firemen's Pension Scheme calculated in accordance with Regulation 18(2),

in both cases calculated by reference to his average pensionable pay (or where appropriate pensionable pay) immediately before he ceased to serve as a regular fireman, subject however to paragraph (7).

(2) On receipt of a claim under paragraph (1) the compensating authority shall consider whether the claimant is a person to whom that paragraph applies, and within 13 weeks after the date of the receipt of the claim—

(a) if they are satisfied that he is not such a person, they shall notify him in writing accordingly, or

(b) if they are satisfied that he is such a person, they shall assess the amount of compensation payable to him and notify him in writing accordingly;

and notification as described in (a) or (b) above shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, be deemed to be a notification by the authority of a decision on a claim for compensation.

(3) A compensating authority may require any person who makes a claim under paragraph (1)(a) to submit himself to a medical examination by a registered medical practitioner selected by that authority, and if they do so, they shall also offer the person an opportunity of submitting a report from his own medical adviser as a result of an examination by him, and the authority shall take that report into consideration together with the report of the medical practitioner selected by them.

(4) If a person wishes to receive compensation under this Regulation, he shall so inform the compensating authority in writing within one month from the receipt of a notification under paragraph (2) or, where the claim has been the subject of an appeal, from the decision of the tribunal thereon; and the compensation shall be payable as from the date on which the compensating authority received the claim.

(5) If the compensating authority so agree, in the case of a person who would have become entitled to retire with an ordinary pension, as aforesaid, if his notice of retirement were given with the permission of the fire authority, it shall be assumed for the purposes of this Regulation that he would have obtained such permission.

(6) If the compensating authority so agree, in the case of a person in whose case the Firemen's Pension Scheme had effect subject to the modifications set out in section 27(3) of the Fire Services Act 1947, no account shall be taken, for the purposes of this Regulation, of any modification which has the effect that—

(a) a person's entitlement to a pension is conditional on the chief officer of the fire brigade concerned giving a certificate that he has served with zeal and fidelity, or

(b) the grant of a pension may be refused on account of misconduct or on account of any of the grounds on which the pension, if granted, would be liable to be forfeited or withdrawn.

(7) In calculating the amount of any compensation under this Regulation, where the compensating authority, by virtue of Regulation 18(2), have credited the person with an additional period of service, no account shall be taken of any additional period beyond the period which he could have served, had he not lost his employment, before the date on which the claim was received by the compensating authority.