My spouse, partner or surviving dependant gets
Various lump sum and pension benefits are available from the Scheme when you die, depending on your personal circumstances at that time. Click on the links below to find out about the different benefits available.
If you die while still working at BA (unless you have opted out of the Scheme):
- The lump sum is broadly three times your pay at the time of your death (before any adjustment for SmartPension amounts) plus the value of your Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs). See Put more on top of my BA pension for more details.
- Plus (if no Adult Survivor's pension is payable) your own contributions (including your SmartPension contributions if these apply), with interest at 3.5% per year up to the date of death.
- The lump sum is free of inheritance tax.
- A lump sum may be paid if no Adult Survivor’s pension is payable. The lump sum is broadly the difference between benefits you have received, if any, and your contributions plus interest.
- The lump sum is free of inheritance tax.
The lump sum does not have to be paid to your spouse, partner or surviving dependant. By completing a Notice of Wish form, you can ask the Trustee to consider at its discretion another person or cause of your choice. If you have registered for online communications you can submit your Notice of Wish directly to the Pensions team by logging into Mybapension online and filling in the online Notice of Wish.
You can register for online communications at any time by clicking the 'Register' button, then following the on-screen instructions. If you have not registered for online communications you can print a Notice of Wish form from the 'Forms' page of this website.
Need more information?
Read our
Notice of Wish guide and case study
for more details.
A pension of two-thirds of the pension you earned whilst paying the higher contributions towards an Adult Survivor’s pension (before any adjustments to your own pension such as taking a tax-free lump sum or any early retirement reduction) will automatically be paid to your husband, wife or civil partner. The normal Scheme increase arrangements apply to Adult Survivor’s pensions and they are payable for life.
If you are not married or in a civil partnership when you die, the Trustee can decide to pay the Adult Survivor’s pension to a ‘surviving dependant’. This could be a common-law spouse, partner, or someone else who meets the requirements under the Rules of the Scheme and who is financially dependent on you to a substantial extent. Full details are included in the Surviving Dependant Registration Form. If you have registered for online communications you can submit your Surviving Dependant registration directly to the Pensions team by logging into Mybapension online and filling it in online.
You can register for online communications at any time by clicking the 'Register' button, then following the on-screen instructions. If you have not registered for online communications you can print a Surviving Dependant Registration form from the 'Forms' page of this website.
The Trustee will also need documents to confirm the level to which your surviving dependant depends on you financially. These documents should include copies of statements for joint bank accounts and joint mortgages or bills in joint names for the period of three months prior to the date of death.
If the person you want to receive your Adult Survivor’s pension is more than 10 years younger than you, we will reduce the pension at the rate of 1.25% for each year of difference in your ages over 10 years. For example, if the person is 11 years younger than you, we will reduce the pension by 1.25%, or if the person is 12 years younger than you, we will reduce the pension by 2.5%.
- If you die whilst still an active member, the Adult Survivor’s pension is based on a pension of two-thirds of your basic pension worked out using the years, months and days that you have paid for Adult Survivor’s cover, plus any Adult Survivor’s pension that you have transferred in, plus (if you were paying for the higher cover at date of death) half the time remaining between the date of your death and Normal Retirement Age (or age 63 if you were Ground Staff on 1 Dec 1989, there has been no break in service and you are still Ground Staff when you die), based on the standard build-up rate (1/52 Flying Staff, 1/56 Ground Staff), or the lower build-up rate (1/54 Flying Staff, 1/58 Ground Staff) if you die whilst paying towards this build-up rate.
- Remember that if you work part-time we use your full-time equivalent salary and your part-time service in the Basic pension calculation
- If you have a deferred pension or die after you have retired, the Adult Survivor's pension will not include the extra half time remaining to your selected Normal Retirement Age.
- If you die in retirement and have saved AVCs, any amount your spouse or partner receives will depend on whether you bought extra pension with your AVCs at retirement and, if so, whether this pension has attached Adult Survivor's benefits.
- If you die having deferred payment of your AVCs, your AVC fund can be used to provide Adult Survivor's benefits through an insurance company of their choice or will be paid to your estate.
The contributions towards this cover are 1.5% of your Pensionable Pay.
CloseIf you are a male active member of APS, you will always have paid for the Adult Survivor's pension cover unless you have provided your written instructions to opt out of the cover. Your latest benefit statement, if you usually receive one of these, will tell you if you are paying for this cover.
If you are a female active member of APS, you first had the opportunity to pay
CloseIf you are not currently paying for this cover and wish to start to pay for it for future service, you need to fill out the Adult Survivor's pension opt in form or write to us, giving at least one calendar months' notice. Your ability to opt into the cover will be subject to the Trustee receiving a satisfactory medical report from the Scheme's independent medical advisers (a form will be sent to you on receipt of your written request to opt in). Two thirds of the service for which you have paid for the cover will be included in the Adult Survivor’s pension cover.
CloseYou can stop paying the higher contributions towards the cover by filling out the Adult Survivor's pension opt out form or by writing to us, giving at least one calendar months' notice. Once you have stopped, you can only opt into the cover on one more occasion – so if you have previously opted out, restarted and then stop paying again, you will not be able to restart contributions towards this cover.
Cover that you have previously paid for will not be lost. However, you cannot convert any Adult Survivor's pension cover that you have built up into pension for yourself or cash it in.
CloseYou can only opt into, or out of, the cover from a future date. If you opt in, cover will start from the 1st of the month after we receive a satisfactory medical report from the Scheme's independent medical advisers. If you opt out, we cannot refund any contributions you have already made.
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