Leaving the Police Before Retirement: Notice Period, Deferred Pension & Re-joining Rules
Leaving the police before reaching retirement age affects your 2015 CARE pension revaluation, your normal pension age (moving from 60 to State Pension Age for deferred members), your final payslip and your Federation group insurance. Here is exactly what happens at each stage — and how the 5-year re-joining rule works.
1. Notice period (Regulation 14) & your final payslip
Because police officers hold the office of Constable rather than a standard contract of employment, resignation is governed by Regulation 14 of the Police Regulations 2003:
- Standard notice period: One calendar month's written notice (28 days), unless your Chief Officer agrees to let you leave earlier (for example, where you have accrued annual leave and rest days in lieu to clear).
- Pro-rata annual leave & RDIL / TOIL: Calculate your pro-rata annual leave entitlement up to your termination date. Take any owed time off in lieu (TOIL) or rest days in lieu (RDIL) before your last day, or obtain written agreement from HR/Resource Management for payment in lieu on your final payslip.
- Court citations after leaving: If you are cited to attend Crown or Magistrates' Court as a prosecution witness for cases you investigated while serving, you attend as a civilian witness and claim loss-of-earnings / travel expenses through the CPS witness care unit (or your new employer's public-duty leave policy).
2. What happens to your 2015 CARE pension when you resign?
Your options depend on whether you have completed 2 years of qualifying service in the 2015 Police Pension Scheme:
| Rule | Under 2 years' service | 2 or more years' service (Deferred Member) |
|---|---|---|
| Refund of contributions? | Yes — you can claim back your own employee contributions (around £4,335/yr on starting pay of £32,256), minus a mandatory 20% tax deduction (leaving ~£3,468 per year served). | No — refunds are prohibited after 2 years. You keep the full defined-benefit pension accrued so far (1/55.3th of pay per year, e.g. £941/yr of pension per year at top PC pay). |
| Annual inflation uprating | N/A if refunded or transferred out | Revalued every April by CPI inflation (instead of the active in-service rate of CPI + 1.25%). |
| Unreduced pension age | N/A | State Pension Age (67) for deferred members (compared to age 60 if you retire directly from active police service). |
| Earliest access age | N/A | Age 55 (with an actuarial reduction for each year taken before State Pension Age — see retirement age rules). |
| Transfer to another scheme? | Yes — within transfer time limits | Can transfer to another Public Sector Transfer Club defined-benefit scheme (e.g. Civil Service Alpha, NHS, LGPS) within 12 months of joining the new scheme; transfers to private defined-contribution pots are banned (unfunded public scheme rule). |
3. The 5-year re-joining rule (and Public Sector Transfer Club)
One of the most valuable rules in the 2015 Police Pension Scheme is the 5-year continuous service link under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013:
- Re-joining within 5 years: If you resign from a UK police force and re-join the same or another UK police force within 5 years, your deferred 2015 CARE pension account links back up with your new active police pension account. Your previous accrued pot regains the right to be paid unreduced at age 60 (instead of State Pension Age 67) if you subsequently retire from active service!
- Moving to the Civil Service, NHS or Local Government: If you leave the police to join a body in the Public Sector Transfer Club (such as the NCA, IOPC, HMRC, Home Office, NHS or a local council/police staff LGPS role) with a break of no more than 5 years, you can apply within 12 months of starting your new role for a Club Transfer, preserving your CARE revaluation link.
4. Checklist before your warrant card is handed in
Download every payslip, P60 & ABS
Once your force IT account is disabled on your last day, you lose access to internal self-service portals (Oracle, SAP, MyView). Download your last 3 years of payslips, all P60s, your training/PIP2 certificates and ensure your pension portal (XPS, Equiniti, LPPA or SPPA) is registered to your personal email address, not your .police.uk email.
Review Police Federation Group Insurance & PTC
Payroll deductions for the Police Federation, Group Insurance (life/critical illness), Benevolent Fund and Police Treatment Centres stop automatically with your final payslip. Some Federation Group Insurance schemes allow leavers or retirees to convert life cover to a direct-debit policy within 30 days of leaving without fresh medical underwriting.
Next steps & calculators
Leaving the police — frequently asked questions
How much notice do you have to give to resign from the police?
Under Regulation 14 of the Police Regulations 2003, a police officer in England and Wales must give one calendar month's written notice (or 28 days where specified locally) to the Chief Constable of their intention to resign, unless the Chief Constable agrees to a shorter notice period. If you are subject to ongoing gross misconduct proceedings, consent is required to resign before the conclusion of the case.
Can I get my police pension contributions refunded if I leave?
Only if you have less than two years' qualifying service in the 2015 Police Pension Scheme (and have not transferred in pension rights from another scheme). With under two years' service, you can choose between a refund of your own employee contributions (less a statutory 20% tax deduction on the refund and any National Insurance adjustment) or transferring the cash equivalent value to another registered pension scheme. Once you reach two or more years' qualifying service, a refund is no longer permitted by law: your accrued pension becomes a Deferred Police Pension.
What happens to my 2015 CARE police pension if I leave after 2 or more years?
Your accrued 2015 CARE pension pot is frozen as a Deferred Police Pension. Instead of increasing by CPI + 1.25% each year (the active in-service revaluation rate), a deferred pension is uprated every April in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation under the annual Pensions Increase (Review) Order. A deferred 2015 scheme pension is payable unreduced at your State Pension Age (currently 67 for most serving officers), or can be claimed from age 55 with an actuarial early-payment reduction.
What happens to my pension if I re-join the police within 5 years?
Under the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 "5-year break rule", if you leave a UK police force with a deferred 2015 CARE pension and re-join a police force (or move into another public service CARE scheme under the Public Sector Transfer Club) with a gap of no more than 5 years, your deferred 2015 pension account can be re-connected to your new active account as if you had never left — restoring the higher CPI + 1.25% in-service revaluation for the gap rules and allowing you to draw the combined pot unreduced at age 60 if you later retire from active police service.
What happens to untaken annual leave and TOIL when I resign?
Your annual leave entitlement (25 to 30 days under Annex O) is pro-rated up to your final day of service. Any accrued untaken pro-rata statutory/annual leave is either taken during your notice period before your warrant card is handed in or paid out on your final payslip (subject to income tax and National Insurance). Conversely, if you have taken more annual leave than you have accrued for the leave year to date, the excess days are deducted from your final salary payment.