HL Deb 05 July 1983 vol 443 cc558-9WA
Baroness Jeger

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What pensions are payable to widows of servicemen who die of natural causes while serving.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Lord Trefgarne)

The following benefits are payable:If death is not attributable to service

  1. (a) a National Insurance widow's benefit from the Department of Health and Social Security;
  2. (b) a lump sum benefit from the Ministry of Defence equal to twice the annual rate of full career retirement pension (i.e., based on maximum reckonable service) for the husband's rank; or, if better, three times the annual rate of invaliding pension that would have been awarded to the husband had he been invalided from the armed forces on the date of his death;
  3. (c)a short-term pension from the Ministry of Defence that is the continuation of the husband's service pay for 91 days if the widow has no children, or for at least 182 days if she has;
  4. (d) when the short-term pension ceases, if the husband has completed at least five years' service over age 18, a service widow's pension based on the pension that the husband would have been awarded had he been invalided on the date of his death, with the widow receiving one-half of that proportion of his entitlement related to his service since 1st April 1973 and one-third of that proportion related to service before that date.* Additional pensions are paid to children. If the husband has given less than five years' service over age 18, the widow although not qualifying for a pension in her own right will, if she has children, receive pensions for those children.
*unless the husband has opted to buy-in his pre-April 1973 service so that his widow could qualify for a pension wholly at the half rate.

If death is attributable to service

  1. (a) a war widow's pension with additional pensions for children from the Department of Health and Social Security;
  2. (b) as for b above; but with an additional gratuity paid equal to half the annual rate of full career retirement pension (i.e., based on maximum reckonable service) for the husband's rank;
  3. (cas for c above;
  4. (d) an attributable service widow's pension from the Ministry of Defence equal to 90 per cent. of the full career retirement pension (i.e., based on maximum reckonable service) for the husband's rank, with an adjustment to take account of the better Department of Health and Social Security widow's pension she will receive on account of her husband's attributable death. Additional pensions are paid to children.