INDIANA FIREFIGHTER BENEFITS

 

 

 


DEATH:       

One Time: $150,000 line-of-duty death benefit to surviving spouse or surviving children. Death must have occurred as a direct result of personal injury or illness resulting from any action that a public safety officer is obligated or authorized to perform. An additional death benefit of $9,000 is paid to the heirs of PERF members.

Contact: Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF). Harrison Building-Suite 800 143 West Market Street Indianapolis, IN 46204-2899. Phone: (317) 233-4162 or (888) 526-1687. www.in.gov/perf.

 

NEW for 2007:

IVFA Death Benefit:

A $3,000.00 Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefit is now being provided to IVFA members.

Questions should be directed to American Income Life at (812) 280-1360

 

Worker's Comp:
Those persons working in a voluntary capacity for a volunteer fire department or ambulance company must be covered by the medical treatment and burial expense provisions of the Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Disease Laws. Lost wages and impairment are not covered.

Contact: Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana. 402 W. Washington Street, Room W196, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Phone: (317) 232-3809 or (800) 824-2667. www.in.gov/workcomp.

 

Funeral:
Maximum of $6,000 for burial expenses.

Contact: Worker’s Compensation Board of Indiana. 402 W. Washington Street, Room W196, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Phone: (317) 232-3809 or (800) 824-2667. www.in.gov/workcomp.

 

Pension:
Survivors of members of the 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension Fund are eligible for pension benefits. Pension payments are reinstated for remarried widows who subsequently become single again. Adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

Spouse receives the benefit that the member would have been entitled to at time of death or that of a member with 20 years’ service at age 52. Each surviving child is entitled to a monthly benefit equal to 20% of the member’s benefit until the child reaches age 18, age 23 if a full-time student, or longer if incapable of self-support.

Contact: The 1977 Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Pension and Disability Fund. 143 West Market Street, Suite 602, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2899. Phone: (317) 233-4152.

Child Education:
Tuition and other fees waived for children at state-supported colleges, technical schools or universities. Must be under 23 and enrolled in a prescribed course of study.

Contact: Indiana Commission for Higher Education. 101 West Ohio Street, Suite 550, Indianapolis, IN 46204-1971. Phone: (317) 464-4400. www.che.state.in.us.

 

Spouse Education:
Tuition and other fees waived for children at state-supported colleges, technical schools or universities.

Contact: Indiana Commission for Higher Education. 101 West Ohio Street, Suite 550, Indianapolis, IN 46204-1971. Phone: (317) 464-4400. www.che.state.in.us.

 

EDUCATION:

The Board of Firefighter Personnel, Standards, and Education provides certification opportunities. There is no central firefighter training facility, but the State Fire Marshal provides staff to conduct regional training. The State Fire Marshal also loans educational materials to instructors.

Contact: State Fire Marshal. Indiana Government Center South, 402 W. Washington St., Room E241, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2739. Phone: (317) 232-2222.

 

WORKERS COMPENSATION:

Each municipality must provide coverage for volunteers. This covers medical expenses, but not lost wages. There is no weekly benefit if volunteer cannot return to his/her vocation. Worker's compensation only covers line of duty injuries.

Contact: Office of Workers' Compensation. Phone: (317) 232-3809.

 

FUNDING:

The Department of Commerce administers several grants to aid the community. In the past, the "Build Indiana" fund has used lottery monies to fund community aid as well.

Contact: Indiana Department of Commerce. One North Capitol, Suite 700, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. Phone: (317) 232-8800. FAX: (317) 232-4146.

 

HEALTH:

There is no state program. Many fire departments receive benefits at the local level, including immunizations, physicals, and infectious disease testing.

 

LEGAL:

N/A

 

MALPRACTICE:

By state statute, any person who gratuitously renders emergency care at the scene of an emergency is immune from civil liability for any personal injury, except for that resulting from gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

 

RETIREMENT:

Although there is no state-wide program, some fire departments offer a retirement plan on the local level.

 

TAX:

 

N/A

 

END

 

 


Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program: Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003

Enacted in 1976, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program is a partnership effort of the U.S. Department of Justice; local, state, and federal public safety agencies; and national organizations to provide benefits to the spouses, children, and other survivors of public safety officers who have died from a traumatic injury or who have been totally and permanently disabled in the line of duty.

On December 15, 2003, the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act expanded the circumstances under which public safety officer deaths resulting from heart attacks and strokes may be covered by the program.