Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The New Hampshire Retirement System pays an accidental disability retirement to an active member whose permanent incapacity is job-related, with no minimum service. The application must be filed within one year of the date contributions cease, and NHRS generally needs a workers’ compensation finding. Group I members receive at least 50% of average final compensation and Group II members 66 2/3%, with a supplement for long-service Group II members.
What this covers
NHRS’s Disability Retirement page names “Accidental Disability, which is a job-related permanent incapacity” as one of its two primary types. It also describes a Group II violent-attack benefit, covered at the end of this page.
The non-job-related type has its own page on this site; the plan’s other choices are on New Hampshire NHRS retirement decisions.
Who it applies to
It applies to an active member whose permanent incapacity comes from a work-related condition. NHRS says the pension “will be payable for the eligible member’s lifetime if the member’s disability continues.”
Eligibility, one condition at a time
NHRS lists these conditions for accidental disability retirement.
| Condition | What NHRS says |
|---|---|
| Condition | “Active member becomes disabled due to a work-related condition” |
| Permanence | “Member’s disability is likely to be permanent” |
| Service | “No minimum service is required” |
| Filing deadline | “Member’s application for disability retirement is filed within one year of the date the member’s contributions to NHRS cease” |
| Approval | “Member’s Disability Retirement application is approved by the NHRS Board of Trustees” |
| Workers’ compensation | “Generally, there must be a finding of compensability under Workers’ Compensation by the Department of Labor” |
The pension amounts, as printed
NHRS prints the amounts and says they “are based on the maximum retirement allowance payable and do not include any applicable reduction under an Optional Allowance”. No dollar amount is worked out on this page: your own average final compensation and creditable service are on your NHRS account.
| Group | What NHRS says |
|---|---|
| Group I | “Group I members will receive an annual pension amount equal to at least 50% of their Average Final Compensation.” |
| Group II | “All Group II members will receive an annual pension amount equal to 66 2/3% of their Average Final Compensation.” |
| Group II supplement, Tier A | “Group II members with more than 26 2/3 years of Creditable Service will receive an additional amount” |
| Group II supplement, Tier C | “Group II members with more than 33.3 years of Creditable Service will receive an additional amount” The statute covers a third group the table does not list. Section 100-A:6, II(d)(3) says “For group II members who have not attained vested status prior to January 1, 2014, calculation of the supplemental allowance shall use the percentage multipliers for the corresponding years of creditable service on January 1, 2014 in the transition provisions in RSA 100-A:5, II(d) with the range for the number of excess years for the supplement adjusted proportionally”. |
| Workers’ compensation offset | “those payments will offset a portion of the member’s Accidental Disability Retirement pension.” |
The supplement formula is printed in full on the NHRS page, for example “2 percent of Average Final Compensation multiplied by the member’s Creditable Service in excess of 33.3 years but not in excess of 42.5 years.”
Filing for benefits
NHRS says “Members are encouraged to file for Disability Retirement with a Benefits Specialist when their physician determines that they are no longer able to perform the duties of their NHRS-covered position.” Required documents start with “Application for Accidental Disability Retirement” and “NHRS Treating Physician’s Statement”, and NHRS says “All medical and other supportive documentation must be received by NHRS within 120 days of filing an application.”
The Group II violent-attack benefit
NHRS describes a further benefit limited to circumstances where a member “has been totally and permanently incapacitated for duty as the result of a purposeful, hostile, and violent attack upon such member in the line of duty.” The statute defines the term. Section 100-A:6, II(e)(1) says it means “a physical attack with a deadly weapon, as defined in RSA 625:11, V, and done with conscious intent and with such force that it results in the infliction of serious bodily injury, as defined in RSA 625:11, VI”. Section 100-A:6, II(e)(2)(A) applies the benefit only where “The member is found, on or after July 1, 2024, to be physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty and that such incapacity is likely to be permanent”. A Group II member who is granted accidental disability benefits may later qualify, and NHRS says “If a Violent Accidental Disability Retirement is granted, the benefit will be retroactive to the first day of the month following the date of application.”
What to do and where to look
NHRS tells members to “contact their employer to become aware of any other employer-sponsored benefits for which they may qualify.” For what happens when employer disability insurance ends, see what happens when long-term disability ends at 65. The state tax treatment of the pension is on whether New Hampshire taxes pensions.
Edition
This page reads the NHRS web pages cited under Sources, as NHRS served them on 2026-10-21. Check the current page and your own membership group and tier on your NHRS account; NHRS’s text controls over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Assuming accidental disability needs no filing deadline because it needs no minimum service. NHRS says the application must still be “filed within one year of the date the member’s contributions to NHRS cease”
- Ignoring workers’ compensation payments. NHRS says “those payments will offset a portion of the member’s Accidental Disability Retirement pension.”
- Treating the Group II violent-attack benefit as a separate first application. NHRS says a Group II member “who is granted Accidental Disability benefits may subsequently qualify”
Related: New Hampshire NHRS retirement decisions, what happens when long-term disability ends at 65, and whether New Hampshire taxes pensions.
Find the right next step for your situation
About how much do you have invested? Pick the range that fits; your next step appears immediately below.
Talk to an advisor about your pension decision
For U.S. investors with $250,000 or more in investable assets. WiserAdvisor is an independent service matching you with 2 to 3 vetted advisers. Its form asks for your ZIP code and answers to a few questions; a match is not guaranteed.
Free to request, with no obligation to hire. By submitting, you consent to calls, texts and emails from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisers. Advisers pay for introductions.
Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying completed form. An introduction is not a Clear Money Guide recommendation.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Explore advisor help with pension choices
Price the destination before you decide. The matching service below introduces you to advisers who pay to meet you.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying submitted form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here; you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions: age, investable assets, location; then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Prefer flat-fee or hourly pricing instead? Compare ranges here.
Answer againSources
- New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS), Disability Retirement: www.nhrs.org
- New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS), Accidental Disability Retirement: www.nhrs.org
- Related official page (not quoted): New Hampshire RSA 100-A:6, Disability Retirement Benefits: gc.nh.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): New Hampshire RSA chapter 100-A, New Hampshire Retirement System, table of contents: gc.nh.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.