What Respite Provision is
Some overseas postings are intense: small communities, harsh climates, few chances to switch off. Respite Provision helps you and your family get an overnight break away from your duty station by contributing to the cost of getting there and staying there.
Each country has its own number of respite days and a daily cap per person. It’s a refund of actual costs, not a flat payment, and it’s tax-free.
Who can claim
- Any Service person, whatever their personal status category, who is permanently assigned overseas and receiving Local Overseas Allowance.
- Accompanying immediate family on the assignment.
It applies in every overseas location where permanent rates of Local Overseas Allowance exist. Entitlement starts when you report for duty there and ends on the last day of your assignment or terminal leave, whichever comes first.
Who can’t claim
- Children visiting under the School Children’s Visits arrangements.
- You can’t use it before your assignment starts, at the end of it, or for “reverse” trips that bring visitors to you.
How much you get
Each country sets a number of days and an amount per person per day. Your maximum refund is the two multiplied together, for each eligible person who travels.
| Country | Days | Per person per day | Maximum per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyprus | 4 | £117 | £468 |
| Germany | 4 | £131 | £524 |
| Gibraltar | 4 | £116 | £464 |
| Falkland Islands | 6 | £166 | £996 |
| Kenya | 7 | £98 | £686 |
| Brunei | 7 | £96 | £672 |
| Belize | 7 | £145 | £1,015 |
| Ascension | 9 | £131 | £1,179 |
The calculator below has every country. Claims for any one day can’t exceed that country’s daily amount multiplied by the number of eligible family members travelling.
Work out yours
Put in your details to see what you could get, using the current JSP 752 rates.
Worked examples
A family break from Cyprus
A sergeant, his wife and their daughter take a four-day break. Their maximum is £468 each — £1,404 in total. If flights and the hotel come to £1,150, that’s what’s refunded.
Getting off the Falklands
A single RAF technician uses her six respite days. Her maximum is 6 × £166 = £996 towards travel and accommodation.
Planning a respite break
- Know your numbers. Check your country’s number of days and the daily amount per person before you book — anything above that is yours to pay.
- Book the right things. Flights, ferries, trains and accommodation are covered. Package and all-inclusive deals that include accommodation and getting there are fine.
- Pair it with GYH(O). If you’re going back to the UK, Get You Home (Overseas) can cover the flights while Respite Provision covers somewhere to stay.
- Use it within the year. Entitlement doesn’t normally roll over.
Service couples, consecutive tours and bereavement
If you and your partner are both serving overseas, you’re each entitled in your own right. Eligible children have the same entitlement as the parent recorded as PStat Cat 1s, who makes the claims for them.
Consecutive assignments in the same country carry on the entitlement rather than restarting. A move to a different country starts a fresh entitlement.
If a Service person dies while assigned overseas, the family’s entitlement continues while they remain in SFA or SSFA, or until the end of the current respite year for those in private accommodation.
What you can spend it on
- Travel and accommodation only. Package holidays — including all-inclusive deals — that bundle accommodation with transport to and from the destination are fine.
- Not included: hiring cars, bikes or mopeds once you’re there, or transport that’s part of a sightseeing trip.
- Combine with GYH(O) if you like: use Get You Home (Overseas) for the flights and Respite Provision for the accommodation.
- No carry-forward as a rule. If exceptional circumstances stopped you using it, your CO can authorise a case.
- Family can travel without you if you can’t go for Service reasons, such as deployment or a long course.
- Short-toured? Costs of respite already taken aren’t recovered, and a booked trip can still go ahead.
How to claim
- Submit an absence application for the dates you’re using Respite Provision.
- Book your own travel and accommodation and keep receipts.
- Claim your actual costs through JPA, up to the daily limit for each eligible person.
Frequently asked questions
Is Respite Provision taxed?
No — it’s non-taxable under ITEPA 2003 section 296.
Do I get the maximum automatically?
No. It’s a refund of actual travel and accommodation costs, up to the maximum for your country.
Can I use it with Get You Home (Overseas)?
Yes. You can combine them, using Respite Provision for the accommodation element of the trip.
What if I don’t use it this year?
Normally it’s lost. Your CO can consider a case to carry it forward in exceptional circumstances.
Can I hire a car at my destination?
No. Vehicle, bike or moped hire at the respite location isn’t covered — only getting there and back, and accommodation.
Can my family use it while I’m deployed?
Yes. If you can’t travel for Service reasons such as a deployment or a long course, your family can take the break without you.
Sources and last checked
- JSP 752 v67.1, Chapter 9 Section 5 (paras 09.0501–09.0519)
- JSP 752 v67.1, Chapter 3 Section 1 — Respite Provision rates
Last checked against JSP 752 version 67.1 on 31 October 2026. Rates change, usually each April — always confirm with your unit HR admin staff before you claim.