If you're affected by the changes to public service pension schemes – sometimes known as ‘McCloud’ or the Public Service Pension Remedy, you'll be asked if you would like to receive legacy scheme or reform scheme pension benefits for your membership between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is called the remedy period.
We're aiming to start offering members this choice on retirement from April 2024. If you're retiring before this date, we'll contact you and ask you to make your choice at a later time. We’ll provide you with information at the time to help you make your decision.
Asking you to make this choice when you retire means you’ll know exactly what you’re entitled to under each option. This will make it easier to decide what’s best for you.
Your service for the remedy period will be automatically moved into your legacy scheme until you’ve made your choice.
By 1 October 2023, any continuous service you have between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 will be placed into your legacy scheme. In the NHS this is the 1995/2008 Scheme. This is called rollback.
We’ll share more information on how this change will happen and what to do if this impacts your circumstances once this is confirmed. In the meantime, if you're a member affected by annual allowance, you can read more about understanding the effect of rollback on annual allowance on our website.
To keep you up to date, we will update this page regularly with the latest timings.
For now, all our processes remain the same and there’s nothing you need to do. We’ll contact all affected members directly when action needs to be taken.
You don't need to pay to get your McCloud choice
Some companies charge fees to help members with their McCloud choice. You don’t need to use a paid service – doing this will not mean you’re given your choice any sooner or affect the options you have.
NHS Pensions will automatically contact all eligible members as soon as it is possible and give you the information you need to help you make your decision.
For the majority of members, their choice will be straightforward, and guidance will be provided to help them make an informed decision. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said that they expect only a small number of affected members will require support from an independent financial adviser or accountant regarding their McCloud remedy.
Where the small number of members with particularly complex circumstances seek advice and the department agrees that this advice was required, there will be a scheme available to help them submit evidence and claim back the cost of this advice. We’ll publish more information about this in the coming months.
Finding more information
If you have any questions, you’ll find more information on our knowledge base.
Visit our Member Hub for information on applying for your pension and flexibilities within the NHS Pension Scheme to help you transition from work to retirement.