Updated 30 June 2026

The McCloud Remedy and Your NHS Pension

McCloud corrects age discrimination in the 2015 pension reform: your 2015 to 2022 service rolls back to the 1995 or 2008 section, with a choice at retirement.

It applies only if you were in the pension scheme before 1 April 2012 with service between 2015 and 2022. NHSBSA sends a remediable service statement comparing both values, and for most members there is nothing to do until they retire.

When the NHS moved staff onto the 2015 pension scheme, those closest to retirement were kept on their old 1995 or 2008 section while everyone else was moved across, a split decided by age. In 2018 the courts ruled that unlawful. The McCloud remedy is the fix, and it puts right the years caught in the middle.

Who McCloud affects

McCloud applies to you only if both of these are true:

  • You were in the NHS Pension Scheme on or before 31 March 2012, and
  • You had pensionable service at some point between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022.

If you first joined from April 2012 onwards, it doesn’t affect you. Your service is all in the 2015 scheme.

What happens to your 2015–2022 service

For that window, your service is rolled back into your legacy section (1995 or 2008) by default. At retirement you then make a one-time choice: keep those years as legacy, or take the 2015 value instead. NHSBSA sends a statement showing both.

Which is better is personal. It depends on how your pay has grown across your career, when you plan to retire, and whether you want a lump sum, so it varies from one member to the next.

What you need to do now

For most people, nothing. The choice comes to you at retirement, so there’s no form to fill in today. If you’d already retired when the remedy began, you’re asked to choose now instead, and your pension is recalculated and backdated.

See it in your own numbers

McCloud only reaches you if you were in the scheme before April 2012 and paid in again after 2015. That means two sets of benefits, weighed against each other. The free wealth report covers all of your service by hand.

Get the free wealth report

Frequently Asked Questions

For most members, no. The choice between your legacy 1995/2008 section and the 2015 scheme is made at retirement, so there is no form to complete now. Only members who had already retired when the remedy began are asked to choose now, with their pension recalculated and backdated.

Not automatically. McCloud gives you a choice between two values for your 2015 to 2022 service: your legacy 1995/2008 benefits or the 2015 benefits. You take whichever is higher at retirement, and which one wins depends on your own career, so the remedy protects you rather than uplifting everyone by a fixed amount.

NHSBSA sends a remediable service statement showing both figures. The better option depends on how your pensionable pay has grown, when you plan to retire, and whether you want a larger lump sum, so it varies from one member to the next.

No. Your contribution tier and rate are unaffected. McCloud only changes which section your 2015 to 2022 benefits are held in, not what you pay in.

No. If you first joined the scheme from April 2012 onwards, all your service is in the 2015 scheme and there is nothing for McCloud to roll back.
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