The McCloud Remedy and Your NHS Pension

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.