From October 2024, we are expecting further updates regarding the NHS pension scheme which could affect you. Now is the ideal time to review your position, update your details, and think about the decisions you may need to make if you are approaching retirement.
McCloud Judgement - Age discrimination case
Four years ago, the government lost an age discrimination case in court (known as the McCloud judgment), and the impact of this is still feeding through into NHS pensions. The McCloud case was effectively a challenge by those savers who were moved from an old pension scheme to a new one based solely on their age. Anyone who was paying into the NHS pension before April 2012 and was more than 10 years from normal retirement age would have been moved to the 2015 pension scheme before the end of March 2022.
If this applies to you, following the McCloud judgment, you should be shown two options as you approach retirement - one as if you had stayed in your legacy version of the scheme, and one as if you had moved. If you’re retiring in your late 60s or beyond, the new version of the scheme might look quite favourable. But, if you are retiring in your 50s or had a large spike in your final salary, the older scheme might give you greater benefits.
We are nearing the point where pension savers will be able to access their revised numbers and make this big decision. If you opted out of the NHS pension scheme because you didn’t want to join the new scheme, you may be able to buy back the service.
There is already a lot of interest in the NHS pension scheme from people considering taking some of their benefits using Partial Retirement, and we anticipate even more from the autumn. We advise you to review your pension now to avoid getting stuck in the backlog.
Key takeaway
If you are in the NHS pension scheme and nearing retirement, you should be given access to individualised calculations from October this year and you will have a decision to make.