I’m retired
We’ll offer you a choice between your legacy scheme (final salary) benefits and your reformed (CARE) scheme for your service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is called the Remedy period.
To help you decide, we’ll send you a choice letter, known as a Remediable Service Statement (RSS). This will show your pension benefits side-by-side in your final salary and CARE scheme for the Remedy period, to help you decide which option is the right one for you.
Preparing for your remedy choice – member update
Preparing for your remedy choice – update one (14 November 2024)
What is a remedy choice?
On 1 April 2015 public sector pension schemes were reformed and the Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) pension scheme was introduced. Most pension scheme members were moved from their legacy scheme (final salary) to the reformed (CARE) scheme, but some protections were put in place for members who were close to their retirement date. These protections meant that older members stayed in their pre-reform schemes.
The Court of Appeal found that this discriminated against younger scheme members. The government is removing this discrimination for the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. This is known as the remedy period.
Offering you a remedy choice
The SPPA is developing a new system to calculate your benefit options in the reformed (CARE) scheme and legacy (final salary) scheme to enable you to have a remedy choice. This involves the careful calculation of benefits in both schemes for the remedy period as well as adjustments to any life events that may have occurred during that time.
Remedy choice letter – Remediable Service Statement
The SPPA will send you a choice letter, known as a Remediable Service Statement (RSS). The purpose of the RSS is to help you decide which benefits you want to take for the remedy period.
Your RSS will contain a lot of important information and in these updates, we will help you to understand what you can expect to find in your RSS.
In this information video, you can find out more about the purpose of the RSS and get an overview of what to expect.
Contribution Adjustments
You will have paid contributions at the 2015 Care Scheme rates for some or all of the remedy period. By moving you back to your legacy scheme for this period, you will either owe or be owed the difference in contributions due. Corrections due to your contributions will be made when you make your Remedy choice.
Look out for our next update.
When we’ll contact you
Your remedy choice
We will write to you to make your choice by sending you a choice letter called a Remediable Service Statement (RSS).
The complexities involved in delivering the 2015 Remedy mean that we will not be able to provide eligible members with an RSS before 31 March 2025.
Our revised timetable means that we will start issuing RSS in April 2025 using our new automation process and anticipate delivering the majority of these by 31 August 2025. However, some RSS contain significant complexities which make them unsuitable for automation and these will be processed manually on a case by case basis. For these RSS we expect to complete delivery by 31 October 2025.
You can stay up to date by signing up for our remedy choice update which will also be available on this page. We are unable to provide information about progress with individual RSS.
Contributions and Remedy
From 1 October 2023, eligible members who contributed to the 2015 Care Scheme between the 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2022 (the remedy period) are being moved back to their Legacy Scheme for this pensionable period. This action is taking place to enable you to make a choice for the remedy period.
During the remedy period, you will have paid contributions at the 2015 Care Scheme rates. By moving you back to your legacy scheme for this period, you will either owe or be owed the difference in contributions due. Corrections due to your contributions will be made when you make your Remedy choice.
I’ve received an Ill Health Retirement Review letter
I’ve received an Ill Health Retirement Review letter
We’re reviewing ill health pensions for members who are eligible for 2015 Remedy. This is to understand whether you would have been eligible for ill-health benefits under your alternative pension scheme.
We’ll use the evidence that was provided at the time of your original application so you won’t need to send us any new information or be examined by a medical professional.
Once the review is completed, we’ll contact you with the outcome and tell you what to do next. We won’t make any changes to your pension as a result of the review.
If you want us to review your pension
So that the review can be carried out, you need to give us your consent. If you don’t consent to a review your Remediable Service Statement might not include ill-health benefits for your alternative pension scheme. You can tell us by returning the decision form included with the letter.