A contingent decision is a decision you made or did not make because of actual or perceived implications of the 2015 Scheme reforms. You’d have acted differently if you knew you’d be remaining in the 1995/2008 Scheme for the remedy period.
An example of a contingent decision would be if you chose to opt out of the Scheme because you were not able to remain in the 1995/2008 Scheme for the remedy period.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recently published the outcome of its consultation on how contingent decisions will be administered in the HSC Pension Scheme.
We’re working on the processes needed for this. Once they’re in place, we’ll contact affected members directly to explain how the remedy applies to your pension and any action you need to take for the following contingent decisions:
Voluntary contributions and additional pension:
If you cancelled an Added Years or Additional Pension arrangement in the legacy scheme because of the discrimination identified in the McCloud judgement, you may be able to choose to undo that cancellation.
Early Retirement Reduction Buy-out (ERRBO):
If you’re an affected member, we’ll write to you and offer the choice of either:
- claiming an amount of compensation equal to the buy-out contributions
- using your buy-out contributions to purchase equivalent additional pension in the legacy scheme
We’ll also offer you the option to defer making a decision until you make your choice on retirement.
Choice 2 – choosing between 1995 and 2008 Section benefits:
Original Choice members, who moved to the 2008 Section, have not been given the option to reverse their Choice decision as those members could have remained in the 1995 section.
However, if you had 1995 Section benefits that you decided to move to the 2008 Section as part of the Choice 2 exercise, you may have the option to revisit this decision.
If you are affected and have received a letter about this, we’ve updated the information available to help you decide.
Attached below is a member factsheet containing useful information regarding Choice 2.
Opt Outs:
You may be able to reinstate remedy period service if you opted out of the NHS Pension Scheme because of the discrimination identified in the McCloud judgement. You may be able to specify the period of opted-out service you wish to reinstate.
If you owe contributions for reinstated service and you’re an active or deferred member, you may be able to pay these contributions via a lump sum or an instalment plan. If you’re a pensioner member, you may be able to deduct these from your pension benefits that are already in payment.
If you apply to reinstate opted out service, you may be asked to confirm if you received recycled employer pension contributions for the service you wish to reinstate. If you did, your employer will be asked to revisit these pension recycling arrangements with you.
Decision Tree
If you’ve recently received a letter asking you to choose between the 1995 Section or the 2008 Section for your pension benefits up to 31 March 2022, this Decision Tree can help you to understand which option is best for you.