SPPA Remedial Service Statements

Jingal

These have now started to arrive. My wife has just received hers (she's a nurse) and I'm sure mine will be here soon (I'm a teacher). We both retired some time ago so fall into the category where we have a choice between the status quo or choosing the care remedy. As far as we can see there is a small benefit (about £160 pa) in changing. My question is does anyone know of any hidden pitfalls in making the change?
Any general observations about this change as well as contributions from those who have made their choice (and why the made the choice they did) would be most welcome.

Lowtrawler

My wife is still waiting on her RSS but I believe the most important consideration you will need to have is the date you expect to retire. As a generalisation, the earlier you expect to retire, the better the care remedy will look. The later, the better for status quo.

If you have taken out any Additional Pension arrangements, these will also be impacted by the choice and so could complicate the RSS based decision you have to make.

It is also worth considering death benefits. In the NHS 1995 scheme, a spouse retains 50% pension while under the 2015 scheme, it is 33.75% and so your choice will need to balance this out.

Jingal

Thanks for that Lowtrawler. Date of retirement is not an issue for my wife or I as we both retired nine years ago. I am still awaiting my RSS but my wife has had hers and it seems to be a case of swings and roundabouts with a small gain on her monthly pension but a small reduction in the Survivor adult pension. Will be interesting to see how mine pans out as the figures involved are much higher.
Thanks again.

Lowtrawler

Jingal said:

Thanks for that Lowtrawler. Date of retirement is not an issue for my wife or I as we both retired nine years ago. I am still awaiting my RSS but my wife has had hers and it seems to be a case of swings and roundabouts with a small gain on her monthly pension but a small reduction in the Survivor adult pension. Will be interesting to see how mine pans out as the figures involved are much higher.
Thanks again.

As you retired 9 years ago, any difference is going to be very small. It really only impacts any pension earned from 2015 onwards - the remedy is really asking you whether you wish to keep that under the new arrangements (status quo) or revert it to the older CARE scheme.

l29r

Hi there im new here so bear with me! Just received my RSS today from the Sppa and was looking for some advice. Retired 7 years ago and my two options on the statement seem to be either remain as is or if I go with second option I seem to be losing money from my pension and may in fact be owe some money! I know it seems obvious to remain as is but I’m just wondering am I missing something here and will this eventually be detrimental to me? TIA

Lowtrawler

Congratulations on receiving your RSS today. Just had an email stating "We expect to continue issuing RSS throughout 2026 and into 2027" and so my wife may be waiting more than another year for her's.

There is no way for the result to be detrimental to you as it is your choice. As you retired 7 years ago, you likely elected to have all your service at that time paid out under the 1995 scheme, is that correct?

The RSS gives you an option to take your service since 2015 and have it paid out under the 2015 scheme instead. If you choose to do that, it will mean you were paid too much lump sum and have been receiving too much pension for the last 7 years. This would need to be repaid. In return, you will receive a higher pension at your normal retirement age. You need to balance the extra pension you will receive versus the repayment you will need to make and reduced pension going forward until your normal retirement age. That is your decision to make. If you choose to remain as you are, everything will just carry on as you were already expecting.

l29r

Thanks Lowtrawler , I am past normal retirement age now so not sure how that works? All I can see on the statement is what I would owe and what my pension would be reduced by if I choose to go with the 2015 scheme so for me I think I will be staying as is. It’s all very confusing but thanks for your input .

Dazed_and_C0nfused

l29r said:

Thanks Lowtrawler , I am past normal retirement age now so not sure how that works? All I can see on the statement is what I would owe and what my pension would be reduced by if I choose to go with the 2015 scheme so for me I think I will be staying as is. It’s all very confusing but thanks for your input .

If you retired 7 years ago and opted for the 2015 scheme then your original pension would be reduced if you were receiving it on the basis of you being in the old scheme from 2015 until you retired.

But you would then get a new pension for your service in the 2015 scheme.  That's what you really need to compare the reduction against.

Staying with the original scheme may well be the option which suits you best but it won't necessarily be what suits everyone best.

l29r

Can I ask one last question please! If I decide to stay in my original scheme will my pension still be eligible for the annual increase in line with inflation? Many thanks for all your help !