FAQ's

What is the turnaround time for a pension report?
We aim to deliver your report within 2-4 weeks of receipt of all your information
Does the report cover the McCloud remedy?
Yes, we will demonstrate the impact of the McCloud remedy rollback, which puts your benefits accrued between 2015 and 2022 back into your legacy 1995/2008 pension scheme. We will calculate the revised annual allowance position and compare against your existing annual allowance position for the remedy period.
We will also show the difference in benefits at retirement based on choosing the 1995/2008 scheme or the 2015 scheme for the benefits you accrued between 2015 and 2022.
How many scenarios can I request?
Within our initial report, we include up to 5 scenarios as standard.
Is there an up-front cost?
We do not charge an up-front cost. We will invoice you after the NHS pension report has been completed.
Is my data secure?
When you register for our services, we will email you a link to access a secure SharePoint folder that is unique to you, with two-factor authentication, to enable you to upload your information to our systems securely.
Do you provide financial advice?
We do not provide financial advice. We provide a technical support service where we review NHS pension records, project NHS pension benefits, and provide support about how the NHS pension schemes work. We do provide technical support to many specialist financial advisers across the UK and can provide their details if you require financial advice.
What information do you need?
There's a few things we need from you to get started:
  1. (For England & Wales only) Call NHS Pensions on 0300 3301346 and ask for your "Annual Allowance & Service and Pay" extract spreadsheet - they will ask how to email this to you - please ask for a ".xls file" (an excel spreadsheet), please do not send a .pdf file as this can not be processed in our systems
  2. A letter of authority.
    This lets us talk to NHSBSA about your pension record and obtain the majority of information that we need about your pension record and annual allowance history
  3. Taxable income for each tax year from (and including) 2016/17
    This information is held on your self-assessment tax calculation (SA302) / accountant tax computation equivalent.
    If you have an idea of what you think your taxable income is going to be for tax years that you haven't yet completed, please let us know.
    Alternatively, if you do not complete a tax return and rely on PAYE, please let us know in the additional information Word document in your SharePoint folder
  4. If you are paid by payslip
    Latest payslip and historic payslips for March 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 & 2017.
    If you do not have copies, your payslips should be available on the Electronic Staff Record https://my.esr.nhs.uk/
  5. For Practitioner members
    We need confirmation of your pensionable pay (particularly if this information is missing or different from your Total Reward Statement / Annual Benefit Statement).
    For years where this is not yet known, please estimate and let us know if you expect any changes to your pensionable pay in future.
  6. Any other relevant information – please let us know of any anything else relevant to your situation including (but not limited to):
    • Non-NHS pension contributions
    • Annual allowance charges that you have paid directly to HMRC or used voluntary scheme pays from a non-NHS pension to settle NHS pension AA charges (we will be able to get your NHS pension scheme pays record from NHSBSA)
    • Lifetime Allowance protection (Individual Protection, Fixed Protection, Enhanced Protection etc.)
    • Pension Sharing Order
    • Details of any salary sacrifice arrangements – start date, end date and amount deducted
    • Any future changes that are likely to impact your NHS pension (for example, about to drop sessions, take on management responsibility or use salary sacrifice for a lease car)
Can you model taking a car lease via Salary Sacrifice, or other changes to my pensionable pay?
Yes, we can model your pensionable pay going forward, and model the impact on your NHS pension including Annual Allowance and Lifetime Allowance.

NHS pension modelling

NHS pension modelling is the process of creating a financial model that simulates the future value of an NHS pension based on various inputs and assumptions. This can be a useful tool for NHS pension members who are considering their career choices or retirement options and want to understand the potential future value of their pension.

There are several benefits to NHS pension modelling, including the following:

It allows members to see the potential future value of their pension based on different scenarios, such as different retirement ages or changing career & service patterns. This can help them make more informed decisions about their career choices and retirement plans.

It can help members understand the impact of different factors on their pension, such as salary increases or changes in the pension rules. This can help them plan for potential changes and ensure that they are taking advantage of all available opportunities and not sleepwalking into unnecessary taxation

It can help members and their professional advisers identify any potential gaps in their pension planning, such as inadequate retirement savings. This can allow them to take corrective action and ensure that they have a sufficient income in retirement.

It can help identify any potential errors in a member's historic pension record by reviewing historic calculations for anomalies in service patterns Overall, NHS pension modelling can be a valuable tool for members, and their professional advisers, who want to understand the potential future value of their pension as well as the implications of the McCloud remedy, lifetime allowance taxation and annual allowance taxation. Our NHS pension modelling projects your NHS pension to your chosen date of retirement. The projection considers factors such as Annual Allowance, Scheme Pays, Lifetime Allowance, as well as the McCloud remedy and Annual Allowance reassessment. We can also model any scenario too, for example the impact of a salary sacrifice lease car.

DIY or Expert Support

Modelling your own NHS pension can provide a number of advantages, such as helping improve your own knowledge of the NHS pension schemes. There is a lot of information available online to help you understand the NHS pension, such as https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-pensions.

There are also online tools available, such as NHS Employers Annual Allowance Ready Reckoner and the BMA Goldstone pension modeller

However, there are also some significant disadvantages to modelling your own NHS pension. For example, it can be time-consuming and require a significant amount of knowledge and expertise.

Additionally, there is always the risk of making mistakes or misinterpreting information, which could have negative consequences for your pension. It is important to carefully consider the pros and cons before deciding to model your own NHS pension.