Finally some welcome news regarding NHS Pensions and McCloud. Doctors who have received help from financial advisers or accountants to navigate the McCloud remedy, will now be able to recover some of the costs involved.
As you may know, when the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme was first introduced, older scheme members (those within ten years of retiring) were allowed to continue in their original 1995 or 2008 NHS sections. In fact, this was allowed across all public service pension schemes.
In 2018, the Court of Appeal found this situation to be discriminatory against younger members in a case brought by judges (one named McCloud) and firefighters.
The government agreed to redress this discrimination across all public sector pension schemes in a move expected to cost around £17billion.
The new ‘Cost Claim Back Scheme’ means NHS Pension members affected by ‘McCloud’ (or the ‘Public Service Pensions Remedy’) can make a claim for advisory costs to be refunded. Plus, the scheme also covers any financial or tax losses incurred because of the remedy.
The sums are not exhaustive – there is a limit to claims for using an accountant of £1,000 including VAT and £500 including VAT for using a financial adviser.
There is also a substantial application form to complete which can be downloaded from the NHS Business Services Authority website.
Please get in contact if you would value support regarding McCloud and your NHS Pension.