As a starting point, it’s helpful to set out the broad possible routes that an NHS Pension Scheme complaint can take:
Complaint pathways
1. If someone has a complaint about their NHS Pension Scheme membership they should first consider contacting the NHS Pensions Customer Hub [Tel: 0300 330 1346; Email: nhsbsa.pensionsmember@nhsbsa.nhs.uk] before subsequently contacting their employer if necessary as some NHS Pension complaints will not actually involve/implicate the employer).
2. If a complaint cannot be informally resolved by either NHS Pensions or the member’s employer, there are two possible routes by which a member can then formalise their complaint:
- By using NHS Pensions’ Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process. Each year, NHS Pensions deal with hundreds of informal complaints and internal dispute cases; and/or
- Members can complain directly to their employer using the employer’s IDR process, if their pensions complaint involves an employer-related issue.
3. If a member remains unhappy following completion of the IDR process, complaints can then be escalated to the Pensions Ombudsman (which operates independently of the NHS Pensions and NHS employers). https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint There is usually a three year time limit on referrals to the Pensions Ombudsman.
4. Occasionally pension complaints are pursued through an employer’s grievance process, as this may afford the complainant the opportunity of a face to face discussion if a complaint involves the employer. It should be remembered that the Pensions Ombudsman usually requires a member to have gone through the IDR process before it will take on a complaint.
The most common complaint issues
There are a number of themes to the complaints that NHS employers tend to encounter from members of the NHS Pension Scheme:
1. Administrative delays and maladministration - slow or incorrect handling of pension administration by NHS Pensions and its partners, including delays in:
- issuing annual benefit statements (Total Reward Statements) and Remedial Pension Savings Statements, which are important for tax planning and retirement decisions (see point 3 below)
- paying out pensions which delay the ability to retire from work
- updating pension records.
2. Inaccurate or missing pension records - Some NHS Pension Scheme members (including GPs) have reported that their pension records are incomplete or out of date, which can obviously lead to confusion and make it hard to plan for retirement. This includes:
- Missing years of pensionable service data
- Portal and data access issues
- Errors in recorded pay or contributions.
3. Problems with McCloud remedy implementation - The NHS Pension Scheme’s implementation of the “McCloud remedy” (which is correcting past age discrimination in public service pensions) has been a source of frustration for some members who have not received Remedial Pension Saving Statements (RPSS) which are needed to understand the impact on their pension and tax position (e.g. whether they have an annual allowance tax refund to claim, or extra tax to pay). Delays here have affected financial planning and decisions on future contributions.The RPSS process is set to become more complex in 2026 due to the introduction of new pension reforms. NB: not all members are due to receive a remedial pension saving statement.
4. Calculation and contribution errors – on occasion members have reported issues such as incorrect pension banding or calculation errors. Such errors can lead to unexpected tax consequences, lost pension value, or overpayment of pension which then needs to be paid back to NHS Pensions by the member.
5. Scams and fraud concerns (general pension-related risk) –Although an issue which is not confined to the NHS Pension Scheme, members and employers need to be aware of pension scams targeting NHS Pension Scheme members, which offer transfers or “better” schemes that are fraudulent.
Dealing with complaints
A key issue for employers when dealing with complaints is good communication, including the provision of clear responses to members in a timely manner. In practice, as an initial step, this often includes directing members to the My NHS Pension online service.
NHS employers always have to abide by the rules of the NHS Pension Scheme, which are set out in legislation. This leads to two direct consequences in relation to complaints:
- the NHS Pension Scheme regulations set out clear obligations which employers need to comply with. The law assumes and expects employers to understand what those obligations are under the NHS Pension Scheme, including where these obligations change from time to time
- NHS employers need to be aware that in responding to errors and mistakes, they do not have the legal capacity or flexibility to simply agree large compensation payments, or, for instance, waive the repayment of overpaid pensions. The legal framework which applies to the NHS Pension Scheme is predicated on the principle that every member needs to contribute in full what is expected from them under the Scheme rules in order to receive Scheme benefits. Where things have gone wrong, it’s helpful to remember the general principle that members should be put back into the position they should originally have been in under the Scheme.
Weightmans supports NHS employers by mitigating the financial and reputational costs of dealing with pension complaints in the following ways:
- triage complaints for risk, and advise on whether a Member’s claim for compensation is reasonable, including in the light of any likely award by the Pensions Ombudsman
- we advise on compliance with IDR protocols – to help ensure that employers implement and manage the internal dispute resolution process without delay. This can help reduce the risk of a payment having to be made for distress and inconvenience
- we help with the drafting of legally compliant communications with members
- by supporting employers on strategy, we can help ensure complaints are concluded before reaching the Pension Ombudsman, where reputational and financial risk/costs inevitably escalate
- where employers have outsourced their pension administration, we can review outsourcing agreements to assess whether complaint-related costs (both pension and legal costs) are recoverable under the agreement.
If you have a pensions complaint that you need help with, or have any other query in relation to the NHS Pension Scheme, please contact Neil Bhan (tel:07738000060; neil.bhan@weightmans.com)
