Civil Service Pensions (NI) Digital Newsletter - Issue 5 - March 2025

Read all about it!

Civil Service Pensions has been working extremely hard to fulfil our obligations in relation to the 2015 Remedy. Lots has been happening since our last Digital Newsletter edition, and we are keen to keep you updated. This Newsletter pulls together information on current issues that may affect you. We are also keen to receive feedback from you, so tell us what you think by completing a quick survey at the bottom of this newsletter webpage.

But first, have a look at the video below, Emma will give you a summary of progress to date and a flavour of what to expect as we implement the second phase of 2015 Remedy. 

(If you have any issues viewing the video below, please use this alternative link.)

The 2015 Retrospective Remedy (McCloud) legislation came into effect on 1 October 2023. Depending on your circumstances, you can find out what this means to you by using our enhanced ‘Am I affected?’ tool and the Remedy Benefits Illustrator. Scroll down to find out more.

Am I affected by the 2015 Remedy (McCloud)?                                                                          

Approximately 34,000 current and former Civil Servants are affected by the 2015 Remedy. Are you one of them?

Check out our popular 'Am I Affected?' tool. You can find out more on how you will be affected depending on your own circumstances. You will also be signposted to further information on Partial Retirements and the Remedy Benefits Illustrator.

2015 Remedy 'Am I affected? 

How am I affected?

Remedy Benefits Illustrator for members affected by 2015 Remedy (McCloud)

Your retirement might be in the distant future, or you could be approaching retirement in the coming years. When the time does come for you to retire, you will be offered a choice - whether to take Legacy (Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos) or alpha benefits for any service during the Remedy Period between 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022.

The Government Actuaries Department (GAD) was commissioned to develop a Remedy Benefits Illustrator tool to give you an indication of what your remedy benefits could look like.

Remedy Benefits Illustrator

This tool is for guidance and illustration purposes only. The figures shown are not a final retirement benefit offer and are designed to illustrate your basic service benefits only. The illustrator is not intended to provide you with financial advice. Please ensure you read and understand the terms of service and assumptions used.

However, please note, on retirement, you will still receive an expanded retirement pack which outlines all your retirement options. 

Second Phase of 2015 Remedy (McCloud) – Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statements

Distribution of Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statements

We are pleased to advise that we are in the process of preparing and sending Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statements (RSS) to members who retired before 1 October 2023, including those who partially retired, and are affected by the 2015 Remedy.

Check out our What to Expect Guide which provides a brief overview.

Timelines for distribution

There are a significant number of Immediate Choice RSS packs to issue. This process involves complex calculations to provide members with individually tailored statements.

The regulatory timeline for issuing Immediate Choice RSS packs was 31 March 2025 and the original aim was to meet this timeline. However, due to the complexity of the calculations and some prolonged work to finalise policy elements of the remedy, not all Immediate Choice packs will have been issued by 31 March 2025. There is discretion within the legislation for the Scheme Manager to extend the timeline beyond 31 March 2025 and it has become necessary to use this discretion.

Our priority remains to provide affected members with all the accurate information they need to make a choice. It can be noted that other Public Service Pension Schemes are also in a similar position. We have written out to pensioners who are unlikely to receive their Immediate Choice RSS pack by this date.

There is nothing anyone needs to do at this point. We will be contacting affected pensioners directly by post to provide them with details of their retrospective choice over time.

See how we are progressing

Meanwhile visit our dedicated webpage Second Phase of 2015 Remedy (McCloud) - Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statements for more detailed information and updates on our progress with the distribution of Immediate Choice RSS packs. 

The webpage also hosts a suite of  Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statement Frequently Asked Questions and the helpful 'What to Expect' guide. 

‘At a glance’ information is also available so you can see the breakdown of affected pensioners and our progress to date.

You will find this on our Distribution of Immediate Choice Remediable Service Statements (RSS) webpage which we intend to update on a monthly basis.

We encourage you to stay updated as we continue to implement this important phase of 2015 Remedy.

Ill-Health Retirement – What if I am affected by Remedy?

Some members retire because their health prevents them from being able to continue working. Applications to retire due to ill-health are carefully examined based on the member’s health condition and the role they are in, as well as the ill-health retirement rules or regulations of the scheme in place at the time of application.

If you are affected by the 2015 Remedy (McCloud) and applied for ill-health retirement during the remedy period (1 April 2015 – 31 March 2022), whether the application was successful or not, your application may be re-assessed.

This re-assessment is to understand whether any member who applied for ill-health retirement under their existing pension scheme, would have been eligible for ill-health benefits under their alternative pension scheme. A re-assessment will not be needed for all categories of ill-health retirement applications and please be assured that if your case requires a re-assessment, you will be contacted to provide your consent in advance.

If you have already been awarded ill-health retirement, please don’t worry, your award will not be reversed because of the re-assessment.

Work continues to progress in the background to ensure we address the needs of this group of members.

We will make sure that further details of the process and timelines are provided on the Ill-Health Retirement - Members affected by Remedy page on our website  when they become available.

Further Information

A full range of resources can be accessed at the McCloud Judgment and 2015 Remedy page on the website.

This webpage has a wealth of information including additional animated videos, explaining what the McCloud 2015 Remedy is and what to expect. More content is under development, so we encourage you to keep checking this webpage for further updates and newsletters.

Other News

Annual Allowance and Pension Savings Statements

In our last Digital Newsletter, we told you about the establishment of a new 2015 Remedy Annual Allowance Project team. This team successfully focussed on recalculating Annual Allowance and Pension Input Amounts for members who are affected by the 2015 Remedy. This work was required as members’ service had been rolled back into their Legacy scheme (Classic, Classic Plus, Premium or Nuvos). The rollback of this service led to changes in Pension Input Amounts (PIA).

Approximately 1600 Remedy Pension Savings Statements were issued to affected members and a suite of supporting information including videos, FAQs and links to HMRC tool was provided on our website at Remedy Pension Savings Statement (Remedy PSS).

Is your Death Benefit Nomination up to date?

As always, please remember the importance of ensuring you have an up-to-date Death Benefit Nomination. 

The NICS Pension Schemes do not only provide pension benefits for you but in certain circumstances they also provide benefits after your death to the people you care about. You can complete a Death Benefit Nomination form to confirm who you want to be considered to receive any lump sum benefit. This could be a family member, a friend, a charity, a business or any other organisation.

As a member of the alpha pension scheme, you can name as many nominees as you wish and choose how to split the lump sum between them. More information and forms can be found on the Death Benefit Nomination webpage.

You can also check if you have completed a nomination and view your nomination details by logging onto the NICS Pension Portal.

Coming up

Over the coming months, we will be sharing more information as progress is made as we continue to implement the second phase of the 2015 Remedy.

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