What Is the McCloud Remedy and Why Does It Matter to Dentists?
The McCloud remedy is the government's response to a 2018 Court of Appeal judgment (the joined cases usually called McCloud and Sargeant) which found that the transitional protections built into the 2015 public service pension reforms amounted to unlawful age discrimination. When the 2015 schemes were introduced, older members (those closer to their normal pension age) were allowed to stay in their legacy sections, while younger members were moved to the new career average schemes. The court ruled that protecting one age group and not another was discriminatory, and the remedy puts every affected member back on an equal footing.
For dentists in the NHS Pension Scheme, the practical effect is straightforward to state and important to understand. If you are an eligible member, your pensionable service during the remedy period (1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022) was rolled back into your legacy section, the 1995 or 2008 section, with effect from 1 October 2023. You then get a choice, made at retirement, between keeping the legacy treatment for that period or taking the 2015 career average (CARE) treatment instead. You receive the better of the two for your circumstances.
This article explains who is eligible, how the rollback works, when and how the choice is actually made, and the annual allowance knock-ons. It is general guidance only. The right answer depends on your individual earnings history, retirement age and wider tax position, so take advice from a dental-specialist accountant or an independent financial adviser (IFA) with NHS Pension expertise, and verify your own figures at NHSBSA.
Who Is Eligible for the McCloud Remedy?
Eligibility rests on two conditions, and both must be satisfied:
- You joined a public service pension scheme on or before 31 March 2012; and
- You were an active member of the NHS Pension Scheme on 1 April 2015.
A dentist who meets both tests and had pensionable service during the remedy period is covered by the remedy. This includes members who stayed in the 1995 or 2008 section under transitional protection and members who were moved into the 2015 CARE scheme during the period. If you first joined the NHS Pension Scheme on or after 1 April 2015, you are a 2015 scheme member only, you never held protected legacy service, and the remedy does not apply to you. The table below summarises the position.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Eligibility condition 1 | Joined a public service pension scheme on or before 31 March 2012 |
| Eligibility condition 2 | Active member of the NHS Pension Scheme on 1 April 2015 |
| Remedy period | 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 (seven tax years, 2015/16 to 2021/22) |
| Rollback into legacy section | Effective 1 October 2023 (service treated as 1995 or 2008 for the remedy period) |
| The choice | Deferred choice at retirement between legacy and 2015 terms for the remedy period |
| Not eligible | First joined the NHS Pension Scheme on or after 1 April 2015 (2015 scheme only) |
From 1 April 2022, the protections fell away for everyone and all active members accrue in the 2015 CARE scheme regardless of their history. So the remedy period is a closed seven-year window: 2015/16 through 2021/22. The 2022/23 tax year onwards is not part of the remedy. For more on the three sections and how they differ, see our explainer on the 1995, 2008 and 2015 NHS Pension sections for dentists.
How the Remedy Works: Rollback Now, Choice at Retirement
There are two distinct stages, and it helps to keep them separate.
Stage one, the rollback (already done). From 1 October 2023, NHSBSA rolled every eligible member's remedy period service back into their legacy section. If you were a 1995 section member, your 2015 to 2022 service is now treated as 1995 section service. If you were a 2008 section member, it is treated as 2008 section service. You did not have to do anything for this to happen, and it is the new default position. Any 2015 CARE scheme benefits you built up during the remedy period for that service were effectively reversed and replaced with legacy benefits.
Stage two, the deferred choice (at retirement). When you come to take your NHS Pension benefits, NHSBSA will give you two sets of figures for your remedy period service, and you choose which applies:
- Legacy scheme treatment: your remedy period service is calculated under the 1995 or 2008 section rules. The 1995 section is a final salary pension with a 1/80th accrual rate plus an automatic lump sum (3/80ths per year) and a normal pension age of 60. The 2008 section is final salary with a 1/60th accrual rate, no automatic lump sum and a normal pension age of 65.
- 2015 CARE scheme treatment: your remedy period service is calculated under the 2015 career average rules, with each year's pensionable earnings accruing at 1/54th and revaluing at CPI plus 1.5% while you are active. There is no final salary link, and the normal pension age is your State Pension age.
The critical point is the timing. The choice is made at the point you take your benefits, not now. There is nothing to elect today and no deadline to choose before retirement. The remedy is built so that an eligible member ends up with the better of the two options for the remedy period, which is why it is generally neutral to positive for the individual. You simply gain information closer to retirement and pick the calculation that pays more in your circumstances.
Which Treatment Tends to Suit Which Dentist?
You do not need to decide now, but it helps to understand the levers so you can plan retirement timing sensibly.
Final salary link versus CARE revaluation
The biggest difference is the final salary link. Under the legacy 1995 and 2008 sections, the pension reflects your pensionable earnings near retirement. If your earnings rose significantly over your career (for example, moving from associate to practice principal, or building a high-earning list), the final salary link can capture that growth and produce a larger pension than a CARE calculation, which only revalues each year's earnings at CPI plus 1.5%. Conversely, if your earnings were flat or declining during or after the remedy period (common where a dentist reduced NHS commitment or moved part-time), the CARE revaluation can outpace the final salary figure, and the 2015 treatment may pay more.
Retirement age and normal pension ages
The legacy sections pay from age 60 (1995) or 65 (2008); the 2015 CARE treatment pays from State Pension age (currently 67 for most). If you plan to retire before State Pension age, the legacy treatment can let you access the remedy period benefits earlier with less actuarial reduction. If you intend to work well beyond State Pension age, the 2015 treatment can keep revaluing in the meantime. NHSBSA applies the relevant reduction factors, so model your own intended retirement date rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
Lump sum
The 1995 section carries an automatic tax-free lump sum (3/80ths of final salary per year of service); the 2008 and 2015 calculations do not, although you can commute pension for a lump sum under the usual rules. If you were a 1995 member, the legacy treatment may bring an automatic lump sum on the remedy period portion that the 2015 treatment would not. Weigh this alongside the income comparison, not in isolation.
The Annual Allowance and Tax Knock-Ons
Because the rollback changes how much your benefits grew in each remedy period year, it can change your annual allowance position for those years. For defined benefit schemes the measure is the pension input amount (the capitalised growth in your benefits), not the contributions paid. When service moved from the 2015 scheme back to the legacy section, the input amounts for 2015/16 to 2021/22 were recalculated, and they are revisited again once you make your deferred choice at retirement.
NHSBSA and HMRC have processed the consequential annual allowance and tax corrections that flow from this. Eligible members have been issued remediable service statements, and where someone previously paid an annual allowance charge for a remedy period year that the recalculation has changed, there are mechanisms to refund overpaid tax or, in limited cases, collect additional tax through the digital remedy service. If you paid an annual allowance charge in any of those years, or used Scheme Pays, it is worth reviewing whether your position has shifted.
This matters most for higher-earning dentists, typically principals with significant NHS contract income, who were close to or inside the tapered annual allowance during the remedy period. The taper can reduce the allowance well below the standard limit for those with high adjusted income, so a recalculation of pension growth can tip a year either into or out of a charge. For the detail on how the taper works and what to do if you are caught, see our guide on annual allowance tapering for NHS dentists. This is a technical area and the figures are member-specific, so model it with a specialist rather than estimating.
What If I Have Already Taken My Benefits?
If you retired (including ill-health or early retirement) after the remedy period and are an eligible member, the remedy still reaches you. NHSBSA handles these cases by issuing a remediable service statement and a choice, applied retrospectively, with any arrears of pension or adjustment dealt with accordingly. If this applies to you, you should receive correspondence from NHSBSA setting out your options and figures, so check that the recalculation looks right and take advice before responding.
Practical Steps for Dentists
- Confirm your eligibility and history. Log in to your NHS Pension account via NHSBSA and check that you meet both eligibility conditions and that your remedy period service is recorded correctly. If anything looks wrong, raise it with NHSBSA or your practice's pension administrator.
- Read your remediable service statement. Eligible members receive a statement comparing the legacy and 2015 figures for the remedy period. Treat it as the starting point for any planning conversation.
- Do not try to elect early. There is no action to take now and no deadline before retirement. Resist any advice that tells you to choose now; the choice is genuinely deferred to the point you take your benefits.
- Plan the timing, not the election. Because the legacy and 2015 treatments have different normal pension ages, your intended retirement date affects which option pays more. Factor this into long-term planning.
- Review past annual allowance charges. If you paid a charge or used Scheme Pays for any remedy period year, check whether the recalculation has changed your position.
Where to Get Help
The McCloud remedy is one of the most involved changes to the NHS Pension Scheme in years, and the figures are specific to each member. The reassuring part is that, as an eligible member, you are designed to receive the better of two outcomes for the remedy period, and the choice waits until you retire. The work now is understanding the position and planning around it, not rushing a decision.
Start with the NHSBSA McCloud remedy guidance and your own remediable service statement. Then speak to a dental-specialist accountant who understands NHS Pension rules and can model the tax interaction with your practice income and wider position, alongside an IFA who specialises in NHS pensions for the pension modelling itself. For the wider picture, our explainer on the 1995, 2008 and 2015 sections and our guide on annual allowance tapering for dentists are good next reads.