You'll receive either a Total Reward Statement (TRS) or an Annual Benefit Statement (ABS).
The type of statement you will receive is based on your circumstances.
What TRS is
TRS are available to NHS Pension Scheme members working in NHS organisations who use the electronic staff record system (ESR).
What you'll get
A TRS summarises an individual employee’s employment package, including:
- basic pay
- allowances
- pension benefits for NHS Pension scheme members
Some NHS organisations also provide other benefits included in the statement, such as:
- health and wellbeing programmes
- learning and development
- flexible working opportunities
- childcare vouchers
- cycle to work schemes
How to access your statement
You can access this online through 'ESR employee self-service' or 'GOV.UK Verify'.
What ABS is
ABS are available to NHS Pension scheme members working in:
- approved non-NHS organisations
- smaller NHS organisations, such as GP practices
- NHS organisations who do not use ESR
What you'll get
An ABS will provide a pension statement for NHS Pension Scheme members
How to access your statement
You can access this online through 'GOV.UK Verify'.
Why you might not be able to see a statement
There are 3 main reasons why an annual benefit statement (ABS) may not be available for you. These are listed below with some examples.
There is an issue that needs to be investigated
This could be because we have a query about the data in your pension record that needs to be resolved before a pension statement can be produced. For example, you may be working in more than one post and the time you’ve worked has exceeded the pensionable time allowed.
Alternatively, it could be because you’re subject to membership restrictions, as you’ve exceeded the maximum membership allowed.
We need to manually calculate your ABS because your scheme membership pattern is complicated
This could be because you're:
- a male nurse with different normal pension ages (55/60)
- a re-employed pensioner
- drawing down some of your pension
- buying additional pension or ERRBO
- a practitioner with added years and transition scheme membership
- a practitioner who has chosen to move into a different Scheme or Section
- a practitioner who left the Scheme prior to 1 October 2009
You’re not eligible to receive an ABS this year
This could be because:
- you joined the scheme after 31 March 2020, or you joined before this date, but your membership record has not been updated by your employer - this means we do not have the information we need to calculate your ABS
- you’re not a member of the NHS Pension Scheme
- you’re a member of the pension scheme but there is not an exact match between the data in your NHS Pensions record and your ESR (electronic staff record) which means your ABS cannot be displayed
Additional information
Retirement age
If you are a scheme transition member and have Special Class or MHO status with entitlement to retire at age 55, this will not be shown on your ABS.
Your retirement age will show as 60 in the 1995 Section. It does not mean you have lost your status. The correct retirement age will be used when you retire.
Scheme pays
If you have an election for scheme pays then this deduction is not considered in your ABS.
TRS and ABS will provide you with an overview of your pension benefits up to 31 March each year.
Our scheme year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
We base the statement on information provided to NHS Pensions by 31 May each year.
Statements are refreshed every year and are made available mid August.
The content shown on annual TRS or ABS is not ‘real-time’. NHS Pensions rely on NHS employers providing accurate and timely updates to member records by 31 May each year as a one-off annual update. If this information is not supplied before statements are issued, your statements will not show up-to-date information.
The benefits shown will have been calculated using the last information provided by your employer. If this information is not supplied by 31 May, your statement will not show up-to-date information.
If you have made a Scheme Pays election then this will not be included in your statement.