Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

‘I would like to make a request of the NHS Pension Scheme under the Freedom of Information Act. Can you tell me:

1. How much money has been sent in pension funds to members who had already died?

2. How much of that money has been recovered?

3. Do you have the legal right to enforce recovery if the money is not returned, or is returning this money optional on behalf of whoever has it?

Please exclude any money that was sent directly to beneficiaries as per the terms of a pension, e.g. death benefits. I am specifically looking at money sent to the member, as part of their normal pension payment, but after they had died.

Please could you give me the figures, split by year, for the past five financial years, so 25/26, 24/25, 23/24, 22/23, and 21/22.’

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 7 April 2026.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested. Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

Question 1 - How much money has been sent in pension funds to members who had already died?

Between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2026, the Scheme identified pension payments totalling £36,552,964.43* that were paid after the death of members.

Question 2 - How much of that money has been recovered?

As of 17 April 2026, a total of £26,713,927.93** has been recovered.

Question 3 - Do you have the legal right to enforce recovery if the money is not returned, or is returning this money optional on behalf of whoever has it?

As administrators of one of the largest public sector pension schemes, the NHSBSA has a responsibility to protect the public purse and to recover overpayments where possible.

Question 4 - Please could you give me the figures, split by year, for the past five financial years, so 25/26, 24/25, 23/24, 22/23, and 21/22

*This figure represents net overpayments identified as having been made after the date of death, based on information available at the time the overpayments were identified.

**Recovery figures are correct as at the date of this response and may change as further repayments are received. A proportion of the outstanding balance is subject to active repayment arrangements.

Data Queries

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data.

Reusing the data and copyright

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence.

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.