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.

You subsequently clarified your request, specifying that the time frame for this data should be the past five financial years.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your clarified request on 16 January 2024.

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

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested.

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

Over the last five full Scheme years (1 April 2019 to 31 March 2024), 61,387 Scheme member accounts have received an overpayment due to money being paid after their death. The total value of these overpayments after tax is £32,500,791.54.

The NHS Pension Service is part of the government’s Tell Us Once service that lets people report a death to most government organisations in one go, using a reference number they get from the registrar. However, not everyone uses the Tell Us Once service. In this case, the person registering the death must notify the NHS Pension Service directly.

https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensioner-hub/bereavement/letting-us-know-pensioner-member-has-died

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

As of 17 January 2025, £26,895,369.37 of the above overpayments 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 the taxpayer to recover overpayments where possible.

NHSBSA has a legal right to enforce recovery.

We write to anyone who receives an overpayment of this type to explain the situation as sensitively as possible, and provide information about how to repay. We recognise that this can be a distressing time for families. In the letter we therefore provide contact information so that anyone with concerns or questions can talk to us for further support.

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 2025” 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.