1. Why Timing Matters
Once your pension is in payment, errors that were in your service record become very difficult to correct. The scheme administrator will have produced a retirement quotation and benefit letter, you will have signed a retirement application, and the pension will have been put into payment. Raising a correction at that point is not impossible — schemes do make retrospective amendments — but it is significantly more complex, slower, and administratively burdensome for everyone involved.
The period from 18 to 3 months before your intended retirement date is your window of opportunity. During this window, errors can be identified, queried with the scheme, and in many cases corrected before your retirement benefits are calculated. After you retire, that window closes.
A Note on Complexity
This checklist is designed for the general case. Your individual circumstances — particularly if you have had a very long career, multiple employers, part-time service, career breaks, or McCloud-relevant service — may require a more tailored approach. Our self-check tool can help you identify which areas need the closest attention.
2. Eighteen Months Out: Lay the Groundwork
Eighteen months gives you enough time to gather documents, identify problems, and — if necessary — engage with the scheme administrator before your retirement date is pressing. Start with the documents you can obtain most easily.
Checklist: 18 Months
- ✓Request your most recent annual benefit statement from the scheme. If you have not received one recently, request it explicitly. Note the projected pension figure and the pensionable service total shown.
- ✓Locate your payslips and P60 documents for at least the last five years. If you have been employed for a long time, try to locate records going back further — ten years or more, if possible. Where physical records no longer exist, contact your employer or HMRC for historical pay information.
- ✓Make a list of every employer you have worked for in your pensionable career, with approximate start and end dates. Include any periods of part-time working and any career breaks. This will form the basis for comparing against your scheme record later.
- ✓Check whether you are eligible for the McCloud remedy. If you joined the public sector before 1 April 2012 and had pensionable service between 2015 and 2022, you are likely eligible. If so, check whether you have received a remediable service statement.
- ✓Consider speaking with an IFA who specialises in public-sector pensions. An adviser can help you think through the decisions you will face at retirement — including the McCloud choice, lump-sum options, and the timing of your retirement date. This is separate from a pension accuracy check; it is financial advice, which PensionTech does not provide.
3. Twelve Months Out: Request Your Full Service Record
With a year to go, it is time to request the detailed service record from your scheme — not just the summary shown on an annual statement, but the full service extract that shows every period of employment, every salary figure, and every part-time fraction the scheme holds for you.
Checklist: 12 Months
- ✓Request a full service extract from your scheme. For NHS members, this is available through the NHSBSA member self-service portal or by calling NHSBSA directly. For other schemes, consult our guide on how to request your service extract, which covers NHS, Teachers', Civil Service, Police, and other major schemes.
- ✓Compare the service extract against your own records. Work through it methodically: does every employment appear? Are the start and end dates correct? Does the pensionable pay for each year match your payslips and P60 documents? Are part-time fractions recorded accurately?
- ✓Note any discrepancies in writing. Do not rely on memory. For each discrepancy, write down the relevant year or period, what the scheme record shows, and what your own evidence indicates it should show.
- ✓Gather contracts of employment and any correspondence confirming changes to hours or salary. These will be important if you need to raise a query with the scheme.
4. Six Months Out: Review Part-Time Periods and Breaks in Detail
With six months to go, focus specifically on the areas most likely to contain errors: part-time periods, career breaks, and any periods of reduced contributions. These are the places where administrative errors are most commonly found and — when found — tend to have the most significant financial impact.
Checklist: 6 Months
- ✓Verify every part-time period in your service record. Check that the fraction shown matches the contracted hours you were actually working. If you changed from full-time to part-time (or vice versa) at some point, check that the transition date is recorded correctly.
- ✓For NHS 1995 members specifically, check that the Whole Time Equivalent salary used for the best-year calculation reflects your actual WTE rate at the time, not your actual take-home pay. These two figures differ for anyone who was working part-time in their final years.
- ✓Check all career breaks and periods of absence — maternity leave, adoption leave, long-term sick leave, agreed unpaid leave. Confirm that each is classified correctly (as a break from service, as reduced contributions, or as full accrual, as appropriate) and that the start and end dates are accurate.
- ✓If you worked for multiple employers, confirm that all employments appear in the record and that there are no unexplained gaps between them. If you know you were employed somewhere and it does not appear, contact both the employer and the scheme.
- ✓If you identify discrepancies, raise them now. Write to the scheme administrator with your evidence, clearly identifying the period in question and the specific discrepancy. Allow reasonable time for a response — six months is enough, but it is not unlimited.
5. Three Months Out: Final Checks and Retirement Application
With three months to go, you should be approaching the scheme to request a retirement quotation and, if everything is in order, beginning the retirement application process. This is also the moment to confirm that any queries raised at six months have been resolved satisfactorily.
Checklist: 3 Months
- ✓Request a retirement benefit illustration from the scheme using your intended retirement date. This will show the pension amounts, any tax-free lump sum, and — for eligible members — the McCloud remedy options for your remediable service period.
- ✓Compare the illustration against your service extract and your own calculations. The figures should be consistent with the pensionable service total and the salary history in your record. If anything appears out of line, query it before you submit your retirement application.
- ✓Confirm that any outstanding queries have been resolved or are being actively addressed. If a query is unresolved, consider whether it is material enough to delay your retirement date slightly, or whether it can be pursued after retirement. Your regulated financial adviser can help you think through this trade-off.
- ✓Keep copies of everything. Your retirement application documents, the benefit illustration, any correspondence with the scheme, and your own evidence all form an important record in case any issue arises after you retire.
6. A Note on the McCloud Remedy
If you joined the public sector before 1 April 2012 and were active in your scheme during 2015 to 2022, the McCloud remedy will be relevant to your retirement. You will receive a choice between your legacy scheme benefits and your career-average 2015 scheme benefits for that period of service. The figures you are presented with at retirement will be based on the data in your service record — which is precisely why verifying that record beforehand matters so much.
The decision you make at retirement about the McCloud remedy is a significant financial choice. It requires regulated advice, not just an accuracy check. Make sure your IFA is familiar with the McCloud remedy rules for your scheme before your retirement date approaches.
For a detailed explanation of the McCloud remedy, the remediable service statement process, and why remedy calculations themselves can contain errors, read our companion article: The McCloud Remedy in 2026: What NHS Members Should Still Check.
7. When a Review or Audit Adds Value
For members with a straightforward service history — a single employer, full-time throughout, no career breaks, relatively recent start date — this checklist may be all you need to give you confidence that your record is accurate. Our free self-check tool can help you assess how straightforward your situation is.
For members with more complex histories, professional support can save a significant amount of time and give you much greater certainty. PensionTech offers two options:
Hourly review — £100 per hour, minimum two hours
Suited to members who have done some of the groundwork themselves, have specific questions, or want a targeted second opinion on a particular aspect of their record. We review the documents you provide and answer your specific questions in writing.
Full audit — £495 fixed fee
A comprehensive, evidence-led review of your complete service record against your own documents. We produce a written report in plain English covering every discrepancy found, every period confirmed as accurate, and any recommended steps for raising corrections with the scheme. NHS audits are currently live; other schemes are coming soon.
Where we identify a discrepancy that results in a material error in your pension record, the value of our service typically far exceeds its cost. But we are equally clear when a review finds no material problem — because that confirmation has value too, particularly in the weeks before you retire.
Disclaimer
PensionTech is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not provide financial advice. Nothing in this article or in our reports constitutes a recommendation about pension decisions. For guidance on your retirement choices — including lump-sum options, the McCloud choice, and the timing of your retirement — please seek independent regulated financial advice from a qualified adviser who specialises in public-sector pensions.
Ready to Start Your Pre-Retirement Check?
Use our self-check tool to assess your situation, or request a formal audit if your service history is complex. We are also happy to arrange a callback if you would prefer to speak with someone before deciding.
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