Your Remediable Service Statement (RSS)
The McCloud remedy guide covers what the remedy is and why it exists. This page is about the document: the Remediable Service Statement, which the scheme must send you before you can make a remedy election. It has a legally defined content list, it reaches each cohort on a different timetable, and as at 22 June 2026 tens of thousands had still not been issued. Below is what must be on yours, when you should get it, how a deferred member requests one, how to read the pack, and what to do if it is wrong or has not arrived.
Key takeaways
- An RSS values your 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 service twice: once under your legacy scheme, once as AFPS 15 style benefits.
- Read the covering letter first. An information RSS needs no action; an election RSS starts a clock.
- Active members get at least one a year. Deferred members get one on written request, one request per 12 months.
- On a written request the AFPS 05 remedy schedule gives the scheme three months to provide it.
- 98,554 statements had been sent by 22 June 2026, with 38,060 outstanding and no published completion date.
- If yours is wrong, contact DBS quoting the reference number on it, then use the IDRP if that fails.
What an RSS is, and what it is not
An RSS is your personal comparison of the benefits payable from each scheme, and the implications of choosing one over the other, so that you can make your election. It values your legacy and AFPS 15 style benefits for the remedy period, 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022, on figures unique to you.
Three versions exist. An annual or information RSS is for information only and needs no action. An election RSS requires you to elect within a period stated in the covering letter. Members who opted out during the remedy period and apply to opt back in get a reinstatement RSS.
Work out which of the three you are holding before anything else, because only an election RSS starts a clock. The covering letter says which, and what happens if you do nothing.
It is not the R-PSS, which is the tax document: revised pension input amounts for 2015/16 to 2021/22 plus your threshold and adjusted income, issued in June 2025. For that side of the remedy see the Annual Allowance guide.
What the law requires on it
The duty sits in section 29(1) of the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022. For the armed forces it is delivered by the Armed Forces Pensions (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023, which insert a Remediable Service schedule into each legacy scheme and put the RSS duty at Part 2, paragraph 5.
Section 29(5) sets the statutory minimum. Every RSS must describe:
- the benefits currently available under the scheme for the relevant service
- the benefits that would be available if an election were made
- when and how any election may be made
- the remedial voluntary contribution arrangements and how to enter them
Direction 20 of the Treasury's 2022 Directions adds more where it applies, including corrections to your pension and lump sum with interest, transfers in or out, a warning that your tax liabilities may change, a reference to the pension savings statement, and the scheme's dispute resolution arrangements.
The AFPS schedule adds the form and manner in which you must communicate your decision, plus information on the irrevocability of an immediate choice decision and the revocability or otherwise of a deferred choice one, which the immediate choice and deferred choice guide explains. Paragraph references here are to Schedule 2, the AFPS 05 schedule, so check the numbering for your own scheme.
Two armed forces quirks matter. Direction 20(2) requires an RSS other than the first to be combined with a benefit information statement, but direction 20(2A), inserted in 2024, disapplies that for the armed forces, so yours arrives standalone. And AFPS members pay 0% in contributions, so there are none of the member contribution corrections other schemes' statements show.
When you should get one
Timing runs off what the Act calls the relevant date: the day after the 18 month period beginning when the rollback provisions came into force on 1 October 2023, or such later day as the scheme manager considers reasonable. That second limb is why the timetable has moved without the scheme breaching section 29.
Active members get at least one RSS a year on JPA, and an election RSS nine months before they are due to leave. If none has arrived three months out it is posted or emailed in line with your Pension Form 1 preference, so keep your JPA address current.
Deferred members get one on request. Pensioners and members with an EDP in payment are prioritised, and their benefits continue unchanged until an election is made or the period ends. Where a member has died the statement goes to the eligible decision maker.
| Your position | How it reaches you | The clock |
|---|---|---|
| Active, with a JPA account | On JPA, at least yearly | Election RSS nine months before you leave |
| Deferred | On written request | One request per 12 months |
| Deferred, benefits due | Nine months before they are due | Six months to elect |
| Pensioner or EDP in payment | Automatic, prioritised | 12 months from your first RSS |
| Deceased member | To the eligible decision maker | 12 months, restarted if reissued |
Requesting or chasing one
If you are a deferred member the route is a written request to DBS. The AFPS 05 remedy schedule gives the scheme three months from receipt where the request arrives after the relevant date, and section 29(9) limits you to one request in any 12 month period.
The regulations say written request, and no published guidance says whether email counts. Ask DBS how they want it, and keep a dated copy of whatever you send, because that date starts the three months.
Active members need not ask for the annual statement. For a missing election RSS, JPAC is on 0800 085 3600, or 94560 3600 from a military line, and remedy questions go to DBSMPV-SSCL-REMEDY-ENQUIRIES@dbspv.mod.uk. JPAC cannot tell you which option to choose. Forces Pension Society members can have an election RSS explained through its RSS Explanation service.
Where the rollout actually stands
This is the part most guides leave out and the part a member without a statement most needs. The Armed Forces Pension Scheme Annual Report and Accounts 2025-26 reports 98,554 statements sent as at 22 June 2026, with 38,060 still outstanding for issue.
| Cohort | Statements sent | Share of cohort issued |
|---|---|---|
| Active members | 54,963 | 83% |
| Deferred members | 20,469 | 58% |
| Pensioner members | 23,122 | 65% |
| Total | 98,554 | 38,060 still outstanding |
MOD said in December 2024, June 2025 and August 2025 that what its own annual report calls the initial 1 April 2025 deadline would be missed, latterly advising a revised deadline of 31 March 2026. In December 2025 DBS announced that date would also be missed. The report states the scheme is unable to provide a specific completion date, and the next update is due in August 2026.
If yours has not arrived, the published position is that you are one of tens of thousands, not an individual case. Chasing is still worth doing, but do not read the silence as something specific to your record.
How to read the pack
The pack has four parts: a covering letter setting out your eligibility, the action required and what happens if you do nothing; a one page Overview; the RSS itself; and an FAQ section.
The Overview is not the RSS. It is a snapshot of what is payable now, or on discharge, and from State Pension age under each option, plus the single net under or overpayment figure. It excludes commutation options, and MOD warns members not to decide on it alone.
The statement itself has two parallel sections: Current Pension Benefits and Alternative Pension Benefits for an immediate choice member, Legacy Pension Benefits and AFPS 15 Benefits for a deferred choice member. Compare corresponding tables across the two, add the per scheme figures yourself, and check four dimensions rather than one:
- what is payable now, or on discharge
- what is payable in future, at 55, 65 or State Pension age
- the lump sums, including what commutation could generate
- what the dependant benefits are worth under each option
Dependant benefits differ materially, from a short term family pension then 50% for life in AFPS 75, FTRS 97 and NRPS 11 to 62.5% in AFPS 05, RFPS 05 and AFPS 15, which the survivor pension guide sets out.
Then check what applies only to some records: the mode of exit and final service date used, transfers in, a divorce pension debit, any Scheme Pays already used, and abatement if you rejoined with a pension in payment. Note the printed caveats too. Future values are in today's money and exclude indexation. The under or overpayment figures are recalculated when your election is received. And a medical or dental officer's AFPS 05 bonus overpayment is not quantified until the final election statement.
The tax lines on your statement
Direction 20 requires every RSS to explain that your tax liabilities may change as a result of rollback and of any election, and to point you to the pension savings statement. MOD's headline for active and deferred members is that most people's tax position will be unaffected by a remedy election. Where it does bite, the correction runs through HMRC's Calculate your public service pension adjustment service on your R-PSS figures, and the Annual Allowance guide explains what is being measured.
The under and overpayment lines are taxed in line with the original award: a lump sum amount is tax free, an income amount is taxable, and if you owe the scheme money you can ask DBS for a schedule of the payments so you can reclaim overpaid tax on income from HMRC.
If it is wrong, or has not arrived
If a figure looks wrong, MOD's instruction is to contact DBS immediately and quote the reference number printed on your statement, writing to the Pensions Team first. Bear in mind that the under and overpayment figures are recalculated when your election is received, so a figure that has moved is not automatically an error.
If that does not resolve it, use the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure, which every RSS must describe as part of its statutory content. Write to the Armed Forces Pension Schemes Manager at DBS, or email dbs-afpsi-authority@mod.gov.uk, with your service number and as much evidence as you can. DBS aims to respond within 60 working days. After that, The Pensions Advisory Service is on 0800 011 3797, then the Pensions Ombudsman on 0800 917 4487.
Lateness is a different problem, because there is no member facing sanction: section 29(10)(b) lets the scheme manager substitute a later date it considers reasonable. Two things help. If you leave service without an election, legacy benefits are paid pending it, so complete a Pension Form 1 and tick the box that keeps benefits in payment while you wait. And interest compensates late payment, with underpaid benefits earning simple interest at the judgement rate, currently 8%, up to 28 days after the statement is issued and compound interest at the NS&I Direct Saver rate after that.
If the delay caused a real loss, the 2015 Pension Remedy Contingent Decision and Compensation form covers a Part 4 tax loss or a direct financial loss such as professional fees where expert advice has been required. MOD advises waiting for your first statement so the loss can be quantified, and it is not the route for Annual Allowance adjustments.
If the dispute is about an ill-health decision rather than a figure, the election period itself can be suspended while the appeal runs, which the immediate choice and deferred choice guide covers. Where the sums are large, pay for regulated advice: this site is independent, not affiliated with the MOD or Veterans UK, and gives general information only.
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Frequently asked questions
James Hartley
James Hartley spent 22 years in the British Army, including unit personnel administration and pensions and records duties, and now writes the scheme guides and scenario pages on this site. He is not a regulated financial adviser, so the content is general information rather than personal advice.
Sources: gov.uk · GAD factors · Veterans UK · Forces Pension Society · MoneyHelper.