McCloud statement delays, and pensions suspended after an election
Two things are worth knowing about the McCloud remedy. The Remediable Service Statement rollout has missed a second deadline, and the MOD's August 2026 update still leaves 11,770 immediate choice statements outstanding with no individual timescales. And separately, the Forces Pension Society reported on 23 July that some members have had their pension in payment suspended after making a remedy election.
Key takeaways
- The AFPS missed its original 1 April 2025 RSS deadline and then the revised 31 March 2026 date for complex cases.
- As at 3 July 2026 there were 37,890 statements outstanding, and the MOD has published no completion date.
- The MOD's delivery update, published on 26 August 2026, reports 99,077 statements issued and 11,770 immediate choice statements still outstanding as at 17 August 2026, with no individual timescales. The next update is due in December 2026.
- The MOD has reported the breach of the regulatory deadline to the Pensions Regulator.
- The Forces Pension Society reported on 23 July 2026 that a growing number of members have had pensions in payment suspended after electing for alternative benefits.
- Veterans UK has acknowledged the suspension problem and undertaken to fix it, with affected cases monitored weekly.
- There is still no fixed calendar deadline for making a remedy election. Every window runs from the date of your own statement.
Where the statement rollout has got to
A Remediable Service Statement is the document that shows your remedy period benefits calculated both ways, so you can compare legacy scheme benefits against AFPS 15 before you elect. Without one, most members cannot sensibly make the choice. That is why the rollout timetable matters.
The original statutory relevant date was 1 April 2025. That was missed. The timetable was then revised to no later than 31 December 2025 for so called non complex cases and 31 March 2026 for complex cases, which include those with pension tax charges, pension sharing orders, medical awards, added pension benefits and FTRS service. In December 2025 the Defence Business Services announced that the revised 31 March 2026 date would also be missed.
| Cohort | Statements sent | Share of cohort |
|---|---|---|
| Active members | 54,963 | 83% |
| Deferred members | 20,469 | 58% |
| Pensioner members | 23,122 | 65% |
| Total sent | 98,554 | |
| Still outstanding | 38,060 |
Those are the figures in the AFPS Annual Report and Accounts 2025-26, as at 22 June 2026. The MOD's own words are that it is "unable to provide a specific completion date for all outstanding RSSs". Mitigations listed include a resource uplift, robotic process automation, and moving subject matter experts onto the most complex cases.
Update, August 2026: the MOD's delivery update
The promised update was published on gov.uk on 26 August 2026, with figures as at 17 August 2026. It reports 99,077 statements issued in total:
| Statement type | Issued |
|---|---|
| Active annual or initial | 40,821 |
| Active choice | 12,890 |
| Deferred annual or initial | 21,734 |
| Deferred choice | 46 |
| Immediate choice | 23,586 |
| Total issued | 99,077 |
The number that matters most for pensioners is the backlog: 11,770 immediate choice statements are still outstanding, which the MOD splits into 4,429 being processed and 7,350 awaiting assessment. It says it is "not yet able to give individual timescales for every remaining statement", and aims to issue them in Service exit date order where possible.
A further 1,566 statements cannot be sent because the MOD holds no current address for the member. If you are a deferred member and have never had an initial statement, contact the MOD with your up to date address.
Do not read the new totals against the June figures in the table above. The MOD changed how it counts: active members are now counted once however many statements they have had, and statements for untraced deferred members have been taken out of the deferred total. The next update is due in December 2026.
Pensions suspended after an election
This is the newer and more alarming problem. On 23 July 2026 the Forces Pension Society said it is supporting a growing number of members whose pensions in payment have been suspended after they made their 2015 remedy election for alternative benefits through an Immediate Choice statement.
In other words: members did exactly what they were asked to do, elected, and then the payment stopped.
The Society says it raised this with senior management at Veterans UK, who acknowledged the problem and undertook to rectify it immediately, and that affected cases will be monitored weekly until it is resolved.
This is reported by the Forces Pension Society only. There is no MOD or Veterans UK statement, no published number of members affected, and no resolution date. If your pension has stopped after an election, contact Veterans UK and, if you are a member, the Forces Pension Society, and keep a written record of every contact.
What this means for your own election
Delay is frustrating but it does not cost you the choice, and it is worth being clear about what has and has not changed.
- There is no fixed calendar deadline for making an AFPS remedy election. Every window runs from the date your own statement was issued.
- Immediate choice: 12 months from the date your statement was first provided. Once made, it is irrevocable.
- Deferred choice: 6 months from the issue date, and the administrator needs the decision no later than 3 months before benefits are payable. It can be revoked up to one calendar month before the first payment.
- If you leave without electing, legacy benefits are paid pending your election, and are adjusted afterwards if needed.
- Interest compensates late payment in both directions, and amounts owed each way are netted off so that usually only one payment is made.
The trap worth repeating, because it catches people every year: for an immediate choice member, legacy benefits may not be the benefits you are currently receiving. If you transitioned to AFPS 15 in April 2015 without protection, you are receiving AFPS 15 style benefits for the remedy period now, so doing nothing changes your pension rather than preserving it.
Our immediate versus deferred choice guide works through which cohort you are in, and the statement guide covers what to check line by line.
Frequently asked questions
Armed Forces Pension Calculator Team
We build the calculators and write the guides on this independent site, working from the official AFPS scheme rules and published sources such as gov.uk, Veterans UK and the Government Actuary's Department. We are not part of the MOD and we are not regulated financial advisers, so everything here is general information, not personal advice.
Sources: gov.uk · GAD factors · Veterans UK · Forces Pension Society · MoneyHelper.