Your NHS AVC
Here's a reminder of how AVCs work, so you can decide if changing your AVC contributions is right for you.
- An AVC plan is a separate pot of money you build up alongside your NHS pension, that aims to give you extra retirement benefits.
- Regular contributions are taken directly from your pay before tax. This means you benefit from tax savings, as the money you'd normally pay as income tax, will go into your AVC pot instead.
- If you don’t pay tax, you won’t have been benefiting from tax savings on your pension contributions up to 5 April 2024. The Government has introduced arrangements for individuals who are not paying tax on their earnings to claim tax relief on their employee contributions to the scheme. This applies to contributions paid from 6 April 2024 onwards.
- Tax savings will depend on your individual circumstances. Rules can also change.
- The size of your AVC pot will depend on how much you pay in, how long you pay in for, the impact of costs, charges and how well the fund(s) you invest in perform.
- Your AVC pot is a separate pot of money, which means you don’t have to take it at the same time as your NHS pension scheme benefits.
- To increase your contributions, you must be actively contributing to your NHS pension scheme.
For more information, please read your Key Features Document in the 'Before you change your AVC contributions' section of this site.
You may need more money than you think when you retire as
- your savings may not go as far in the future if inflation makes the price of goods and services go up
- people are generally living longer and spending more time retired, so your savings will need to last you longer, and
- your NHS pension scheme benefits might not be enough to fund the kind of lifestyle you want in retirement.
If the worst happens and you pass away before you’re eligible to take your money, we’ll pay the value as a lump sum. This will normally be to your spouse, civil partner, dependants or your legal representative.
You should regularly review your AVC pot to check you're on track to achieve the lifestyle you want when you stop working. Register for our online service, or login if you already have an account, to check the value of your AVC pot online. You can also check your AVC value in your Annual Benefit Statement. Remember, if you've changed your employer at any stage and had to start a new AVC pot, you may have more than one pot to review.
You can use your AVCs to buy life cover from Prudential. For more information, please read your Key Features Document or call us for a pack. You'll find our number and the Key Features Document in the 'Before you change your AVC contributions' section of this site. Your NHS pension scheme has other options to increase your retirement benefits. Visit their website for more information.
More information
Tax savings
One reason you might choose to save for your retirement with AVCs, alongside your main scheme pension, is the tax savings they offer.
Flexible contributions
Life isn’t always as simple as we'd like it to be. Some things take us by surprise and those surprises can cost money.
Changing your investment
There’s no need to feel overwhelmed, when it comes to reviewing your AVC pot.
Flexible ways to take your money
You have a number of options to choose from when you decide to take money from your AVC pot, which you can currently do from age 55 (57 from 6 April 2028, unless you have a protected pension age), or possibly earlier if you're in ill health.
Trusted provider partnership
Prudential is an international financial services company, and long established provider of life insurance and pensions in the UK.
"Prudential" is a trading name of Prudential Distribution Limited. Prudential Distribution Limited is registered in Scotland. Registered Office at 5 Central Way, Kildean Business Park, Stirling, FK8 1FT. Registered number SC212640. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prudential Distribution Limited is part of the same corporate group as the Prudential Assurance Company Limited. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited and Prudential Distribution Limited are direct/indirect subsidiaries of M&G plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom. These companies are not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America or Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in the United Kingdom.