Lost USS pension benefits can be returned and backdated, trustee data confirms
Summary
The majority of pension benefits lost under cuts drawn up by Universities UK (UUK) could be retroactively paid back, returning around £0.5bn to the retirement funds of the 200,000 university staff in the pension scheme.
Employer body UUK forced through a package of cuts in April 2022, which included a cut to pension accrual rates and a cap on protection against inflation. But, under pressure from UCU, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) trustee has released new information which shows the scheme is in such a healthy position that those lost benefits could be paid back, backdated to April - and still leave the scheme in surplus.