Getting a refund

As long as you’ve only been building your pension with us for less than three months, simply let your employer know you want to stop paying in and complete a Notice to opt out or withdraw from USS form. They’ll then refund you the amount you’ve paid in.

• We’ll refund what you’ve paid in to the Retirement Income Builder, the defined benefit (DB) part of USS. This won’t include any contributions made by your employer under salary sacrifice.
• If you have savings in the Investment Builder, the defined contribution (DC) part of USS, we’ll refund you the part of your Investment Builder pot that’s built up from your contributions (but not those paid by salary sacrifice or those paid by your employer). This may be different to what you paid in if your investments have gone up or down.

You would have received tax relief when you paid in. So we’ll take off 20% (or 50% if your refund’s over £20,000, as you fall into the higher tax bracket) from your refund and pay this to HMRC.

All you need to do is complete the Notice to opt out or withdraw from USS form and return it to your employer.

Remember if you decide to get a refund, you won’t keep your benefits with us. And if you die once you’ve taken your refund, your loved ones won’t receive any benefits either.

If all your contributions were made via salary sacrifice, you won’t be able to get a refund.

But if some were made with salary sacrifice and you made some contributions yourself, you’ll be able to get yours back. Your refund won’t include the salary sacrifice amount or your employer’s contributions.

If you don’t take a refund, you can still take your pension and one-off cash lump sum at retirement. See your pension after leaving for more information. Or you may be able to transfer what you’ve built up to another pension.

If you’re still with your USS employer, take a look at I’ve been paying in for less than two years above.

If you’re no longer with a USS employer, please contact our Member Service Team on 0333 300 1043. They’ll be able to help you with your refund.