Your benefits before April 2016

Your pensionable service was based on how many days you'd been a member of USS. It included any additional service you'd received by paying AVCs or transferring in pension benefits from another scheme.

If you worked part-time for any period, that period of service would be multiplied by your part-time service fraction – and your pensionable salary would be based on your full-time equivalent salary.

If you were paying these AVCs after 31 March 2016, you will carry on building up an additional Career Revalued Benefit pension. These will then be increased with standard pension increases.

You can cancel your Career Revalued Benefit AVCs at any time. All you need to do is speak to your employer. This will mean you’ll only receive the benefits you’d built up. Think about this carefully first as you won’t be able to restart them once they’re cancelled.

If you were paying Final Salary AVCs and you’ve chosen to carry on paying them, you will have earned more service. After each 31 March, we add in any extra service you've earned to your pre-2016 pensionable service and recalculate your Final Salary benefits. So the benefit you get will be based on your salary on 31 March 2016, although the contributions you pay will depend on your current salary.

You can cancel your AVC whenever you like – simply speak to your employer. This will mean you’ll only receive the benefits you’d built up. This is also the case if your AVCs stop because of early retirement or you decide to leave USS.

Once you’ve cancelled your AVC, you won’t be able to restart it – so please think about this carefully first.