Part 1: Public Service Pension Schemes Chapter 1: Schemes other than Judicial Schemes and Local Government Schemes Section 15: Pension contributions: pensioner and deceased members
Section 15 provides for any overpayment or underpayment of member contributions made in relation to the remediable service of a pensioner or deceased member to be corrected. By virtue of section 2(4), contributions liabilities are unaffected by section 2 for any member that is retrospectively returned to the legacy scheme under that section. However, when compared to the contributions that the member would have paid, had they always been in their legacy scheme, there may be a notional over or underpayment. Similarly, where a member opts for new scheme benefits, they may have paid more or less in contributions than they would have had they been a member of the new scheme, leading to a notional over or underpayment of contributions.
	Section 15(3) and 15(4) provide that where at the operative time (see definition at section 15(5)), in relation to remediable service, there is a difference between the amount of member contributions paid by a pensioner or deceased member and the amount of member contributions that would have been paid by that pensioner or deceased member to the relevant legacy scheme, any surplus or shortfall must be covered. In other words, section 15(3) provides that the scheme manager must pay compensation in respect of any overpaid contributions, while section 15(4) provides that the pensioner or a representative of a deceased member must pay to the scheme any amounts required in contributions to make up an underpayment.
	Section 15(5) defines the operative time. If an election under section 6 is made to receive new scheme benefits then the operative time is either the time the election is made, or if later, the coming into force of section 2(1) in relation to the Chapter 1 legacy scheme. If no election is made, the operative time is the end of the section 6 election period in relation to the pensioner or deceased member.
	Section 15(6) defines the term "the paid contributions amount" and includes any member contributions paid to a Chapter 1 legacy or new scheme and, where an election has been made under section 5 for opted-out service to be reinstated, any contributions paid to a partnership pension account.
	Section 15(7) provides that in determining the contributions that have been paid by a pensioner or deceased member under section 15(3) and 15(4), where the contributions were to a partnership pension account, that amount includes any tax relief deducted at source in relation to the contributions.
	Section 15(8) defines the term "the adjusted contributions amount", which is the amount of contributions that the pensioner or deceased member would have paid in relation to their remedial service had they always been a member of the relevant scheme, reflecting whether they have chosen to receive legacy or new scheme benefits in relation to that service.
	The reason for taking this approach is to ensure that pensioner or deceased members pay the correct contributions for the benefits that they receive. In most of the public service schemes, contributions rates are the same for legacy schemes and new schemes; however there are differences in some of the schemes and, further, the definition of pensionable pay will also vary between some legacy schemes and new schemes (for example overtime and allowances are not usually pensionable in a final salary scheme, but might be in a career average scheme). Section 18(2) and 18(3) makes further provision for an adjustment so that the member is placed in the correct position net of tax.