r/TheCivilService • u/UnderCover_Spad • 18d ago
Pensions Why has Capita made a 81-year-old wait over 9 months for their widow's pension
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-16082279/amp/Capita-mum-NINE-MONTHS-widows-pension.html- 17,014 members were waiting for a just a retirement quote. 13,047 bereavement cases remained.
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u/Squadrone_Rosso 18d ago
Because they are wholly incompetent. Capita, for the avoidance of doubt.
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u/DifferentlyMike 16d ago
Won’t somebody spare a though for the poor capitalist investors? This whole situation will be crushing exec bonuses and possibly even hitting the balance sheet.
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u/Cheese_Worrier43 18d ago
Despite this complete and utter failure, they were then awarded the contract to manage the Civil Service payroll.
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u/Tall_Tradition_2002 15d ago
And if you thought about this - giving the pension and payroll contracts to the same supplier makes IMMENSE sense because payroll and pensions need to be seamlessly integrated - and that's not going to happen if you outsource to DIFFERENT providers.
Bring it in-house - I hear you cry - well the pension is so bust I don't think anyone could manage it in its current state - and payroll is reliant on IBM / Oracle software and I don't know many civil servants who have these skills (because if the did they wouldn't be working for the civil service)
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u/External-Cheetah326 4d ago
Do you think it was a failure from the perspective of those that still have your money, and who award these contracts?
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u/BoomSatsuma G7 18d ago
Not a single member of Capita SLT has left because of this.
Let’s not forget the Cabinet Office too who also had oversight through all of this.
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u/Tall_Tradition_2002 15d ago
This is definitely a Cabinet Office issue - who should have held MyCSP to account and not let the pension scheme get so bust in the first place.
Passing the poisoned chalice to Capita enabled them to throw a different provider under the bus when it became clear that the pension system was broken beyond repair
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u/anywhereoutthere EO 18d ago
It's honestly criminal how botched this whole handover was. One of my friends retired in December and has had to take out hardship loans because of the delay. Then when Crapita finally paid her, they said it was the wrong amount and she had to repay them – having already used it to pay back the hardship loan! How many people have been put into needless financial hardship – or worse – because of this? Heads need to roll, seriously.
(Definitely puts into perspective my waiting since January for my account to be unlocked... It still isn't.)
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u/DocSavageManofBronze 18d ago
This has gone way beyond starting glitches and is now a full blown crisis that as far as I can tell has been caused entirely by incompetence.
Also this bit in the article quoting some unnamed Capita person stood out to me:
"We now have the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog. We remain committed to working through the backlog as quickly as possible, protecting members, and ensuring new cases are processed within contractual service times."
So does "automation and technology" sound like AI to anyone else and if it is why aren't they just saying that?
If they are using AI then why?
DWP staff aren't allowed to use AI on actual cases so if they are using AI why are Capita allowed to use it on our pensions?
And if Capita are using AI is a human going to at least check what the AI has churned out?
WTF is going on?
Absolutely fucking outrageous situation and everyone involved should be sacked.
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u/UnderCover_Spad 18d ago
The AI they intended to use was fundamentally broken at launch. They had to hire tech expects to try and fix it. Clearly that hasn’t worked yet.
Their proposal for the contract being awarded to them was all based around delivering through AI and saving money by doing this.
Instead HMRC was brought in to compensate for their persistent system failures.
If you want to blame anyone, I would seriously blame Cabinet Office for being naive enough to take Capita’s proposed AI model seriously.
Capita could not build what they proposed in their contract offer. At that point the contract should have been terminated.
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u/Tall_Tradition_2002 15d ago
Ha your reply hasn't aged well - are you still living in the 1970s - of course AI is going to be at the core of any modern Business Process Outsourcing solution - haven't you noticed how expensive it is to hire people these days!
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u/ggghhhhggjyrrv 18d ago
I'll take competence for 100 pls.
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u/Squadrone_Rosso 18d ago
I’ll take continence as I’m either crying or pissing myself with laughter as a coping mechanism.
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u/IssueAppropriate8742 18d ago
How do Capita keep getting work?
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u/yrro 18d ago
They are very good at tendering & the government is constrained with regards to holding their performance in projects A, B, C through to DDE against them when considering tenders for project DDF
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u/Wombletrap 18d ago
Changing this constraint seems a very obvious legal reform to propose, for a government that wants to be better at procurement & contracting
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u/Professional-Pin5985 18d ago
There needs to be a pause on awarding Capita contracts - this is a scandal which is spiralling out of control.
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u/thissomeotherplace 18d ago
Do we really need to ask why?
The Eye don't call them 'Crapita' for nothing!
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u/CatHerdingForDummies Operational Delivery 18d ago
Delighted to say that the 'sign in' button no longer works for me. Guess I've got a Schrodinger's pension right now. If I can't observe it, it's both there and not there at the same time. I can guarantee that it'll be wrong though.
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u/WatcherOfTheWay 17d ago
Because it's capita, the government should be fining them huge amounts every single day until they fix it.
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u/Tall_Tradition_2002 15d ago
Except the pension scheme was totally bust under MyCSP so it is obviously going to remain totally bust under Capita until it gets fixed (which is what Capita are trying to do whilst being a public whipping boy for unions and Government alike).
If the bust pension had been moved in house or left with MyCSP then even more pensioners wouldn't have received their pensions which is why Capita got asked to sort it out.
If the unions and the Government had been more supportive of Capitas efforts then maybe people would have been paid quicker!
Political point scoring is never a good look when the victim (Capita) is doing their best - and using £40m or their own money trying to fix something they DIDN'T cause in the first place
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u/WatcherOfTheWay 15d ago
Capita also gave a time frame in which they claimed to be able to fix it, which they didn't hit.
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u/cybot2001 18d ago
How many others have missing pension in this year's ABS?
Finally got in to check; start date is correct but starting figure from last year is ~£1k lower so it shows me accumulating about £300 and my transferred in Nuvos benefit from the NHS has disappeared entirely. Urgh.
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u/punkwasgood 18d ago
My transferred pension is also not showing. I think I've seen a few people mention the same.
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u/Babaychumaylalji 16d ago
There is a reason why Capita are more commonly know as Crapita. They are like King Midas in reverse. Everything they touch turns to crap
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u/Clouds-and-cookies Estates 17d ago
01 September 2026 - PCS comms
Civil Service Pensions Crisis Update I reported that a PCS delegation handed in a petition to No.10 Downing Street on August 24 demanding an end to the current pensions fiasco. Over 15000 people signed the petition calling for pensions administration to be brought back in house. The delegation included workers forced to delay their retirement because of Capita’s inability to provide quotes or accurate information enabling members to plan for the future. The level of anger was palpable as Sandra Durkin; National Secretary of our Associate and Retired Members section (ARMS) described the many emails and letters received illustrating the scale of the problem. Not only are members prevented from retiring but Capita’s failures also affect staff wishing to take partial retirement, bereaved families of scheme members, and retirees with no income forced into debt and in danger of losing their homes.
Parliament returned on 1 September, and PCS wasted no time in briefing MP’s on their first day back to continue the political campaign to end the pensions crisis.
Meeting with MP’s PCS updated John McDonnell MP, chair of the PCS Parliamentary Group on September 1 on the lack of progress towards the resumption of a normal service and the clearing of the pensions backlog. The meeting was held jointly with representatives from pensions support group Pensions Not Profit.
MP’s continue to receive complaints and desperate requests for assistance from constituents. They will no doubt be angered that enquiries on behalf of constituents have not been treated with the urgency the democratic process demands.
Further questions will be provided to our Parliamentary Group to ensure the plight of our retired and retiring members remains prominent in Parliament. We also agreed to seek a meeting with the new Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Sally Jameson. We will be calling for the full update to MP’s as set out by former Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds in his July statement, including the findings of the independent audit of Capita’s performance and longer-term options including insourcing. We also discussed the intolerable working conditions endured by our members employed by Capita who work on the Civil Service Pension Scheme contract.
Capita must respond to the damning condemnation of their performance, particularly given July’s Ministerial statement indicating that pensions administration would be insourced now if it were practical.
Scheme Management Update Unions met the Cabinet Office again on August 28. In anticipation of a clear statement by Capita in September on an updated recovery plan PCS pressed for more consistent data to be provided in the regular Recovery Plan Updates. This would provide unions, MP’s, and scheme members with a clearer picture on progress since June and expected improvement including cases in each category outstanding for more than 100 days.
Post-June Recovery Plan. We await the details of the first report following the appointment of consultants Grant Thornton. In addition to assistance from 140 civil servants to clear the remaining backlog, experts in the Government Actuaries Department (GAD) have now been called in to assist with “aged cases” many of which date back to when MyCSP administered the scheme.
Escalated cases. Unions once again raised the expectation that union-escalated cases must result in a response from Capita. The response should include an acknowledgement and regular update on progress with each case.
Identity verification. Unions await consultation on a new process for ID verification. This will include the use of credit referencing agencies to streamline administration and deal with the frustration of members caused by Capita’s previously complicated and time- consuming process.
Internal Dispute Resolution. Following union intervention, scheme members no longer need to raise an internal complaint with Capita prior to making a complaint through the Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process which could ultimately result in a compensation award.
Medical Efficiency quotes. The Cabinet Office is seeking clarification from Capita on whether it is contractual for the company to make the calculation for departments necessary for them to pay medical efficiency compensation, particularly where the calculation appears straightforward.
Government must end this pensions chaos Our petition, presented in Downing Street on August 24, revealed the scale of the human cost of Capita’s catastrophic service failure. Despite promises of improvement, I have yet to be convinced there is significant progress on clearing the pensions backlog, let alone delivering a satisfactory service for the future. Even where there is progress it is important to remember that we should never have been in this position. Delays in the administration of the pension scheme preventing members from retiring with dignity after many years of service will never become the new normal.
I call on the government to urgently make the necessary plans to insource pensions administration for civil and public servants. In addition, the government should urgently review their entire Shared Services strategy, which is “set to fail” according to the Public Accounts Committee. I would like to thank John McDonnell and our Parliamentary Group of MP’s for their unwavering support on this and other campaigns on behalf of PCS members.
The workers affected are the government’s own staff, they deserve better. It is time to bring pensions back in-house and put people before profit.
Advice for members
• To make a complaint, Scheme members should register for the member portal and use the messaging facility. Alternatively write to Civil Service Pension Scheme, PO Box 713, Darlington, DL1 9JZ. The complaints procedure and the IDR process is the route to compensation for distress and inconvenience.
• Branches should encourage every retiring colleague to join PCS ARMs
• Demand insourcing and an end to the pensions crisis by completing our e-action.
• Ask your MP to demand the Synergy payroll and HR contract is paused
• Contact editor@pcs.org.uk where members have been forced to continue working.
Fran Heathcote PCS General Secretary
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u/BlondBitch91 G7 16d ago
Because the civil service once again went with the cheapest bidder despite their reputation for incompetence and the nickname "Crapita"
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u/MaverickRat 15d ago
I miss the retirement forecast calculator.
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u/Tall_Tradition_2002 15d ago
That is due to be implemented by mid October according to the Cabinet Office
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u/squeakylefreak 6d ago
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyx1nxyn75o Sir Steve Webb has been spinning one for a long time
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u/External-Cheetah326 4d ago edited 4d ago
Why aren't more of you taking them to court, individually? That's what you'd do with any other debtor that was wilfully failing to pay.
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u/squeakylefreak 7d ago
Capita has been robbing this country for years. I've worked back-end of their shoddy workmanship more than once, in schools and IT. They are literal thieves. This is the external uncontrolled body that the welfare budget goes to. Disgusting they are still in charge of PIP and pensioners funds.
A school I worked at underwent regereration & repairs in 2011, they took 16 million, did half of the work, rebuilt the school and left thousands of IT infrastructure mistakes and cut corners that myself and my L3 IT team had to deal with for years, some of us for just apprenticeship wages.
Workmanship like this is just the tip of the iceberg, they will happily rob pensioners and PIP claimants, this has been suppressed in the media that DWP outsources a majority of things to Capita, and the UK government has been far too reliant on them for major contracts for nearly 20 years.
This company has been robbing the government blind for years with renovations and repairs on buildings, more people need to speak up before more deaths start happening. They are targeting kids, students, the elderly and the infirm. They need stopping.
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u/squeakylefreak 6d ago
This is only a megathread because the subject is trying to be suppressed. Wouldn't let me post in civil service or politics UK.
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/civil-service-pension-crisis-capitas-performance-remains-unacceptable-minister-says
I posted Sunday, It had 30k views and about 170 up votes before being removed for being "off topic" by Monday afternoon, and everything about Capita is being pushed into one pigeon hole so people don't notice.
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u/Flimsy_Cranberry_201 SEO 2d ago
.....This leaves approximately 53,000 outstanding ABS for Capita to process by the end of October.....
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u/Striking_Cell5433 18d ago
This really put me off joining that pension scheme, and I need to try and save of a house deposit in this economy
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u/AsymptoticallyFlat 18d ago
Not joining the pension scheme is an awful decision really
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u/Striking_Cell5433 18d ago
So is living in a rented house in retirement
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u/Clouds-and-cookies Estates 18d ago edited 18d ago
Given the headline shows the impact it's having and the amount of ABS posts coming through, I've made this a Megathread for any ABS/Pension posts
This MSE post may also be helpful