Capita (Civil Service Pension) issue - help!

xylophone

I would have been more accurate if I had said "no suggestion that a third payment was received in 2006 or indeed in 2014."

It does appear that neither the OP nor Capita have any record of the actual sums that were paid/received in 2006?

If the sums were known, it would be easy enough to check whether the amounts did indeed tally with three times enhanced pension and eight (?) times annual pension, although I suppose that the "commutation" (?) could have reduced the latter because the payment was made early.

If the latter were substantially in excess of eight times pension then it might indicate that the pension commencement lump sum was included with it.


All we seem to have at the moment is

our recollection

and Capita's statement that they did pay the pension commencement lump sum together with the other two payments.

A letter to Capita ( with photocopies of any documentation) setting out Mrs Stux's position should elicit a letter from Capita setting out their position? - After that, the PAS?

uknick

xylophone wrote: »

A letter to Capita ( with photocopies of any documentation) setting out Mrs uknick's position should elicit a letter from Capita setting out their position? - After that, the PAS?

Is there something I should know? When I last looked there wasn't a Mrs uknick. However, I did wonder what that lump in my bed was all these years

xylophone

Is there something I should know? When I last looked there wasn't a Mrs uknick. However, I did wonder what that lump in my bed was all these years

Sorry - meant Mrs Stux! I have edited!

When I last looked there wasn't a Mrs uknick.

Sorry to hear you're deprived of the pleasure of "the noble wife whose price is above rubies"..... (perhaps that's not very mse)!:rotfl:

BobQ

Has the OP thought of asking the previous employer (as opposed to Capita) for information about the terms of redundancy? My understanding is that the civil service retains a personal file on its staff long after they retire. So they may have an archived file with some additional information.

Agencies have some delegated authorities to vary the standard civil service conditions. So it is possible that an employer may have a non-standard retirement package.

That said I cannot see the PCSPS varying its basic condition that it pays the pension and pension lump sum at the same time.

Stux

Thank you for the responses all, just catching up.

xylophone wrote "It does appear that neither the OP nor Capita have any record of the actual sums that were paid/received in 2006?"

Actually, we do have a record in the form of the letter from Capita on 28 March 2006, which included an attachment outlining the payments due to my wife then (on 1 April 2006) and now (on 30 April 2014). For clarity I'm including the amounts and the wording in that letter:

Preserved Lump Sum - Gross Lump Sum £7793.10, less WPS Liability £1948.26, Net Lump Sum (payable 30/04/2014) £5844.84.

Compensation Benefits - Lump Sum compensation payment (payable 01/04/2006) £8480.84, Lump sum payment from commutation of Annual Compensation Payment (payable 01/04/2006) £17839.90.

That letter also gives: Gross Pension (payable 30/04/2014) at £2597.70pa.

Capita say, but have not yet provided evidence, that they also paid the £5844.84 in 2006 - because we cannot get the bank statement from that time we cannot provide evidence that they did not, but our recollection is that they did not. Indeed, our feelings are that had they done so we would have queried it - we had been querying the payment levels they were quoting regarding the commuted pension all the way through the process, so we would not have let it go if we were overpaid.

Again - thanks for your help, all we are seeking from Capita is clear evidence that they paid this sum in 2006. Even if they produce that, I'd also like some explanation from them as to why the letters they sent on 28 March 2006 (outlining payments as above) and then again in March 2014 both confirmed that a commuted lump sum and pension was due.

The fight will go on - thanks BobQ for the suggestion of contacting former employer, that would seem to be an avenue to take.

Annie1960

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CSCSDec2010_tcm6-38441.pdf

Is it safe to assume your wife was in Classic?

You say the terms were enhanced, but was it compulsory or flexible terms?

Stux

It was indeed Classic, compulsory terms we believe but special conditions appears to have made the whole thing very smoky

Annie1960

What special conditions?

Your wife's exit seems similar to mine (in 2011) so I'm trying to go through stuff to work it out.

Your wife was in classic.
She was over 50 when she exited.
She commuted her annual compensation payment for a lump sum (I did not do this, but I understand what you mean).
She was married when she left, hence no refund of W&O.


1. What other 'special terms' applied?

2. Did she have any extra pension arrangements via Cabinet Office (Equitable Life, Scottish Widows or Standard Life?)

3. Did she have an 'actuarially reduced' pension, or was the early retirement purely due to the fact they moved the work to a different location that was too far away for her to travel to daily? (I'm assuming it was too far, I don't really know Scotland that well).

Annie1960

FIRST QUESTION
I've dug out my old paperwork, and see that I had to make a choice of which option I wanted. I did not have the option you are describing that Mrs Stux had. Sorry this post is going to be a bit long, but I will type in the options I was given.

Choice 1: Immediate compensation payment and preserved pension.

Choice 2: Immediate compensation payment and immediate pension on reduced terms (subject to the Guaranteed Minimum Pension test).

Choice 3: Immediate payment of pension plus immediate payment of any balance of the compensation payment.

Choice 4; Immediate payment of pension. Some or all of the compensation payment to be used to buy added pension.

OR (only available if you are aged 55 or over) This one is rather long so I won't type it out as I gather from your post that your wife was under 55, so this would not have been an option anyway).

Choice 5: Immediate compensation payment and pension reduced for early payment. Some or all of the compensation payment to be used to buy added pension (subject to the Guaranteed Minimum Pension test).

OR (another option only available to those aged 55 or over on early retirement).

Choice 6: Immediate compensation payment and preserve my pension. Some or all of the compensation payment to be used to buy added pension.


Q: As your wife was in a different govt dept, the wording may have been slightly different, but do you have any paperwork showing which option she ticked?


SECOND QUESTION
There is some standard blurb about preserved pension, which I type out below.

What happens when you preserve my pension benefits?

Capita Hartshead, the agent that pays Civil Service pensions and compensation lump sums, will preserve your benefits on our behalf. They will apply cost of living increases (pension increases) each year where applicable.

Capital Hartshead will send you a statement each year, updating the value of the benefits you are likely to get at your scheme's pension age. You should check it to make sure your personal details and death benefit nomination(s) are correct.

Q: Has Mrs Stux been receiving an annual statement from Capita showing the value at aged 60?

xylophone

What special conditions?

I did not have the option you are describing that Mrs Stux had.

Mrs stux was given enhanced terms- see post 1.

If your letter represented the standard terms then Mrs stux's were not standard terms because they do not seem to relate to what was offered in her case?