New Capita-run Civil Service Pension Scheme - problems (what a surprise!)

KingV1959

I was a public sector employee for most of my working life. I would not expect that the taxpayers/council tax payers who paid for the services provided and my wages should also pay for my refreshments when I was at work. I felt that I was making a contribution to the greater good in supporting the services provided as well as grateful for the decent pension schemes. However, having worked long hours to support the delivery of the 2021 Census I am very disappointed that there is no sign of the pension I am now entitled to despite having completed the horrendous paperwork to get it paid on time. I see that I am one of many in this situation. What can we do to escalate this to ministers? 

HedgehogRulez

Bravepants said:

SimonSeys said:

westv said:

horsewithnoname said:

Apparently some of the information such as beneficiaries might take a while to move across but should get there eventually. 

It’s because the Civil Servants employers don’t know the difference between cost and value and think as cheap as possible is all their employees deserve. 

It’s a very shabby way to treat people, but I don’t imagine they can fathom what life is like for someone who earns just above minimum wage. 

Doesn't surprise me. In the office my wife works  in they have to buy their own tea, coffee and milk for hot drinks.

When I moved from private to public sector, i was surprised this not only did I have to provide my own tea and milk, but I also had to provide my own mug!

You were lucky, when I joined the public sector all we had to drink out of was a cardboard box in the middle of the street!  And yes, we all had to share it!

Look at mr fancy-pants here with their posh free cardboard box! When I worked in the public sector we had to walk barefoot through the cobbled streets in the rain in threadbare clothes for miles in order to be given the opportunity to buy overpriced sewage water to quench our thirst. Would have killed for a cardboard box…

QrizB

KingV1959 said:

... I see that I am one of many in this situation. What can we do to escalate this to ministers? 

You can write to your MP and ask them to raise a query with the relevant minister and/or department.

westv

KingV1959 said:

I was a public sector employee for most of my working life. I would not expect that the taxpayers/council tax payers who paid for the services provided and my wages should also pay for my refreshments when I was at work. I felt that I was making a contribution to the greater good in supporting the services provided as well as grateful for the decent pension schemes.  

As a council tax/tax payer I am appalled that such basic provisions are not supplied.

Suzycoll

Golactico said:

So, Capita have taken over the admin for the CSPS and their new website and members portal went live this week. I have just registered on the new portal and am not in the least bit surprised to find that the information available on the new portal is very scant and incorrect in terms of my length of service. With complications due to breaks in service etc, I certainly had my problems with MyCSP (the previous admin contractors) but as a deferred member, I was reassured that every time I logged in to the portal since leaving the CS a few years back, everything was correct, ready for when I start drawing my CS pension in a few years time. I'm now left wondering what sort of battle I have on my hands to get Capita to restore my pension details back to the correct position? 

Anyone else finding that they have issues following the changeover? 

I'd be grateful for any relevant info on 'teething problems' provided to current Civil Servants, that, as an ex-employee, I'm not party to.

CAPITA 

what a nightmare they will be. In my experience everything they handle is a mess !

I have yet to log into the 'new' portal as I can't bear it 
🫣

Suzycoll

westv said:

horsewithnoname said:

Apparently some of the information such as beneficiaries might take a while to move across but should get there eventually. 

It’s because the Civil Servants employers don’t know the difference between cost and value and think as cheap as possible is all their employees deserve. 

It’s a very shabby way to treat people, but I don’t imagine they can fathom what life is like for someone who earns just above minimum wage. 

Doesn't surprise me. In the office my wife works  in they have to buy there own tea, coffee and milk for hot drinks.

I concur 

In my 24 years as a civil servant (in various departments) I have ALWAYS had to provide own tea coffee mug etc & well everything really

On top of an expensive staff cafeteria & all on earning just above NMW (they had to increase lower grades wages as would have fallen below when NMW was raised) 
😏

ljayljay

This was my experience of the new portal today.

Having already registered on the new portal I logged on in order to view my pension payment for December.

The link I had previously used gave an error message so I clicked on the new link taking me to the home page. My initial username/password failed; however, I then realised that the revised link had taken me direct to the 'employers' hub rather than the 'members hub'. So just be aware that there is a separate 'employers' & 'members' logon page & to make sure you logon from the members hub.

Having input my username/password on the correct logon screen I received the prompt to request the verification code that was then sent to my phone. However, in the time I took to look at my phone the screen went back to requesting a verification code again. On receipt of the second code, I was able to logon, view & print my pension payslip.

On a separate issue I have still not had any response to my secure message dated 8/12/25 for my deferred pension that is due in a few months. I previously received an acknowledgement stating I would receive a response in 7-10 working days, whereas we are now at day 12. I accept that the lead up to the holiday period & new provider could lead to delays, although if so, they should have included this proviso within their acknowledgement. I will leave it well into the new year before chasing up further.

YorkshireGenes

Good morning.  I've just found this thread whilst waiting for Capita to answer the phone!  (Currently at 1h15m, started at number 68, now at 32.)  I still can't access the new portal, have been trying for several weeks, keep getting the same 'details don't match' message.  The one time I called them, after the 3rd attempt a couple of weeks ago, the agent just said they were still having problems and I'd have to keep trying.

Anyway, that isn't why I'm calling them today.  I don't know if anyone else has had this issue but yesterday I got notification from HMRC of a tax code change.  Turns out Capita have told HMRC I've got a new pension.  I haven't, it's the original one, just Capita's re-branded version.  Except they haven't told HMRC that, so HMRC now think I've got 2 pensions paying exactly the same.  HMRC have adjusted my tax codes accordingly, say I owe them over £400 and will be taking it off me during the remainder of this tax year, so instead of about £60/mth tax I'll be paying almost £200/mth.

All because Capita are apparently incapable of finding their proverbial with a map and a torch.

I have already spoken to HMRC this morning (after only a 20-minute wait).  They confirmed the situation is as I'd already guessed, that Capita have duplicated the pension.  But there's nothing they can do about it.  It has to be Capita who tells them that the original pension is no longer in payment, that the 'new' one isn't new.

I wonder if my case is just a one-off or if they've duplicated others.  I do know they haven't duplicated my CS widows pension.  Yet.  Perhaps it's just a matter of time until they get around to that one too.  Maybe they'll wait until somehow my tax is corrected by HMRC, then completely mess it up again.

Meantime I'm still in the queue, I'm at number 27 now so have probably got at least another hour to wait, listening to the constant suggestions that I should look on the portal instead (the one I can't get registered onto, aargh).  I'm not quite sure why I'm even bothering as I'm convinced that as/when/if I eventually get through, Capita will say they can't help and will blame HMRC!

YorkshireGenes

Okay, an update in case it's of use to anyone else.  Eventually got through to an agent after waiting 2h21m.

He couldn't help directly with the HMRC issue but said it must be known about because his system was telling him to raise it as an issue against my account and also log it with his team leader.  Apparently the latter means they're collecting information about a known issue.  Now I just have to wait and see how long it takes them to give HMRC the correct information so it can get sorted.  I'm not hopeful it will be any time soon so it looks like I've got a few lean months ahead. 

Ref not being able to log into the website.  He said they've discovered that's a problem for anyone with more than one record - in my case I have my own CS pension and I have a widows CS pension, so 2 records.  The system can't cope with that, hence it says my information doesn't match.  He told me not to bother trying to register again, it's just a complete waste of time, it will never work.  They are looking to have a big system update in March, after which it may work, but don't bother trying until then.

At least I know now!  But that means any issue I have, I've got no option other than to call and wait in a queue for hours listening to a message telling me I should use the portal instead.  Why don't they just put a note on the home page explaining about the multiple records thing?  Or perhaps that's too public an admission of incompetence.

Julezy101

A truly dreadful experience using the new CAPITA site. I managed to register and login a couple of weeks ago for the first time. Now when I try again I get the message I have failed my login 3 times - I HAVENT. What a downgrade this appears to be. I've logged a support ticket for this to be resolved.