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

stumpedandnonplussed

I am responding to Martin Lewis' call for people affected by Civil Service Pension problems to get in touch.

I fully retired from the Civil Service 31 December 2025 after nearly 24 years service. Unfortunately the administration of my full pension has got gummed-up in the MyCSP - Capita handover.

I sent an email to MyCSP in November to answer a data entry query on a form (I ticked the wrong box). It turned out this was very close to the handover. I've had no response from MyCSP or Capita.

I have been expecting a 'finalisation statement' so that I can receive my full pension allowance from end Jan 2026 onwards. So far radio silence. I imagine the  full pension I am hoping for will not be available by end of January.

It seems pretty fruitless trying to get anyone to answer the 'phone or respond to an email.

From a personal viewpoint this is very disappointing and frustrating, although I am lucky enough to be able to ride this out for a while. Some people are clearly in a less fortunate position.

However I understand administration problems with Civil Service Pensions are system-wide and long-established.

I hope Martin Lewis and his colleagues can help to improve things soon and in the longer term. I am grateful to them for taking an interest.

Elvie100

I have just come across this:

https://www.capita.com/news-and-insights/news/2026/civil-service-pensions-scheme-service-delivery-update

We know many members are experiencing challenges with the Civil Service Pensions Scheme at this time. We are sorry for any delays and frustration this has caused, and we want to be clear on what is happening and what we’re doing to put things right.

What has happened

Capita took over the administration of the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS) on 1 December 2025. As part of the transition, we inherited a significant volume of outstanding work from the previous provider, including a backlog of 86,000 work in progress cases. As a result of this there have been serious issues affecting members’ ability to access some services, including delays to pension quotes and payments for newly retired members, long waits on customer service calls, and difficulties accessing the portal. 

We are doing everything we can to reduce this backlog and resume normal service levels, and are working closely with the Cabinet Office and HMRC, to resolve these issues as a matter of urgency.

What we are doing 

We have taken immediate steps to strengthen the service:

• Dedicated teams are in place to work specifically on inherited cases to reduce waiting times as quickly as possible.
• We are prioritising cases where there are bereavements, members going into retirement and hardship situations.
• Increasing capacity – Capita has over 500 full-time equivalent colleagues working on CSPS. Across January and February, we are increasing resources to handle more cases and deliver better response times at the contact centre. 
• Introducing new tools and features – Over the coming months, members will gain access to services such as Track My Case and Retire Online, providing greater clarity and control over their case and retirement options. 2025 Annual Benefits Statements will be available on the portal shortly.

 

We expect to restore service levels for the most urgent cases by the end of February, before full recovery of the remaining priority cases.

As we work through longstanding cases, members are likely to experience slower response times. 

If your query is less urgent, we encourage you to raise an online enquiry via the pensions portal, allowing us to prioritise urgent cases through the telephone helpline. More details on this are included in the “Frequently Asked Questions” below.

Please be assured that if you are having difficulty accessing the portal or your details appear incomplete, your data is not lost. We are working to resolve these issues and will notify all members as soon as the portal is fully operational

Frequently asked questions

1. When will the backlog be fully resolved?

• We are doing everything we can to reduce this backlog and resume normal service levels.
• We are rolling out new digital features designed to enhance member experience, with full implementation scheduled by the end of March. Throughout February, we’ll also be adding further features that will reduce wait times and give members increased control over their pensions.
• We encourage those with less urgent requests to raise an online enquiry outlining the issue via the pensions portal, allowing urgent cases to be prioritised via the telephone helpline.

 

2. What classifies as an urgent case?

• Death-in-service cases, ill-health retirements and hardship situations.
• Members awaiting their first pension payment, or those expecting a retirement or exit lump sum, as these payments are time critical.
• Bereaved families or representatives, including those notifying us of a member’s death.

 

3. What can I do if I have an urgent issue?

• We encourage members to use the secure mailbox in their pensions portal for case-specific queries as much as possible.
• Where phone support is needed, the helpline remains available. Due to high demand, callers will likely experience a significantly longer than normal wait time.

 

4. What can I do if I have a less urgent issue?

• We encourage members to use the secure mailbox in their pensions portal for case-specific queries as much as possible.
• You can raise a secure message via the portal and include a brief description of the issue.
• One of our specialists will assist you as soon as they can.

 

5. What can I do if I’m having problems with the portal?

• Our programme of enhancements for CSPS members is being rolled out in phases over the coming months. In time, this will streamline the administration process and offer more tailored support structures to members. In the meantime, there will be some functions within the portal that you will not have full access to.
• If you continue to have issues, please submit a query using the ‘Contact Us’ webform on the same site. This will allow us to triage your query without you waiting on the phone.
• If access is blocked, call the helpline, and your case will be created and tracked. You will likely experience a significantly longer than normal wait time.
• One of our specialists will assist you as soon as they can.

 

6. What can I do if I have submitted an online query but haven’t heard back?

• If you have made an enquiry though the portal and you still haven’t heard from us after 10 working days, we sincerely apologise.
• If this is the case and your situation is urgent, or if you are someone that cannot use digital channels, please call our phoneline.
• Additional dedicated lines exist for bereavement and financial hardship which members can find on the portal.

daisy_1571

Thanks Elvie, that wasn't there yesterday when I was looking at their site but I see its dated yesterday so it must have gone on later in the afternoon. 

Too early (I presume) to have been instigated by the hmrc help?  

Either way its reassuring to see them acknowledge and give people information 

QrizB

500 FTEs sounds a lot but with 86000 outstanding cases that's ~170 cases each, even ignoring all the new work that's come in since the handover.

I don't know how much work it is to deal with putting a DB pension into payment, but it seems non-trivial. If each FTE can reduce.the backlog by one case a day, it's going to take 8 months before they clear it.

ali_bear

The phrase "rolled out in phases over the coming months" sounds superficially reassuring until you're the person who has just retired and now has months of no lump sum or pension income. 

JoeCrystal

QrizB said:

500 FTEs sounds a lot but with 86000 outstanding cases that's ~170 cases each, even ignoring all the new work that's come in since the handover.

I don't know how much work it is to deal with putting a DB pension into payment, but it seems non-trivial. If each FTE can reduce.the backlog by one case a day, it's going to take 8 months before they clear it.

Of course, it is to cover all elements from HR, Audits and any other running of the companies. Payroll and so on. Wouldn't be surprised if high numbers of staffs would be call centre staffs which mean people actually make decisions or having to manually calculated based on old paperwork would be much much smaller. After all, Capita did say that 95% of the workload should be done without any inputs from their staffs which apparently didn;t go well! 

Isthisforreal99

daisy_1571 said:

Thanks Elvie, that wasn't there yesterday when I was looking at their site but I see its dated yesterday so it must have gone on later in the afternoon. 

Too early (I presume) to have been instigated by the hmrc help?  

Either way its reassuring to see them acknowledge and give people information 

What HMRC help? There ia none in terms of bodies.

johnnyfreedosh

I believe the front line Capita employees manning the phones know very little other than details you already know i.e NI number DOB Address and perhaps minor things like previous call notes.

   Example being I spoke will a call agent the day before I got my lump sum and during call she had no idea it was going to be paid the next day.   All she could tell me was it was with the "finilisation team" and she didn't know anything else other than that.

You have no chance of speaking with anyone else other than a frontline call agent which makes it even more frustrating (I'm not blaming them it's the system)

Again for anyone trying to guage timelines my position:

Retired on 1st Dec
Lump sum received 9th Jan
Still awaiting first pension payment.
No letters -emails - lump sum certificate or in fact any correspondence from MyCSP or Capita received.

I can only be thankful I got my lump sum which will see me through the storm.   

I feel so sorry for those who have already retired and are still waiting on payment and those due to retire in coming months as it's not likely to be resolved any time soon.

indiasign

My wife and I put our forms through in late December with a retirement date of 14th May, so I’m just hoping it’s sorted by then. 

daisy_1571

Isthisforreal99 said:

daisy_1571 said:

Thanks Elvie, that wasn't there yesterday when I was looking at their site but I see its dated yesterday so it must have gone on later in the afternoon. 

Too early (I presume) to have been instigated by the hmrc help?  

Either way its reassuring to see them acknowledge and give people information 

What HMRC help? There ia none in terms of bodies.

Sorry, I was meaning this new person, Angela Macdonald, perhaps coming in and saying first thing - get a message on the website telling people


https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/civil-service-pension-scheme-hmrc-second-perm-sec-angela-macdonald-asked-to-lead-team-to-help-tackle-issues