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

Lancashireexile

A week of total frustration and unresolved problems. On-line registration catastrophic; used email address in one unsuccessful application and now advised I can’t use this email address on a subsequent application. Telephone lines didn’t ring on most occasions and then told I was 110 in the queue; after 30 minute wait, down to 107. Utterly useless.

LozDee

So annoying.  I had applied to take my deferred pension from October this year as I need it to get a mortgage to ensure that I have a place to live from early 2026.

Pension didn't arrive at the end of October and although frustrated, I decided to see if it would be sorted by end-November.  It wasn't and then we add the transfer to the new supplier portal....

On Tue 2 Dec, the "15 min registration" took around 35 mins - I know my details by heart so it wasn't me. Then, I got the "we can't log you in because your details don't match. You need to call us" error message.

I was 143rd in the call queue... 1 hour and 53 mins later, I was 48th. Unfortunately the call signal dropped out on my way to work... I tried again in the afternoon and was 78th. 2 hours later I was answered. The operator was polite and apologetic but didn't ask for any details or even attempt to retrieve my details but almost immediately said that the website was down as not all information had synced across to the new portal and hope to have it sorted by the end of the week. I fed back that they should put a message on the website and on the phone line to save people waiting for 2 hours to be told nothing.

Fri 5 Dec - called again. 34 mins wait. Operator was again apologetic but said the same as the earlier operator - information not synced, hope to have it working next week. I asked when next week as I had been told the same thing on Tue - suggested next Friday...

I advised that I was due my pension from October onwards and although this was noted, again, didn't ask for any details or attempt to look into my account - just try again next week. 

The call waiting message constantly tells you that the best way to get in touch and manage your pension queries is via the portal. I would happily do that if I could get into the thing!

It seems that they've had to transition to an unready supplier/service because of the time-out of the old service contract which was already in a mess. They are therefore declaring the roll out as being "on time"!

The issues aren't just teething, they're not ready and they've put people on the end of phone lines to take the flak.

MACKEM99

ali_bear said:

Let's face it, this transfer has been done to save UK Govt the operating expenses. Crapita must have pulled out all the stops to make their bid as low as was possible. We can't expect things to improve even after the initial period. Give it time and Crapita may eventually achieve a barely acceptable level of service. 

Pay peanuts get monkeys.

kassy64

I've been trying to input beneficiary details for a few days without success. tried this morning and it appears to have updated successfully.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

MACKEM99 said:

ali_bear said:

Let's face it, this transfer has been done to save UK Govt the operating expenses. Crapita must have pulled out all the stops to make their bid as low as was possible. We can't expect things to improve even after the initial period. Give it time and Crapita may eventually achieve a barely acceptable level of service. 

Pay peanuts get monkeys.

I'm confused, is that a suggestion for how to improve things 😳

Taylor2000

Pension portal launch fail sends Capita running to Microsoft for help

https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/05/capita_microsoft_pension_portal/?td=rt-3a

JoeCrystal

Hmm, it almost that they shouldn't even bother. What a waste of taxpayer money. Maybe Capita did it on the cheap.

indiasign

Well, having left it a week for the “teething troubles” to be sorted out, I decided to try and register on the new portal and, I have to say, other than a short delay every time I entered some new information, the registration process was fairly pain free. 

Multi factor authentication worked perfectly, I left it the suggested 15 minutes between registering and actually trying to login to my account, and got in with no problems - they even have my length of service correct. That’s the good bit.

However, there are still issues - no beneficiary details (no problem, I understand they’re in the process of being transferred over, or there is a link for adding them again), no ABS (again, no problem, I downloaded mine before the MyCSP site closed down).

Payslips are fine, but the P60 looks wrong (says I have received £X amount, paid £Y tax, but then changes the net “paid” amount to zero. It also still refers to Comet, for some reason! 😀

There’s no retirement modeller, and when you click the alternative link for Early Retirement, it actually takes you to a download for the EPA calculator, which itself is useless, because it won’t let you put any figures in!

So, some bits work, but some still need some “development”

KJ1964

Has anyone successfully complained to the Pensions Ombudsman?

I partially retired two months ago and have still not received my pension or lump sum.  Multiple issues with MyCSP, the previous jokers administering the scheme and the new crowd seem just as hopeless.

It seems unbelievable to me that you cannot speak to anyone directly dealing with your pension other than a call handler.

MyCSP did not appear to adhere to the IDR process and I’m getting the impression that Capita will not follow it through.

Has Anyone got any recommendations of how to effectively escalate issues?

ljayljay

Early thoughts on new platform

When I first tried to access site a few days ago I just received an error message, so not very promising.

I am due my deferred pension in approx. 4 months so submitted an online request to MyCSP earlier in November, oblivious to the changeover to Capita. I did not receive an acknowledgement so was unsure if my request had been forwarded to Capita to action.

However, I have just been able to register with the new platform today which was relatively straightforward without any glitches. I am already in receipt of a Premium CS pension & these details were showing correctly. However, there was no information about my deferred pension or online application submitted in November. I was going to resubmit; however, the hyperlinks were incorrectly labelled & only took me to a postal application rather than the online version.

On the positive side I was able to send a secure message within the platform to include an upload of my deferred pension statement.

I don't therefore have any major complaints but would suggest MyCSP & Capita could have communicated in advance, especially the process for anyone wishing to claim pension in the near future. At least it would have been progress if MyCSP sent an acknowledgement of my request earlier in November.

Hopefully, there will still be plenty of time to action my pension timely, although I also fall under the McCloud remedy, so we will see.