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

hedgehogdaisy1

Hi

I just wanted to share an email address I was given to send queries when the portal was not working.

It is enquiries@civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

ljayljay

I have finally had my first communication with capita since applying in November 25 with my pension date come & gone.

Basically it is one of those letters that states… 'that although we previously informed people who had applied before December 25 that they would hear something by 10/4/26, we didn't really mean that.'

Other than that it advises me to leave them alone & they will get back to me in due course. They thanked me for my patience etc but there was no apology.

horsewithnoname

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81993206#Comment_81993206

if they take the same attitude towards apologising that MyCsp took, I’d advise against holding your breath!

NewtsInThePond

Just had some personal communication directly from Angela Macdonald. I had contacted her to ask what happened to her commitment (from her first Taskforce Update on the Pensions Portal) to provide a regular two weekly update to us, as we are overdue one! Pointed out to her that Capita's letter to many of us recently clearly expressed us not to get in touch with them, so therefore we are relying on her promised updates! She said something is due to be published today on the portal which should provide a useful update about quote requests. Will keep an eye out then and post back on here anything that will be useful for others to know, and especially for those who have not managed to successfully register on said portal. Happy days!

hugheskevi

Just to note in case it is of use to others, there have been 3 public channels for updates:

(1) Angela MacDonald's updates, on the pension scheme website. These were originally meant to be issued every 2 weeks, but that has been a little inconsistent.

(2) Gov.UK updates, at this link. These are usually brief, and don't contain anything that isn't covered elsewhere.

(3) Public Accounts Committee, at this link. This has excellent information that often is not covered in a similar level of detail elsewhere. Updates can appear at any time, especially under "Correspondence."

In addition to this, there has been information provided through channels that are not open to all:

(a) Updates in the portal

(b) Updates on employer intranets, though this just repeats Angela MacDonald's updates.

(c) Contact centre lines to take

Watching_The_Wheels

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/civil-service-pensions-taskforce-head-angela-macdonald-set-to-retire

I wonder what the plan is for the task force with Angela retiring at the end of July.

kermchem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996736#Comment_81996736

From Taskforce update #6 "Capita has committed to restore service levels to agreed contractual levels by the end of June", so there will be no need for her role. 😕

xylophone

restore service levels to agreed contractual levels

This year, next year, sometime, never….?😉

hugheskevi

There is a new update from Angela MacDonald, which is available at the link. The main point is that the target is to issue all quotes by the end of June, and have the associated pension in payment and arrears paid by the end of September.

ABS have been published within the member portal, which this gov.uk update says includes both PCSPS and alpha benefits (I assume it must have PCSPS as it includes Remedy-period benefits).

So the key forthcoming dates to watch out for are:

• End May - pensioner P60s due (complete, according to this update)
• End June - all retirement quotes issued
• End June - all Key Performance Indicators will be back to normal, ie, service at reasonable levels
• End June - have implemented at least 400 of the Immediate Choice elections received but not yet implemented from the statements sent out between January and March 2025 (Pledge made by Capita at the PAC hearing, but I suspect unlikely to happen)
• 31st August - statutory deadline for combined ABS/RSS annual statements to active members
• 30th September - all pensions relating to the quotes issued by end June put into payment and arrears paid
• 6th October - statutory deadline for Pension Saving Statements to be issued
• 31st October - deadline for Pension Dashboard connection
• 6 April 2027 - implement Inheritance Tax changes
• Mid 2027 - Immediate Choice Remedy Saving Statements all issued (and presumably remaining deferred members RSS)

That leaves the following things that should have already been delivered but were not, and as yet have no date attached to them:

• Annual Benefit Statements for years prior to 2025
• Retirement Modeller in portal
• Restoration of reasonable telephone waiting times - after recovering, they have fallen back to well over 30 minutes in April and May.
• Portal updates - Capita previously said that only 1% of members don't have access, but many were still reporting lost access (username or password suddenly unrecognised and can't be reset). Live Chat only seemed to deal with portal access issues, with other queries having to go through the portal. Many report no answer to queries submitted through portal. Track my case seems extremely basic, and of little use other than to confirm the case is within Capita's system given it only says in progress or resolved. Uploading of documents seems problematic too (only one at a time, or limited size of document, or unable to upload anything at all). This update contains some details, but it may be a little early to declare all portal issues resolved.

And finally, payment of interest on late payments at some future date, which will be paid separately to the arrears payments that will be made in May, June, July, August, and September.

horsewithnoname

I hope they are prepared for all the people who have delayed applying for retirement and partial because of the mess, all applying once it is back on track; else this could rinse and repeat for years.