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

johnnyfreedosh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82115829#Comment_82115829

Wouldn't worry about it. I retired on the 1st Dec 2025 and Portal showed me as "Active" right up until about a month ago......

NewtsInThePond

Good Morning from Disappointed Dot Com!!! At first I was quite delighted (and surprised if I am honest) this morning to go onto the CSP site to see a new ABS had been loaded yesterday! Horray I thought (despite not receiving an email notification that it was available to me, as clearly stated would happen in Richard's Taskforce 15 update). Disappointing though on further inspection that there appears to be no Quality Control measures put in by Capita for their outputs they are producing. I have Classic and Alpha, and the ABS dates of when the Remedy period is, is not even correct!!!??? I just can't understand that such a fundamental error can be made by Capita, as these are fixed dates and nothing to do with me and my pension personally (apart from the fact if affects me)….but the dates are a generic time period that was set. Of course that basic error in my letter, makes me feel unsure about my actual figures now! 😒

ahiseeitallnow

Given the mess that Capita have created for themselves, and us, I find it incredible that so many of the affected pensioners can remain civil ex-servants, at least on this forum! So, well done everyone.

As per my earlier posting, due to lack of engagement/communication by Capita, I decided to go down the Internal Dispute Resolution route. So, on 11/8/26 in a telephone call to the contact centre, the Capita agent confirmed that the relevant forms would be sent out to me. Now, I know Royal Mail also has its own problems, but here I sit more than 2 weeks later without the required forms to progress my complaint.

Can anybody advise how long the complaint process to ombudsman decision might take because the data, again, doesn't stack up with reality? To put some context to this, my 1st complaint was submitted via the portal in January 2026 - it's still sitting there unanswered.

Delivery performance is atrocious. I'm afraid I just don't get how Capita and the Cabinet Office can agree to tell us that so many thousand pending cases are being cleared a week when, based on my own circumstances (straightforward case, now >100 days since retirement (partially due to ill-health), > 2 months retirement notice provided, previous CSP pension in payment), I would have expected a quotation some weeks ago.

ali_bear

Them sending a letter out could be 1-2 weeks before it hits the Royal Snail. Then allow another 2-3 weeks for transit.

german_keeper

A friend of mine has finally received a quote, applied mid December for pension start date of 18 April. The figures they have quoted for the 2 McCloud options are identical to the penny. Now I suppose it's theoretically possible but factoring in almost double accrual rate in Alpha, accrual link to CPI in Alpha and final salary in Classic, and in this case about a year and a half Actuarial Reduction factor in Classic and 8 and a half years AR in Alpha, identical to the penny. Really?

Also he was first told that his quote had been issued about 3 weeks ago. On chasing up several times by phone they initially blamed Royal Mail and then eventually told him that "issued" doesn't mean it has been sent, it has to be checked before that. Mind you I dread to think what the checking regime is when they didn't spot that identical figures were quoted.

marky_b_2

Got my 2025-2026 ABS, they have used the correct pensionable earnings for my Alpha calculations as well as the death in service stuff.

They have worked out my Premium pension with a figure over £7300 less.

marky_b_2

For @hugheskevi a technical query if you could answer please.

In 2015 when I got put into Alpha, they changed the death in service payment from 3 years pensionable earnings pay, dropping 0.1 of a year per year so that after 10 years the payment would be 2 x pensionable earnings / pay.

With the remedy in 2022 should this have reset so that it would take another 10 years before it would drop to two years if you choose remedy?

Both of my Capita 2024-2005 and 2005-2006 ABS's show the same amounts for both options.

Just in case this is an oversite and families have missed out on higher death in service payments.

hugheskevi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119009#Comment_82119009

No, the tapering down of the Premium and Classic Plus death-in-service multiplier retained the original schedule. It was not affected by the 2015 Remedy, falling to the standard alpha 2 x salary from 1st April 2025.

marky_b_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119049#Comment_82119049

Thanks very much for the reply, much appreciated.

hugheskevi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118997#Comment_82118997

This could be a mistake (most likely), or it could be technically correct.

The calculation of your final pensionable earnings in Premium is based on the best of 3 measures that use your inflation-adjusted pensionable earnings from the last 13 years. The best of the 3 measures is used as your final pensionable earnings.

However, the inflation adjustment doesn't actually apply until your 55th birthday aside from to determine which years of pensionable earnings are to be used to calculate your pension. So until then, your final pensionable earnings figure is the figure determined by the best of the 3 measures, but not adjusted for inflation.

For example, say the best measure was the average of your inflation-adjusted pensionable earnings from 2015/16 to 2017/18, and that amount was £50,000. That might correspond to £35,000 when the average of the figures without adjustment for inflation is calculated. That means your final pensionable earnings now are £35,000 but on the day of your 55th birthday they increase to £50,000.

If that is what they have done, it is technically correct, but extremely unhelpful. I mention is as I have seen it done in other places and it is extremely difficult for those without a lot of familiarity with scheme rules to unpick and understand.