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

marky_b_2

Thanks for that explanation but I think / hope it is just a mistake.

My pay has went up every year due to living wage rises, since 2022 my basic has went up about £8000 in four years (roughly £2000 per year), I am a shift worker so get pensionable allowances on top of my basic, the last 4 years has been by far the best pensionable earnings I have had.

Every ABS I have had via myCSP always had a slightly different pensionable earning amount between Alpha and Premium but it was maybe a few hundred pounds at most.

I get roughly 42% on top of my pay due to different shift allowances and weekend working, the figure they are using roughly equates to my basic with 20% nights and 4% flexi allowances but have not included all my other pensionable payments.

These other payments have always been included in previous ABS's.

I have sent a message via their portal but I might give them a call next week as I don't see my message being answered anytime soon.

NewtsInThePond

Civil Service Pension Scheme mentioned on Radio 4 Money Box Programme today. Article starts about 10 minutes in.

Money Box - New Bailiff Rule and 10p Coins - BBC Sounds

Thousands of bereaved loved ones of former and current civil servants are still having to wait more than 100 days for pension payments. Those figures come 8 months into the ongoing scandal that is the Capita-run civil service pension scheme. Capita says it now has the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog and remains committed to working through it as quickly as possible

Yorkie1

Just looking at my ABS 2026, which was uploaded on 27/08/26 apparently.

Reckonable service is correct. Pensionable earnings are just about correct (it says £x.04 rather than £x).

In the "Breakdown of information used to calculate your statement" section near the start, it has the same date for start in alpha as for classic. That doesn't seem right …

But the main issue seems to be the alpha pension accrued in the year. I have been contributing to EPA -2 for some years now. The ABS has previously reflected this by having two rows for alpha: "Main pension" and "EPA -2".

In this year's ABS, it still has two rows, though now called "Pension payable from 67" and "… from 65". So far, so good.

However, the figures for pension built up during the year should appear on the EPA / age 65 row. That was the case in the previous ABS, but not this year. The figures appear on the age 67 row, and the age 65 row is blank for this column. This therefore appears to be the wrong way around.

Obviously, both revalue by CPI of 3.8%.

How best to address this? It says " If you think something is wrong, please contact your employer or Shared Service Centre." in relation to the Info we hold about you (the alpha start date). But it's been correct in previous years, so clearly not my employer's fault. And also not my employer's fault re. the allocation of pension built up to the wrong part of my pension.

Leave it for now, as they will be very busy and I am not taking my pension for some years yet (about 5)?

hugheskevi

Employer Pension Notice 748 sets out how the information for the Annual Benefit Statements was collected.

Since Capita took over, there have not been any loading and processing of monthly interfaces between employers and Capita. Previously, employers would upload monthly interfaces to MyCSP containing data about member remuneration and pension accrual.

Therefore, to enable ABS 2026 to be produced, employers uploaded March and April interfaces as a one-off exercise.

In this year's ABS, it still has two rows, though now called "Pension payable from 67" and "… from 65". So far, so good.

That is actually quite bad. The pension is not payable from 67, it is payable from State Pension age. And it is not payable from 65, it is payable from State Pension age -2. Comms should be very careful on this point, and it would be better to be precise rather than caveat it somewhere in explanatory notes. This is the sort of thing that legal challenges get brought about when policy changes, arguing that members were not informed, or maybe that a legitimate expectation has been created.

In the "Breakdown of information used to calculate your statement" section near the start, it has the same date for start in alpha as for classic. That doesn't seem right …

I can't see how it would affect any calculations, and certainly not detrimentally, so that wouldn't concern me.

How best to address this? It says " If you think something is wrong, please contact your employer or Shared Service Centre." in relation to the Info we hold about you (the alpha start date). But it's been correct in previous years, so clearly not my employer's fault. And also not my employer's fault re. the allocation of pension built up to the wrong part of my pension.

Leave it for now, as they will be very busy and I am not taking my pension for some years yet (about 5)?

EPA is always an exception, as only a small number purchase it so it gets missed out. Since 2015 Remedy, EPA purchases during the Remedy period have often been omitted. This is probably just a careless extension of that type of thinking.

Realistically, Capita are not going to be correcting details that do not affect any pension in payment or quote when they can't even pay people their pensions who retired months ago. I think the pragmatic approach would be to save everything (particularly payslips and P60s) and leave it for now. At some point normality will resume, monthly interfaces will resume, and everything will be a lot easier to sort then.

Yorkie1

Thanks very much. I only started EPA in 2023, so the Remedy period isn't relevant luckily.

I shall save the current ABS and keep an eye on it in the future. I can still do my own s/s and keep that accurate for now.

Everything is indeed saved 😁

horsewithnoname

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118871#Comment_82118871

the pensions ombudsman has a sizeable backlog to deal with, because like all public services, they have had years of under resourcing, and are suddenly quite busy. So it’ll be months if not years before they get to complaints.

MouldyOldDough

PPPA have apparently shut down as have all of the original civil service/MOD pension admins - so it is purely CAPITA now - except for one option - Cabinet Office do still have a "contact us" on line - I sent them a message on Saturday and await a response !

michaels

I got an email re my abs being available. Log in took more than 5 minutes, no new ABS and the only existing ABS had disappeared….

Universidad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121470#Comment_82121470

Just logged in to similar situation, can't load ABS details message. No 24/25 available any more either.

Part of me wonders if it's better for Capita to have a technical fault that means ABS cannot be accessed, than to be seen to have directly failed in the statutory duty to provide them.

But I think that's a conspiracy too far, the simpler answer that fits the facts is a swelling, multidisciplinary incompetence.

marky_b_2

I just called them their but the recorded message says they wont accept ABS queries over the phone and to use the message portal.

I submitted a message last week, I wonder if I'll get a reply before next years ABS is published.