Civil service pensions- what a fucking farce!

[MissCooCooMcgoo]

My mum died in March. They were notified literally on the day by her manager. We are now in July and they have been the most unhelpful, frustrating people I have ever had the misfortune to deal with!

I called 4 weeks ago and they assured me they had everything from me they needed only to chase today to be told they want more information including my decree absolute from my first marriage? WHY do they need this information from 14 years ago?

My mum kept her information updated and they have me down as the beneficiary with my married name of the last 12 years.

Anyone else had to deal with this shitshow? They should be ashamed. All of this is hard enough as it is.

I didn't know Civil Service pensions are inheritable if you're an adult? Is it a lump sum?

No wonder they cost us all so much!!

This fiasco has been on the news and consumer programmes regularly for months now. It’s beyond appalling and after issues with NS&I recently too I think the days of us getting a good, reliable service from big organisations is over.

So sorry you’re going through this. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Honestly the beurocracy is sickening. We'll be paying 5x as many people as we need to work a severely inefficient process.

And yes, there is a lump sum death in service payment.

Because there's tax implications for inheritance, that if you were still married, would affect your husband too. That's why they need proof that you are no longer married. I get that it means extra paperwork, but they're not doing it maliciously, and they are certainly not doing anything they should be ashamed of

Has it really? Have any services who can help been advertised?

I AM married. For 12 years. Are they trying to make me prove I'm not a bigamist?

And pensions do not form part of a deceased estate. They are not subject to inheritance tax.

The latest update from the scheme gives an exact number of the people who are in a similar situation to you.

It is at least at now steadily shrinking, but it does sound like ID and entitlement verification checks are something that they’re being particularly rigorous around so cases that have been put forward by the intervention team for approval without that fully covered will be going back for additional details.

It’s been discussed in parliament and select committees recently if you want to get an idea of the level of attention it’s getting. Hunt around a bit and you can get the recordings.

You name the beneficiaries, my husband and daughter get 50/50 for mine.

You could try the CSPA - Civil Service Pensions Association. they’re been doing some good work lately with the shitshow the pensions admin has become.

www.cspa.co.uk

A friend , an ex-prison governor, died fourteen months ago. His widow is still waiting for her pension entitlement based on his service. She is far from being alone, unfortunately.

It is a little bit ‘just wait’ at the moment unfortunately. They have basically appointed some ministers to sort it all out but they only took over a couple of weeks ago.

Not that I know of.

There was a big and further hoo-ha last week:

”On 8 July, the chief executive of Capita, Adolfo Hernandez, appeared before a joint session of the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. He was questioned by MPs about the handling of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.”

I heard this and it was very uncomfortable - because the whole thing is a fiasco and what really could he say about it (and Capita’s share value dropped sharply, which no doubt will introduce further ongoing issues).

They have brought in a ‘surge’ team to help with the backlog so hopefully that will speed things up.

I am genuinely sorry for your loss.

I do though think we need a revolution in dealing with the insane inefficiency and internal job preservation in the civil service (and LAs too).

I hope that does not diminish my appreciation of your loss.

Edited to say that my beef is with management not front line workers!

Sorry your mum has died, OP. Those of us still working in the CS have been getting updates - there has been a special task force set up to deal with the mess since Capita took over and theyve been in place since January. The task force updates are here: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/knowledge-centre/events-and-news/recovery-plan-updates/ They mention bereavement cases so maybe there is something in there that can help you unlock things.

The Civil Service Pensions farce is NOTHING to do with ‘internal job preservation’. It’s a third party private company who won the contract and are a pile of shit. But why let the facts get in the way of having a go at civil servants.

Thankyou, I'm honestly absolutely furious. All I am trying to do is wrap up her affairs and the red tape across the board is sickening.

I'm still waiting on probate being granted too (although thats only been 8 weeks) and I can do NOTHING without it. Soon, the council will expect council tax to be paid again after the 6 month reprieve. I cannot sell the house without probate and I cannot use her bank account to pay for any council tax or bills without it either.

I don't have two pennies to rub together so they're just going to have to whistle for it!

I think the days of us getting a good, reliable service from big organisations is over.

Crapita have never provided anyone with a good, reliable service 😂

They cut costs and their clients (sadly in this case the taxpayer) wonder, wide-eyed, why the service was shite.

It’s a shambles since Capita took over. It’s not normally like this, but it’s a complete shit show since they took over and the Government have had to loan many staff to help them get through this mess. We have had a few retire without even an email from them, let alone a quote.

Yup. Absolute chaos. I have former colleagues who've retired and have been surviving for 6 months or more on emergency loans from their former employers because Capita have got nowhere with paying out their pensions. And I have current colleagues who would have been former colleagues by now, but for the fact that they've seen the shitshow pensions debacle and decided to postpone their retirement until it's sorted!

Sorry you’re going through this OP, it’s really difficult on top of losing your Mum. Unfortunately there have been significant issues with Capita - I am a civil servant and through my employer have heard of the issues. This includes people waiting months to actually receive their pension after retirement. It’s awful. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Don’t comment when you don’t understand - Capita runs civil service pensions. It’s not run by civil servants!

I know of someone who died in service in 2024. His widow has still not received a penny.

Yes, and Capita didn’t pay for those extra staff. The taxpayer did. I think Capita has started to pick up the bill for the surge team now… I hope!