An 81-year-old widow faced an eight-month wait for her survivor's pension after her husband's death, a delay that former Pensions Minister Steve Webb has described as "totally unacceptable." The case highlights significant operational issues at Capita, the administrator of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
The woman's husband, who was in receipt of a civil service pension, died in November 2025. Despite Capita returning the death certificate in December, the widow received no correspondence regarding her spouse's pension for months. A letter of complaint sent in April went unacknowledged, even after confirmation of its receipt via telephone.
After an eight-week wait for a response, the Pensions Ombudsman was contacted. While a complaint form was required, the information requested was reportedly no more detailed than that already provided in the initial letter. Capita was then given four months to respond to this complaint, by which time the deceased would have been dead for a year.
Attempts to resolve the issue through the local Member of Parliament also proved ineffective initially. The complexity of the situation, involving calculating arrears, interest, and potential compensation, was compounded by the woman's age and the emotional toll of bereavement.
Webb acknowledged that while the Pensions Ombudsman plays a valuable role, the process can take up to a year, which was too long for this urgent case. He also noted that Capita has received thousands of complaints from MPs.
Capita eventually confirmed that the pension would be paid, including interest for late payments and potential compensation for "distress and inconvenience." However, the communication regarding the payment details was described as confusing.
A spokesperson for Capita stated that the company is working to resolve operational issues in collaboration with the Cabinet Office. "We recognise the service has not been good enough, particularly for members waiting on bereavement, retirement, and quotation cases, and we are sorry for the impact this has had on those members," the spokesperson said. Capita claims to have implemented necessary processes, automation, and technology to address the backlog and committed to processing new cases within contractual service times.
Questions have been raised about why the government has not revoked Capita's contract. Webb explained that there are limited companies with the capacity to manage such a large scheme, and taking the contract back in-house, while an option, could lead to further disruption. The government faces a challenge in holding Capita accountable without causing additional problems during a period where some progress is reportedly being made.
Capita maintains that it holds numerous government contracts and meets performance targets on the majority of them. However, the handling of the Civil Service Pension Scheme has significantly damaged the company's reputation, likely influencing future contract awards.