A retired civil servant faces being forced back into full-time work after being ordered to return \u00a325,000 in overpaid pension benefits.<\/p>\n
Derek Ritchie, 63, was informed in March by scheme administrators that his payments had been miscalculated since 2014.<\/p>\n
In a letter, they apologised \u201cfor any inconvenience\u201d and told him he would need to repay \u00a325,000 by bank transfer or in instalments.<\/p>\n
Ritchie (not his real name) asked for an explanation that he says he did not receive. Three months later he was threatened with legal action if he did not start his refund payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last 11 years, I\u2019ve made decisions, expenditures and plans based on the figures I was given and the mistake will cause me considerable hardship,\u201d said Ritchie, who was prescribed medication for depression and anxiety following the letter in March. \u201cI shall have to go back to work for years to pay this off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ritchie is one of hundreds of civil servants who have been ordered to return overpayments caused by administrative errors. Some were told to repay six-figure sums<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cErrors and overpayments have been a feature of outsourced pension administration,\u201d said Fran Heathcote, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union. \u201cCivil service pension administration should be done by civil servants under direct ministerial control. When things go wrong, people suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n MyCSP, which was appointed to manage civil service pensions on behalf of the Cabinet Office, admitted in 2019 that it was trying to claw back \u00a32.7m of overpayments<\/a> from more than 2,000 pensioners.<\/p>\n The errors had come to light during a major review ordered by the Cabinet Office. However, the review failed to spot the overpayments to Ritchie. Instead, they rose from about \u00a3200 a year to \u00a34,000.<\/p>\n His income has been reduced by 13% a month and MyCSP told him it would deduct a further 15% a month to recover the debt if he agreed to a payment plan.<\/p>\n Pension providers have a legal duty to recover overpayments even when scheme members accept them in good faith. However, the debt may be reduced if pensioners can provide evidence that they have spent the money and would suffer significant hardship by making repayments.<\/p>\n Ritchie said his pension valuation encouraged him to take early retirement when his position at the Ministry of Defence came up for redundancy in 2014. He has since worked part-time as a mental healthcare assistant and had planned to retire fully in 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cI might have chosen to continue my career within the ministry or opt for the redundancy deal available under the voluntary early release scheme if I\u2019d known my income would be lower,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Get the day\u2019s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The Cabinet Office said it sympathised with Ritchie but had a duty to recover public money paid out in error. \u201cWe apply stringent guidelines on the recovery of overpayments, and work to ensure any money is recovered with flexibility and the least burden possible,\u201d said a spokesperson.<\/p>\n