The Civil Service Pension scheme covers employees of UK government departments and other public bodies, such as museums and commissions, and currently has 1.7 million members.
After years of failings, the administration of these pensions was handed over from MyCSP to Capita – a giant services firm, which handles business processes across lots of different sectors from government IT to health services. Yet Capita itself has been plagued by problems. Last October, it was fined £14 million by the Information Commissioner’s Office after the personal details of 6.6 million people were stolen.
But since then, problems have only continued – including people waiting to receive vital first pension payments and lump sums. Other issues reported to MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) by readers include excessively long call wait times, and difficulties accessing membership details via the scheme’s online portal. We’ve more on the Civil Service Pension scandal below.
Disgracefully, it’s only in the past few weeks that the Government has confirmed it will offer loans to those who haven’t been paid their pension on time and are struggling financially.
Loans of up to £10,000 will be made available for some
Details on exactly how these loans will work are scant, but the Government says you’re eligible if you:
retired on or after 1 January 2025 and are still waiting for your first pension payment, or;
have already been paid your lump sum but you are now overdue your monthly payments or;
you’ve taken partial retirement and you’re still working.
The value of the loan will be up to £5,000 for most people, and up to £10,000 in “exceptional” cases. It will be interest-free and, is expected to be repaid in full within 28 days of your pension being paid. The Government has said that payment plans will be available where needed.
To apply, you’ll need to contact your former HR department. The Government says relevant departments have already started contacting those affected, but if you haven’t yet heard anything and you are struggling financially, you should get in touch directly.
Once applied for, the Government says the loan should be paid within days of being approved – however we’ve spotted reports that people are being told there may be a wait of up to 28 days for the payment to clear. We’ve put this to the Government.
According to the Government, pensions already in payment should not be affected and the issues instead impact new retirements, and administrative processing.
Don’t meet the criteria for a loan? Contact the current Civil Service Pension administrator Capita. Similarly, if you’re a surviving spouse or dependant, are on Pension Credit, have deferred your pension and need financial support, you also need to contact Capita.
The Government was warned last June to ensure service improvements
On 16 June 2025, the National Audit Office (NAO) published the findings of an investigation into the Civil Service Pension scheme’s administration, which at the time was managed by pensions administrator MyCSP.
The NAO said its investigation was instigated after a reported rise in the level of complaints about the scheme, coupled with correspondence from scheme members detailing concerns about the service they had received.
At the time, head of the NAO, Gareth Davies, said: “The Cabinet Office must reflect on the lessons learnt from MyCSP’s administration of the scheme, ensuring key performance indicators are monitored and enforced, and that important service improvements are introduced by Capita.”
Capita took over in December – but 8,500 may have faced financial hardship since
On 1 December 2025, management of Civil Service Pensions was handed over to Capita. Capita said it inherited a backlog of around 86,000 cases – comprising claims, pension valuations and other administrative requests. However, it’s been confirmed that thousands have suffered payment problems since then.
Catherine Little, chief operating officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 28 January: “We know that around 8,500 members of the scheme will have had some sort of issue with their payment since 1 December.
“I cannot tell you today how many of those people have experienced financial hardship but, given that most people rely on a pension to be paid, we can imagine it will be a significant number.”
MPs, unions and more have campaigned for urgent action
Members-group the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance, as well as the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union have called on the Government to urgently address the situation and support those who are struggling financially. The PCS Union said people had suffered from “widespread hardship and financial distress”.
In a Westminster Hall debate on 4 February, MPs additionally highlighted cases of hardship from their constituents. Labour/ Co-op MP Lorraine Beavers described it as a “human crisis”, while Sally Jameson Labour MP called it an “abject failure”.
Commenting on the introduction of the loan scheme, Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary added: “While we welcome the Government’s intervention, we believe it’s too little too late.” The PCS Union has also called for compensation to cover interest on overdue pension payments, additional financial costs caused by delays, such as mortgage or loan penalties, and the distress and inconvenience suffered.
‘The situation is disappointing and creates real hardship for those affected’
Baroness Ros Altmann, an expert in pensions and later life policy, told MSE:
The scheme seems to have been let down by the previous administrator, which left massive problems for the new firm taking over just a few weeks ago.
Unopened letters and emails seem to have been left piling up, which is why many members seem to have problems that started months or even years ago, well before Capita started, which were just left in abeyance.
I feel for all those who have been badly affected by this. The situation is of course really disappointing and creates real difficulties and hardship for those affected. A scheme with so many members means even if only a small proportion of the total membership is affected, that means many individuals.
I am told that Capita and the Cabinet Office were taken aback at how many urgent (and non-urgent) issues had not been dealt with and they have now had to pick up the pieces.
‘My wife retired in December 2025 and since then we’ve had no income’
MSE founder Martin Lewis posted on his Facebook and X social media pages asking people affected by the pensions backlog to share their experiences. Here’s just a small sample of what they had to say:
My wife retired at end of December and, despite submitting her forms six months earlier, we now have no lump sum paid and no income coming in at all.
No idea when we will get any money to pay our bills and after 38 years of working we have had to put our life on hold to try and save money for future bills – Paul.
I’ve been waiting since August for my partial retirement and am now owed five months so far in arrears.
People I know are deferring taking full retirement because they can’t afford to be without money whilst Capita gets through the backlog – Fiona.
I have been waiting for my pension for almost a year. I put the wheels in motion in February 2025 and retired on 15 May 2025. As of yesterday (27 January 2026), they have still not processed it. I have continued to contact them throughout last year and this year.
I have no money and I’m in debt because they can’t complete my pension claim and this is through no fault of my own – Antony.
Government admits ‘it’s completely unacceptable’
On 28 January 2026, both Capita and the Cabinet Office issued a joint apology for the “worry, frustration and distress” caused and say they are currently prioritising urgent cases. Capita added that it has deployed an additional 150 staff members to support clearing the backlog and speed up processing of queries and that it hopes to restore service levels for the most urgent cases by the end of February.
Nick Thomas–Symonds MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee the same day that a “recovery plan” was being put in place, which would prioritise death in service, ill health retirement and situations of hardship.
He added: “the service, or lack thereof, that is being provided to people who have worked for many years and given their lives to public service is completely and utterly unacceptable”.
How to contact Capita
For urgent queries, such as needing financial support or needing to report a bereavement, you should contact Capita via its helpline on 0300 123 6666 or via its ‘contact us’ webform, which Capita is urging people to do in the first instance as call wait times are still quite high. If you struggle using online communication, regardless of your query, you should call the helpline.
For all other queries, you should contact Capita either via the online member’s portal or via its webform.
Be warned: we’ve seen many complaints online from people who say they’ve struggled to log-in to the online portal or have been left waiting hours trying to get through via the helpline; though Capita says it’s trying to get through queries as quickly as possible.
You can also make an official complaint
If you’re unhappy about your treatment, you can also raise an official complaint. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
Firstly, complain to Capita. You can do this via the contact form on its online members hub.
If your complaint isn’t resolved, you can escalate it via the ‘Internal Dispute Resolution’. This is a two-stage process, where your complaint is first handled by a senior member of the Capita administration team, and then escalated to the Cabinet Office scheme manager if there’s no resolution.
If dispute resolution doesn’t work, you can then complain to the Pensions Ombudsman. The Pensions Ombudsman will investigate your complaint and will make a binding decision, which is final and enforceable in court. It will set out what needs to be done to put things right, including awarding financial compensation where necessary.