Senior News & Investigations Reporter
21 April 2026
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Tens of thousands of retired teachers could be missing out on £10,000s in extra pension payments due to major administrative problems with the Teachers’ Pensions scheme. Scores of MoneySavers have contacted us about the delays following our coverage of similar delays to Civil Service Pension payouts – with the same firm responsible for the administration of both schemes.
The Teachers’ Pensions scheme is currently run by giant services firm Capita and has over two million members in England and Wales. But many are reporting problems receiving vital paperwork relating to pension entitlement, delays receiving payments and lump sums, and difficulties claiming pensions on behalf of someone who’s passed away.
Those affected tell us it’s left them unable to plan for the future and struggling to make ends meet.
‘It’s incredibly stressful – I’m in this constant state of limbo’
Jeni Houghton, 59, (pictured) is a former headteacher living in Cambridge. She retired in June 2022, taking her pension under its original conditions.
However, Jeni is one of many retired teachers affected by a landmark court ruling in 2018, which changed the way her pension was calculated (more on this court ruling below).
Jeni received an adjusted pension statement in February 2025, which informed her she would be due a lump sum of £22,000, while her annual pension amount would reduce slightly.
Over a year later, Jeni was still waiting for her pension to be adjusted and for her lump sum to be paid – this was only resolved when we put Jeni’s case to Capita.
Prior to this, Jeni told us: “I’ve recently come into a less fortunate financial position and need the money that I’m owed. I also need to be able to financially plan for the future, but I can’t, because I don’t know what my income will be or when I’ll get my lump sum.
“I paid in for 28 years and that’s money I worked really hard to earn. My last five years as a headteacher were very difficult, but it was a job I loved. It’s been incredibly stressful and just feels like I’m in this constant state of limbo.”
‘The stress added to the grief of losing my husband’
Tristin Huq, 60, is a retired learning manager living in Plymouth. When Tristin’s husband – who had previously worked as a maths teacher at a secondary school – passed away in March 2025, he was already claiming his pension, having taken ill-health retirement at the age of 61.
Tristin first notified Capita of her bereavement over a year ago, and had been chasing the firm repeatedly since then about her widow’s pension. This was all to no avail until we got in touch with Capita on behalf of Tristin.
Prior to this, Tristin told us: “I was lucky that I had some savings but I’m coming to the end of them, and on a single income it’s very difficult. I have two daughters and while we have some money, it’s being chipped away.
“When things like this happen you want the process to be as painless as possible; this is just stress adding to the grief. It’s incredibly frustrating.”
Affected by the delays? You can try making an official complaint
Here are the steps to follow:
Firstly, complain to Teachers’ Pensions. You can do this via the contact form in its members portal or in writing (link opens PDF).
If your complaint isn’t resolved, you can escalate it via ‘Internal Dispute Resolution’ (IDR). Details of how to do this will be included in your initial response from the Teachers’ Pensions scheme.
If dispute resolution doesn’t work, you can 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.
Be aware: despite this being the official process to follow, we’ve seen complaints from MoneySavers struggling with it, which we’ve put to Capita.
What’s happening with teachers’ pensions?
Between 2014 and 2015, the Government moved most public sector workers – including teachers – from final salary pensions – based on your pay near retirement – to career average pensions – based on average earnings over your whole career.
Workers within 10 years of retirement age at the time were allowed to stay in the old (often more generous) scheme, while younger staff were automatically transferred to the new one in 2015. Younger workers challenged this as unfair in the courts, and in 2018, the Court of Appeal decided in their favour.
To address the ruling, the Government decided to move ALL workers into the career average scheme by 31 March 2022, meaning all staff would be treated the same way regardless of age going forward.
But that still meant different rules were in place for different workers from 2015 to 2022 – and the solution was the “McCloud remedy”. This lets affected workers choose whether their pension benefits for those seven years are calculated under the final salary or career average rules.
This process relies on the pension administrator first issuing a personal ‘remediable service statement’ (RSS) to each affected member, setting out their options in full. Depending on what the member chooses, this could mean £1,000s or even £10,000s in backdated payments, an adjusted annual entitlement, or even being asked to pay money back – but the RSS is crucial either way.
The Government’s original deadline to issue all RSS notices was early 2025, but this was later pushed back. Some 68,307 statements were still outstanding as of 1 April 2026, according to the latest available figures.
‘Delays need to be addressed urgently’
Speaking to MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) about the issue, Justin Corliss, technical and pensions expert at savings and insurance firm Royal London, said: “This is not only an issue for those in the run up to retirement, but there are also issues in relation to the correction of pension benefits for those who have already started taking them, or for the families of pension scheme members who died before the corrections have been made.
“These delays need to be addressed urgently so that people can plan for their well-earned retirements and before trust in public sector pensions is further eroded.”
Teachers union NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union told MSE that it’s pressing the Government to prioritise cases where people have yet to start receiving their pensions, and to devote additional resources to clearing the rest of the backlog.
Capita has apologised for the problems
A spokesperson for Capita said: “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and stress these delays have caused, and continue to work closely with the Department for Education to ensure cases are progressed correctly and in line with scheme rules.”
The firm added: “The McCloud remedy is a complex, retrospective programme affecting large numbers of members across multiple public service schemes. Issuance of Remediable Service Statements (RSS) is therefore being carried out in stages due to the complexity of the remedy and the volume of affected members and is being delivered in line with agreed plans.”
Earlier this year, Capita came under fire after forcing thousands of newly-retired civil servants into financial hardship as a result of outrageous delays receiving their pensions. Just this month, the firm also admitted to a data breach affecting 138 members of the Civil Service Pensions scheme.
What does the Government say?
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We understand and recognise the disruption that delays have caused for some teachers – the Transitional Protection (McCloud) remedy is one of the most significant changes to public service pensions in recent years, and delivery is being phased to ensure accuracy and fairness for members due to a complex process.
“We expect administrators to handle member queries and payments as quickly as possible, and we are working closely with the scheme administrator to monitor performance and address any emerging issues.”