Civil service pension delays: who’s affected and what to do

Thousands of former civil servants are still facing delays in receiving their first pension payments following problems with the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS). 

Since outsourcing firm Capita took over administration of the scheme in December 2025, lump sums and pension payments have been subject to significant delays, with some members reporting financial hardship. 

Capita promised to resolve the problems by summer, but delays persist and are now expected to continue into 2027.

Here, Which? explains what's gone wrong, the latest developments and how to get support if you've been affected. 

Why have pension payments been delayed?

In 2023, the Cabinet Office awarded Capita a £239m, seven-year contract to run the CSPS, which covers 1.7m public sector workers across the UK. Capita took over from the previous administrator MyCSP.

Capita initially expected to inherit roughly 37,000 outstanding cases at transfer. However, a joint statement in January confirmed the actual backlog stood at 86,000, many of which were already long overdue. 

Problems continued after the transfer, with members reporting login failures, broken links and incomplete pension information on Capita's new online portal. Meanwhile, the number of outstanding cases continued to grow. 

The Civil Service Pensions Taskforce identified three main factors contributing to the ongoing delays: 

• IT and automation gaps – Capita’s platform lacked the automated calculation scripts and tools needed to process non-standard public sector pensions, forcing staff to rely on slow, manual calculations.
• Missing employer records – Hundreds of complex retirement and bereavement claims became frozen as 'non-workable' because essential historical service and salary data had not been provided by government employers.
• Specialist skills shortages – Processing complex civil service pension tiers requires specific technical expertise. A shortage of caseworkers trained in legacy scheme rules created an administrative bottleneck for aged cases.

Find out more: what is a public sector pension?

How many people have been affected?

Around 150,000 cases remain unresolved, according to the latest government figures. The number is higher than previous estimates of between 86,000 and 120,000 cases. 

However, this doesn't mean that 150,000 people are affected. Richard Vianello, director of civil service pensions at the Cabinet Office, explained that the figure includes follow-up enquiries, complaints and other requests from members who are still waiting for their cases to be resolved. 

Among those affected are: 

• 8,500 retired civil servants waiting for their pensions to be calculated in full.
• 6,300 cases involving deceased members, where families are waiting for lump-sum payments or survivor pensions.
• Nearly 2,000 cases that have been unresolved for more than 100 days, many because Capita is waiting for information from government employers.
• 3,400 civil servants waiting for pension quotes or payments linked to voluntary exit schemes. 

A further 98,000 scheme members, including 78,000 retirees, are due to receive information about their pension options under the 2015 McCloud remedy, which aims to address age discrimination caused by changes to public sector pensions in 2015. In the latest update, the taskforce revealed that Capita receives around 20,000 new cases each week.

The scheme is also expected to miss its original deadline of 31 March 2027 for completing the McCloud remedy work. A new deadline has yet to be confirmed.

The government says pensions that were already being paid before Capita took over have continued without interruption.

• Find out more: defined benefit (or final salary) pensions

What is the latest update? 

After Capita failed to restore service levels by its initial June target, the government withheld £9.9m in contract payments and brought in independent advisers Grant Thornton to audit the platform and oversee an improvement plan. 

A secondary target to restore contractual standards by 30 September was then also missed. Vianello has previously confirmed the scheme would not be deemed restored as long as it relies on temporary manual workarounds. 

In response to the audit, the Cabinet Office has gained direct access to Capita's internal systems, begun publishing performance reports every two weeks, and is continuing to consider options to take the contract away from Capita and bring administration of the scheme back in house. 

The next update is scheduled for 12 November 2026.

To clear the backlog, Capita is now working under a formal five-workstream recovery plan. This includes:

• Complex cases – Resolving the oldest stalled claims by gathering missing employer records, hiring specialist staff and fixing software calculation bugs.
• Business as usual priority – Bringing processing times to contractual standards by dealing with incoming claims in date order. 
• Queries and complaints – Clearing the backlog of general enquiries and formal complaints using dedicated teams and automated systems.
• Standalone projects – Delivering major schemes such as voluntary exits using ringfenced staff, so routine pensions work isn't disrupted.
• Technology integration – Fixing the underlying platform by rebuilding portal tools and adding automated calculation scripts.

Find out more: pension options: what can I do with my pension pot?

Changes in the Budget

In the Autumn Budget, the government announced changes to the pension lump sum death benefit in response to the delays with the civil service pensions. 

Under the previous rules, if someone died before the age of 75, a pension lump sum death benefit was only tax-free if it was paid within two years of the pension scheme first becoming aware of the death, and if the value was below the deceased's lump sum and death benefit allowance, which is £1,073,100. 

However, the government has now removed the two-year deadline so payments will no longer become taxable solely because they were made more than two years after a pension scheme was notified of the death. The change applies to payments made from 28 October, 2026.  

The Cabinet Office, which has overall responsibility for the CSPS, previously said only a small number of these cases were approaching the two-year threshold. However the PCS union, which represents civil servants, had warned there were 'serious questions' over how long cases would remain unresolved.

• Find out more: Autumn Budget 2026: what changes did John Healey announce?

What does Capita say?

Although Capita reported meeting its self-imposed 1 September target, Vianello described its ongoing performance as 'unacceptable', stating it 'does not constitute full service recovery and still leaves far too many scheme members facing uncertainty'.

In February, Capita expanded its workforce to more than 650 staff to help tackle the backlog. It also prioritised bereavement, ill-health and hardship cases, and introduced measures to bring call-wait times down for urgent cases.

In a statement provided to Which? earlier this year, Capita apologised for the 'worry, frustration and distress' caused by the delays. 

In a new statement provided to Which?, Capita said: 'We are sorry for the impact service issues have had on members. Despite good operational progress, we recognise there is more to do. We are working closely with the Cabinet Office to resolve outstanding cases and restore the service to the standard members should expect.'

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What support is available for affected members?

For civil servants and families caught up in the administration delays, the Cabinet Office and Capita have put several support measures and relief mechanisms in place:

Support for complex cases

Members identified within the complex case backlog – which includes cases stalled by missing employer records – do not need to chase Capita about the delays. Instead, they are being issued formal confirmation letters outlining their case status. 

Affected members are given access to a dedicated specialist helpline and will receive personalised progress updates at least once every four weeks until their case is fully resolved. Alongside this, an updated retirement calculator is currently undergoing testing and will return to the member portal once verified.

• Find out more: calculate pension tax relief

Automatic interest on arrears

Statutory interest is now applied automatically to late retirement and death benefit payments including cases affected by the 2015 McCloud remedy. This interest will be added to the final payouts once they are finalised and members will not need to lodge a separate claim to get this.  

Capita is also developing an online calculator tool to let members trace how their interest was calculated.

• Find out more: how to find old pensions

Transition support loans

To help bridge financial gaps, the Cabinet Office also continues to offer interest-free transition support loans to those whose pensions are overdue. Most eligible members can borrow up to £5,000, rising to £10,000 in exceptional cases. Members can now borrow up to £20,000 if they are facing exceptional financial hardship.

The loan is expected to be repaid within 28 days of pension payments being made, although payment plans will be available if needed. You will be eligible if:

• you retired on or after 1 January 2025 and are still waiting for your first pension payment
• you have already been paid your lump sum but are now overdue your monthly payments
• you've taken partial retirement and are still working.

If you retired earlier than this date, or you're waiting for a payment following the death of a family member, you won't be eligible for the loan.

To apply, contact your former department’s HR team. The government says departments are contacting affected members, but you should get in touch directly if you believe you're eligible and have not been contacted.

Once the loan is approved, the government says payments should be made within a few days, although in some cases it may take up to 28 days.

If you don't meet the criteria but are experiencing financial hardship, the joint statement says you should raise your concerns directly with Capita through its online portal, ‘Contact Us’ form on its website, or via the helpline on 0300 123 6666. Capita has warned that the severe backlog means complaint response times may also be significantly delayed.

• Find out more: what is a defined contribution pension?

How to make a complaint

If you're unhappy with the service you've received, you can make a formal complaint.

Start by raising your complaint with Capita. You can do this using the contact form on the Civil Service Pensions website or by writing to Capita directly.

If you're not satisfied with the response, you can ask for your case to be reviewed under the scheme’s formal dispute resolution process. This is the next stage of the scheme’s internal complaints procedure.

If your complaint is still not resolved after completing the scheme’s dispute process, you can take your case to the Pensions Ombudsman. The ombudsman can investigate complaints and disputes about pension schemes and has the legal power to require corrective action or award compensation where appropriate. Its determinations are legally binding.