Lisa Blundell from Kirkby has said she has not been paid for six months and is now 'beyond angry' at both the government and the company tasked with sorting out her pension payments, accusing both parties of bringing 'misery' to thousands of people's lives.
Blundell said she has been given no assurances of when she will receive her pension entitlement and has been forced to 'raid her savings' just to pay the bills, as well as to buy everyday essentials such as food.
Background of the pension crisis
In February, the Liverpool ECHO reported on the unfolding crisis concerning the civil service pension scheme, including details of people in Liverpool worried about losing their homes. The situation had become so desperate that one local MP likened it to the Post Office scandal.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme, which manages the pensions of 1.7 million public sector workers, has been unable to provide lump sums or regular payments to many people since Capita took over the administration of the scheme in December last year.
Capita's apology and backlog
At the time, Capita apologised to those affected, understood to be approximately 86,000 people across the country, and said it had been left with a much bigger backlog of cases than originally agreed. Furthermore, the volume of calls to the service reached a peak of 25,000 per week, with some members waiting since January 2025 for their pension claim to be processed.
Six months after Blundell should have received her first payment, Capita has still not resolved her pension request, after she submitted her official application in September 2025.
Blundell's frustration
Blundell described the situation as an 'ongoing scandal', adding: "I worked for the civil service for 24 years [...] and retired in March this year. I'm now missing six months pension, and Capita cannot tell me when I will receive it either."
In relation to Capita's explanation for the delays, and the commitment to 'improve the customer journey', Blundell continued: "I have already clarified with Capita that my case is 'workable' and that they aren't waiting for any information from anyone.
"[...] In my opinion this is a clearly yet another stalling tactic by Capita to buy them more time by saying that all of these cases are more challenging than they actually are.
I am a pensioner who needs to be paid my pension, I’m not a customer on a journey."
Blundell has also been critical of the government, suggesting it has not been robust enough in its dealings with Capita, she said: "It beggars' belief that [government] are still letting Capita get away with mismanaging this scheme and allowing them to bring absolute misery to those of us caught in the middle of it.
"Personally, I am beyond angry now and at my wits' end. I feel totally powerless to change this in any way.
I have still not had one penny of my pension that I have accrued over 24 years. [...] Not paying this pension now adds to the lack of trust generally in government. If you can’t trust the government to pay your pension, its a disgraceful way to treat your loyal workforce."
Earlier this week, Blundell received a quote from Capita, detailing her pension entitlement, but after waiting several months for this to arrive, she said it is incorrect, "It was roughly half of what it should be. [...] It seems Capita is working on incorrect information."
Official responses
In response to questions about Blundell's situation, as well as the wider points about Capita's performance, and the government's management of the contract, a Cabinet Office spokesperson told the ECHO: "The service levels following the move to Capita have been completely unacceptable.
A recovery plan is in place, but our immediate priority is to stabilise the service and give current and former Civil Servants the service they deserve.
"While robust commercial levers will continue to be applied in the short term, the government intends to move forward the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation and are actively shaping a long-term strategy to bring this pension scheme back in-house."
The ECHO also put the same points to the Civil Service Pensioners Alliance (CSPA), which represents the interests of approximately 40,000 retired civil servants. CSPA deputy general secretary, Jonathan Safir said: “The ongoing failures in Capita’s administration of the pension scheme are deeply concerning.
After years of public service, scheme members have been left facing serious financial hardship, stress and anxiety while waiting for money they are entitled to receive.
“We are hearing from retirees, widows and widowers, and deferred members who are struggling to pay bills and, in some cases, having to borrow from family and friends just to keep afloat. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. After months of unacceptable delays and broken promises, Capita must resolve these urgent cases as quickly as possible.”
Addressing the complaints made by Blundell, as well as the general sense of dissatisfaction with its handling of civil service pensions, a spokesperson for Capita said: “We continue to work at pace to resolve the operational issues in collaboration with the Cabinet Office.
Despite the progress made to date, 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. We now have the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog.
We remain committed to working through the backlog as quickly as possible, protecting members, and ensuring new cases are processed within contractual service times.”
