Widows left in pension limbo after husbands' deaths

Paul McGinness died from cancer at just 43 but with a civil servant's pension he at least knew his family would have some security.

However, since his death in January, his wife Fiona has been caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare.

Like thousands of other civil servants, Paul's pension has been delayed as a result of outsourcing firm Capita taking over administration of the entire pension scheme.

Thousands of people have been unable to access their lump-sum payments or ongoing pension income due to problems with Capita's systems.

Fiona told BBC Scotland News: "I sent the paperwork, then they only sent me half the right forms. I had to send the death certificate, our marriage certificate, and even the kids' birth certificates.

"Capita told me it would usually take 12 weeks to sort out but it'll be longer due to their current problems. Even 12 weeks is far too long."

Fiona lives in Cambuslang with the couple's children, 15-year-old son Rory and daughter Alba, 11.

Paul died from a fast and aggressive sarcoma cancer.

He had worked for Social Security Scotland for four years, since the agency began operation.

He wanted to dedicate his working life to public service but also wanted the security of a good pension for his family.

Fiona said Paul also had small pensions from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the NHS from his time working for them but she applied to Capita first as he died while he was still working for them.

She said the other pension funds had already paid out.

She added that she couldn't move on from Paul's death until she had sorted out the Capita pension.

"We're now a one-parent family with a single income," Fiona said. "This is the last of my 'sadmin' tasks, and I can't really move on properly until its resolved. Then we can start planning the rest of our lives properly."

Capita took over the Civil Service Pension Scheme - which has about 1.7 million members - in December last year, after winning the contract in 2023.

As well as the ongoing system issues, a new online portal is still not working properly, and clients have spent hours on the phone waiting to speak to staff.

James Moultrie died just before Christmas at the age of 79.

Before he retired he had worked for the MoD and the couple had been living off his pension.

His wife Pamela, who lives in Dunfermline, Fife, knew that would change after he died.

"I expected it to drop to half the amount," she said. "The full amount came in January - I thought it would just take a while to correct. But then the full amount came again in February.

"So I contacted them again and they stopped the payments completely, saying I would need to apply all over again for the pension.

"I've had no payments since then and no letters or contact of any kind. It's worrying, it's a lot to deal with on top of my husband's death."

In February, Capita appeared before the public accounts committee at Parliament to answer criticisms of its management of the scheme.

And in April it confirmed that some members' data had been affected by a data breach.

Protests were held outside the company's AGM in London on Monday.

Capita said: "We continue to work with the Cabinet Office to establish normal service levels.

"Additional trained resource remains in place, and our focus is on ensuring members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme receive the service they expect and deserve.

"We are sorry for the worry and frustration any delays are causing."