Widow losing sleep over husband's pension limbo

A widow says she owes her children thousands of pounds after a government contractor failed to pay out her husband's civil service pension for nine months.

Former driving examiner Michael Curtis died in November, shortly before Capita took over administration of the civil service pension scheme.

Catherine Curtis said she had phoned the firm about every two weeks since but was "getting the same run around" and was among thousands to experience the delays.

Capita said it was "working through the backlog as quickly as possible" while the government said it would eventually "bring this pension scheme back in-house".

Curtis, of Shoreham in Kent, described her husband as "a loving, caring, kind, fair man" who had paid into the pension scheme during his working life, and retired in 2018.

He had died aged 69 after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

His wife of 44 years sent off the required forms and documents to claim what she was due from the pension scheme after the bereavement, and was told the following month the scheme's administrators had changed.

According to Curtis, she was told it would "only take a couple of weeks for them to sort it".

But no payments have arrived and she now owes money to her children, and has maxed out a credit card "just to survive".

"Sometimes they've done my shopping for me, sometimes they've paid some of my bills for me," she said.

The financial consequences have included falling behind on her rent and fearing eviction, although according to Curtis this has since been resolved with her housing association.

Her daughter Elizabeth Greenfield said: "The thought of my mum being evicted scared all of us and none of us could afford to help."

She told BBC News it was "crushing to see" transform from the "happy, bubbly person" she was.

"She used to be willing to go out, go out for a meal, have drinks," Greenfield said.

"She hasn't done that since all this happened."

Curtis, 67, told the BBC she had heard "every excuse under the sun" from Capita for the delays.

"I don't think I've slept a full night in nine months because I'm still worried," she said.

"I know a lot of people dread the postman coming. I look forward to the postman coming because one of these days he's going to bring that letter to say we've sorted it, you're now going to get the money."

Curtis added: "I just wish Capita would get their proverbial finger out because then I could pay my debts back and I would be a happy person, I would be able to enjoy my life."

The Cabinet Office said the contractor had been "repeatedly missing recovery targets and delivering a service that is completely unacceptable to both members and taxpayers".

A spokesperson said the government was "drawing a line in the sand" and would withhold payments, among other commercial measures, to put pressure on the firm.

According to a government update on 10 July, there were more than 4,500 families waiting for Capita to progress their bereavement cases, which the contractor had committed to doing by early September.

Capita declined to comment on an individual case but said it would "continue to work at pace to resolve the operational issues".

The firm apologised for "for the distress and inconvenience experienced" and accepted service had "not been good enough, particularly for members waiting on bereavement, retirement, and quotation cases".

"We now have the processes, automation and technology in place to work through the backlog," a spokesperson said.

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