Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PO-2865)

Subject

Mr Mayes-Wright complains that Capita, the paying authority for the Scheme, have allowed an overpayment of his pension to accrue due to no fault of his own.  He would like the overpayment to be reduced by significantly more than the existing offer of £500.

The Pensions Ombudsman’s determination and short reasons

The complaint should be upheld against the SME, managers of the Scheme, as they are responsible for the maladministration by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Mr Mays-Wright’s employer, and Capita.  FCO failed to identify and inform Capita until August 2005 that Mr Mayes-Wright had exceeded his annual earnings limit from 2000.  Once informed by FCO that Mr Mayes-Wright had exceeded the annual earnings limit in 2005, Capita failed to take steps to inform Mr Mayes-Wright of the overpayment, prevent further accrual of the overpayment, and arrange recovery of it, until 2010.