Capita-utter farce-wrong details

[Dennis Lewis]

I've just emailed the Guardian about our experiences with Capita... If they reply then will take it from there. I'm not usually one to complain (ha-ha) but enough is enough. I am still awaiting to hear from my caseworker with the Early Response Team from the Pension's Ombudsman - he should have contacted me by 17th Feb and it took them two months to say that - we can only guess why Will keep you informed.[/quo

It's enough to drive you mad isn't it ..... first all the hassle and problems with Capita and then the organisation that's supposed to deal with Capita's poor performance don't deliver either

I don't think it's "complaining" Dennis - you've plenty of genuine valid grievances that need addressing - it's standing up for yourself

Thanks N60... Still nothing from the Ombudsman's Rapid Response Unit (sorry ERT Early Resolution Team). I am pleased that this thread is continuing to help people though and many thanks for your continuing effort with this.

[Black7]

Hi guys.
I too have just found the forum.
I'm having issues also. Had a letter in September 2018 asking me to select my options. Job done I thought, but no. NRA Jan 2019.
Crapita contacted me in December to say that my"pack" would be delayed until 31/01/2019. No explanation given.
Emailed 10/01/2019 and response from Mark Richardson was I would have a reply withing 10 working days. Nothing
Subsequent emails sent and the same generic reply.
Called the centre and was told "there is no reason why you have not been paid"
Waited 3 days and now totally peed off. I am unemployed at the moment with an income of less than £70 per week, which I have explained.
Emailed Crapita CEO Jonathan.Lewis@capita.com and the pensions minister Debra.soper@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
Three days later, my lump sum was paid BUT only to the value of my statement in March 2018. No monthly payments and no compensation that I have insisted on.
No contact from Debra Soper, disappointingly.
Worst part though has to be the complete lack of information from Crapita. Why they were ever awarded the administration contract when I can find similar complaints from council workers in Hackney in 2012
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/exp ... raits.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and similar issues in the NHS
https://www.gponline.com/capita-strippe ... le/1519533" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My next move will be to contact Jon Lewis again but why we have to go through the CEO just shows what a dreadful company this is.
Dave

[Dennis Lewis]

Hi guys.
I too have just found the forum.
I'm having issues also. Had a letter in September 2018 asking me to select my options. Job done I thought, but no. NRA Jan 2019.
Crapita contacted me in December to say that my"pack" would be delayed until 31/01/2019. No explanation given.
Emailed 10/01/2019 and response from Mark Richardson was I would have a reply withing 10 working days. Nothing
Subsequent emails sent and the same generic reply.
Called the centre and was told "there is no reason why you have not been paid"
Waited 3 days and now totally peed off. I am unemployed at the moment with an income of less than £70 per week, which I have explained.
Emailed Crapita CEO Jonathan.Lewis@capita.com and the pensions minister Debra.soper@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
Three days later, my lump sum was paid BUT only to the value of my statement in March 2018. No monthly payments and no compensation that I have insisted on.
No contact from Debra Soper, disappointingly.
Worst part though has to be the complete lack of information from Crapita. Why they were ever awarded the administration contract when I can find similar complaints from council workers in Hackney in 2012

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/exp ... raits.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and similar issues in the NHS
https://www.gponline.com/capita-strippe ... le/1519533" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My next move will be to contact Jon Lewis again but why we have to go through the CEO just shows what a dreadful company this is.
Dave

Hi, sorry you're yet another one having problems with your pension. It seems everyone who has left RM goes through this dreadful experience. My friend still working for RM got his lump sum last week with absolutely no hassle at all (he had to rub it in the b"stard ha-ha). Joking apart I was pleased for him but that doesn't exactly help us. I think the Cabinet Office have played a bit of a divide and rule strategy with this to take the CWU out of the picture. I believe RM pensions are still in-house and are going through swimmingly, but they've awarded us with Capita We are out on our own without direct contact and no CWU to help. We are soft target really and that is why this thread is so important. More and more of us are getting sick of the way we are being treated (as individuals but also as a group). We get one of four responses to everything: 1)"There's a backlog" 2)"It's been escalated" 3) Totally ignored 4) Eventually action from the CEO. And because we are generally decent folk they know that they can get away with it. Anyway keep posting your experiences as we are becoming stronger as a group and helping many yet to arrive on this forum.

[gbooker]

All,
Please beware that if you decide to take you AVC with your pension, you will not receive anything until the AVC has been calculated and returned to Capita.

Just got off the phone with the agent managing my process in the escalation team and was told this for the first time. I was due to get my Lump Sum on 02/02/2019 and this was the first time this was made clear to me after originally emailing them my notice of taking my pension at 55 back in October 2018.

I have been calling and chasing for the last 2 months trying to get updates, but as has been said here on numerous occasions, although polite, the people on the phones are next to useless as they have no information available to them.

The Escalation Team have been in place sine November but still seem to not be able to answer simple questions around current timescales etc..

I emailed customer.relations.pensions@capita.co.uk (FAO: Mr Richard Kirwan Head of Complaints) and copied in the CEO (jon.lewis@capita.co.uk) on Saturday 16/02/2019 but have not heard a thing from them, just to fall in line with the usual non communication policy I have experienced to date.

Gary.

Well I have had no reply so far, and based on my experience to date I am not in the least surprised. Just sent a follow up email to both customer.relations.pensions@capita.co.uk with CC to jon.lewis@capita.co.uk asking "So what does one do if the complaints team does not respond to a complaint?"

I was due to be paid my lump sum on 02/02/2019 and so far have not had a penny from them and it looks like I will not get my monthly pension this month.

Gary.

[Dennis Lewis]

Hi Gary,
Sorry you've had no response, seems they are not improving at all almost half a year into the contract. Try emailing the CEO Jon Lewis again directly and not copying him in. Also he could be on holiday. Either that or he is getting bogged down with complaints (he should sort this out though - he's the boss). Also get in touch with the cabinet office who are still managing the scheme and let them know about this (here's their contact details: Dominic Arthur, Deputy Director, Civil Service and Royal Mail Pensions 1 Horse Guards Road London SW1A 2HQ Email: dominic.arthurcabinetoffice.gov.uk. (I contacted them a while back and I did eventually get an apology reply from them) May also be worth contacting your MP too. It is extremely frustrating - keep up the pressure on them and try to keep your spirits up. Good luck

[gbooker]

Hi,
I got a response from Jon Lewis this morning saying: "Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in response from myself and the complaints team.
I completely understand your frustration and have asked my direct report responsible to ensure that someone contacts you today as a matter of priority."

So what happened. I got a phone call from the person dealing with my case on the Escalation Team. He told me that despite retuning my option form on Monday 04th February (After only receiving it on Friday 01 February and being due on 02 February), they had only sent off the request to have my AVC disinvested on 13 February. They have still not received it back and have supposedly chased it again.

All of this despite giving them three months notice of my intention to take my AVC at the same time as my lump sum. Why they can't liaise with the AVC provider so they both have everything in place on the drop date is beyond me if you have a normal and organised processing in place.

It will be interesting to see what happens when I do get my money and then ask for compensation for the late payment, which in my mind is effectively a short term loan I have made to them.

Has anyone else asked for and got compensation for delays and late payments?

Gary.

[Dennis Lewis]

Hi,
I got a response from Jon Lewis this morning saying: "Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in response from myself and the complaints team.
I completely understand your frustration and have asked my direct report responsible to ensure that someone contacts you today as a matter of priority."

So what happened. I got a phone call from the person dealing with my case on the Escalation Team. He told me that despite retuning my option form on Monday 04th February (After only receiving it on Friday 01 February and being due on 02 February), they had only sent off the request to have my AVC disinvested on 13 February. They have still not received it back and have supposedly chased it again.

All of this despite giving them three months notice of my intention to take my AVC at the same time as my lump sum. Why they can't liaise with the AVC provider so they both have everything in place on the drop date is beyond me if you have a normal and organised processing in place.

It will be interesting to see what happens when I do get my money and then ask for compensation for the late payment, which in my mind is effectively a short term loan I have made to them.

Has anyone else asked for and got compensation for delays and late payments?

Gary.

Hi Gary,
Pleased the CEO responded - I suppose that's something. Have only recently heard about people asking for compensation - which should be mandatory when they mess up like they do. There is another thread entitled 'capita doubts setting in' try this link https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 27&t=88769" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; where someone talks a bit more about compensation. Hope this helps.... Keep us posted as I think we all deserve compensation!

[Black7]

Just a quick update.
Now received my lump sum after a reply from Jon Lewis, well don't break out the bubbly yet!
Lump sum paid correct at March 2018, my NRA was January 2019+ 48 days lost interest for late payment.
No monthly payment and until I checked my bank account online, I wasn't aware they had paid me.
Follow up email with thanks to Jon Lewis will be sent, with the above details.
The ongoing situation is er.... ongoing

[N60]

Hello Black 7,

Afraid nothing you post about the mess up with capita is surprising ...... but glad to hear you're getting somewhere via Jon lewis. You'll have seen from our postings on here that we've all had to battle for what should happen automatically and in a timely fashion but doesn't

With regards to compensation, I didn't go for it as in the end my pension and lump sum got paid - it wouldn't have without almost constant effort from Richard Kirwan to move it through the system and daily chase ups from me nagging him to move it through the system .....and reminding him that if it wasn't paid on time I would be seeking both "financial and non-financial redress"

- Financial redress to "put me back into the position I would have been in if everything had been done correctly" and
- Non financial redress for the "significant inconvenience, disappointment, distress" to cover the "non-financial injustice caused by the inconvenience and the time and effort spent trying to sort the problem out" and "the anxiety, anger, disappointment and embarrassment" caused me by Capita's failings.

I got the terms and wordings from the Pensions Ombudsman web site. I didn't/haven't logged a formal complaint with the Ombudsman but I was looking at what they did and found the info on their "Putting Things Right" page, I've attached a link, you'll also see a fact sheet (about halfway down the page) that has some useful info including a scale for the "Non financial" redress awards ranging from £0 to £2k depending on severity. The amount of "Financial redress" awards being of course the £x due to put you where you would have been without the delay in your pension payment (basically lost interest).

Here's the link https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/g ... ngs-right/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I do think just quoting some of their phrases/terms and showing I knew the grounds for compo made a difference to Capita's response. As I said I didn't pursue it as I did get my pension sorted, just in time for the December cut off date, but had they missed that then I would have gone in full compo mode.

Hope this helps and good luck on getting your pension & AVC sorted ..... and on getting compensation if you do pursue it.

[Black7]

Thanks N60 for the advice.
Had my promised response from Richard Kirwan and he is DEFINITELY the man to contact.
I've tried to keep things informal and Richards response has been quite positive and explained things from their end. Shame the call centre can't do the same.
AVC's are an issue apparently, can take 6 weeks (usually less) and must be received by Capita before regular payments can commence.
In my case, my first contact with RMSPS was in September 2018 with my options pack, NRA 04/01/2019. Returned same day.
Captia sent their version on the 05/02/2019 (returned same day 1st class) but my AVC request wasn't forwarded until 15/02/2019.
Richard has promised to track my AVC's, outstanding interest etc and keep me updated.
As for my compensation request, it is being considered.
Best advice for anyone new to the issue, as others have found, e-mail Jon Lewis and copy in Richard Kirwan.
Don't waste your time with the call centre.

[N60]

Glad to hear you're making progress Black 7.

Agree that Richard's the one to get things sorted out. I've always found him to have a "I'll get it sorted" approach and he does ..... remarkable how he stays so positive ! Whilst I think he does a sterling job the fact remains we shouldn't have to refer to him things that are straightforward process issues, it's clear that Capita haven't (yet) got on top of the pension admin.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for your AVC to get sorted ...... and interest

[Dennis Lewis]

Hi guys,
Still no payslip from Capita and this is my fourth lot of pension on emergency tax code in spite of contacting them four times about this. Even Richard Kirwan hasn't responded since saying he'd look into it for me. So we cannot depend on their ability to respond to any enquiry ever!

I've had a reply from the Ombudsman ERT apologising for the delay - it's a volunteer worker so they are obviously stretched. He asked me if I had received my pension and I let him know that I had two months late. I also let him know that there were now three forums on-line with almost two hundred postings from ex-posties in a similar position with Capita.

No reply from the Guardian, a little surprised as Capita are on their radar, but it does confirm how difficult it could be to drum up media interest.

I have contacted my MP and had a reply from him, he is taking this up with the Cabinet Office Minister. It will be interesting to see what happens with this but I think I know the outcome already.

Did you know that in 2017 the government awarded 154 contracts to Capita. (Source: BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cm6pmmerd28t/capita" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keep posting

[Dennis Lewis]

Hi guys,

Just a quick update. I've had a positive response from the Ombudsman ERT - they were slow out of the blocks but are probably dealing with lots of complaints about you know who. Anyway ERT are passing my email onto the Ombudsman contact at the Cabinet Office and are looking for compensation on my behalf. I've also been in touch with the NAO again. I would have probably let it all go if Capita had coughed up with a payslip after my four prompts but........nothing as ever, but then seeing all the problems people are still having, perhaps I would not have let it go. As I mentioned in my email to ERT, it is the feeling of helplessness in trying to get a response from Capita coupled with the fear that should anything go wrong in the future (and with their glowing track record) you know you probably won't get any reply from them. (We cannot continue to rely on the CEO and R. Kirwan as they could be off). In short, Capita are unfit for purpose regarding our pension.

Keep posting guys, and get your complaints in!

[MichaelJ]

Thanks to the posters on here, I have now been paid my lump sum and first pension payment, both when they were due. When I asked Richard Kirwan when I would get my payslip, he said "A payslip has been produced, I’m not sure what the timescale is for sending these if I’m honest, the production date was 22 February but I’m not sure when these are expected to reach members." I am still waiting for it.
However, I have an HMRC personal tax account, and when I checked this, it had already been updated with ROYAL MAIL STATUTORY PENSION SCHEME details including estimated taxable income for this tax year, income received to date (including taxable income and income tax paid), tax code and pension number.
I know this may not appeal to everyone on here, but in the absence of payslips for those now receiving their pension, it may be a way to get the details you need to sort out your tax. The link to register is https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[N60]

Thanks to the posters on here, I have now been paid my lump sum and first pension payment, both when they were due. When I asked Richard Kirwan when I would get my payslip, he said "A payslip has been produced, I’m not sure what the timescale is for sending these if I’m honest, the production date was 22 February but I’m not sure when these are expected to reach members." I am still waiting for it.
However, I have an HMRC personal tax account, and when I checked this, it had already been updated with ROYAL MAIL STATUTORY PENSION SCHEME details including estimated taxable income for this tax year, income received to date (including taxable income and income tax paid), tax code and pension number.
I know this may not appeal to everyone on here, but in the absence of payslips for those now receiving their pension, it may be a way to get the details you need to sort out your tax. The link to register is https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Hi, good to hear your pension & lump sum all sorted.

Also sounds like Capita may be getting somewhere on the tax front. Like you I have a personal tax account and check it/update etc a fair bit on line. Unfortunately Capita hadn't informed HMRC of my pensions after two months so I had to do a lot of chasing of Capita to get a payslip and pay reference numbers etc before HMRC could do anything. Once I'd got the info HMRC were v good at notifying Capita of the tax codes.

I have though noticed, at the start of this month, my tax account has been updates with all the info from Capita - all the payments since December etc which were originally missing, it's now bang up to date. So, it looks like Capita may have done a big update/sending of info with the February month end - though that's just my assumption on the basis of the info all appearing recently. Maybe it's a push on their part to get clear for the year end, who knows.

Anyway, if they have now notified HMRC of all payments then it could be good news for you Dennis as HMRC will then be able to tell Capita of your correct tax codes and hopefully you'll get your tax back in March

I think the tax account is really useful and from my experience I'd recommend using one if you're happy to do so.