More than 1,000 retired UK service personnel are being pursued for pension overpayments caused by administrative and calculation errors, with some veterans facing demands to repay tens of thousands of pounds. The Ministry of Defence says 335 people alone were overpaid a combined £5.1 million because of incorrect National Insurance calculations.
Some veterans have also had their future pension payments reduced immediately after receiving repayment notices. The Forces Pension Society says the cases involve errors linked to National Insurance adjustments, pension sharing orders, early departure payments and other pension calculations.
Some Veterans Face Debts of Tens of Thousands of Pounds
Royal Artillery veteran Ray Lawton, 70, was told in July that he owed £8,000 after receiving excessive payments for six years. His monthly military pension was subsequently reduced from £550 to £365.
Andrew Thorburn, who served 36 years in the Royal Navy, has been told to repay £26,438 and has seen his monthly pension fall by about £650.
RAF veteran Barrie Goodwin faces a repayment demand of £32,188 despite saying he contacted pension administrator Equiniti six years earlier when his payments increased and was told they were correct.
The Forces Pension Society says it is aware of some cases involving six-figure repayment demands.
MoD Says Public Money Must Be Recovered
The Ministry of Defence says it has a responsibility to recover public money that was paid in error, but that repayments should be handled sensitively and proportionately.
Of the 335 veterans affected by National Insurance errors, about one-third have already repaid their debt in full, while 52 have agreed repayment plans. Around £304,000 of the £5.1 million identified in those cases has so far been recovered.
The pension scheme is currently administered through contractors including Sopra Steria and Equiniti. Sopra Steria said the errors that led to some incorrect payments originated more than a decade before it took over the contract in 2023.
Veterans Can Challenge Repayment Decisions
The Forces Pension Society is calling for recovery action to be handled more fairly when veterans received incorrect payments through no fault of their own.
It advises anyone receiving an overpayment letter to verify that it is genuine, request a detailed explanation of the revised pension calculation and consider submitting a complaint through the Armed Forces Pension Scheme’s Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure.
The organization says some veterans have successfully had debts written off after formally challenging their cases. Unresolved complaints can also ultimately be referred to the Pensions Ombudsman.
Former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt has argued that there may be a case for writing off some debts where recovering the money would create disproportionate hardship or where administrative failures caused the problem.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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