'I'm terminally ill but owed thousands by pension'

A Wirral woman diagnosed with terminal cancer said she is "losing precious time with my family" due to a major problem with the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Julie Morton retired from the prison service on medical grounds in August last year after doctors told her she had a life expectancy of 12 months.

Six months later she told the BBC she has not had "one piece of paperwork" despite sending the correct documentation to Capita, the firm contracted by the government to administer the scheme.

Capita said it was "very sorry" and that it had inherited a backlog of 86,000 cases - including 15,000 unread emails - but had doubled staff working on the scheme.

Julie told the BBC she had spent hours on the phone to Capita call handlers trying to resolve her case, and emails had not been responded to.

"I'm losing sleep over this, and I'm losing precious, valuable time with my family whilst I'm trying to fight for the money that I'm entitled to," she said.

"I'm owed thousands and thousands of pounds."

Capita took over the pension scheme, which manages the pensions of 1.7 million public sector workers in the UK, at the beginning of December last year.

Richard Holroyd, chief executive of Capita, told a committee of MPs earlier that the backlog it inherited from the previous administrator had "overwhelmed" the company.

He said the 86,000 case backlog had now increased to 120,000.

However for Julie, the delay is costing her time she does not have.

As well as her own health, Julie is also dealing with the fact both her parents have been diagnosed with dementia.

"I have not been able to make any memories with my family because I've got no income," she said.

Julie added: "This is causing not just me but my family difficulties, emotionally, physically.

"We can't go out to enjoy ourselves because I've only got a certain amount of money to see me through each week.

"I should be making memories and enjoying my time with my family, my children, my grandchildren, my friends, my elderly parents who both have dementia, and I can't.

"I'm getting no joy from Capita."

In a statement Capita said it was "deeply sorry" and was taking responsibility to put the problem right.

"Capita has 650 colleagues working on this now, 50% more than the previous provider," it said.

"We expect to restore service levels for the most urgent cases by the end of February, with full recovery of the remaining priority cases to follow."

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