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Teachers who retired this summer have been left waiting for pension payments they were supposed to receive at the start of September, with some saying they are “sick with worry” and unable to pay bills.
Current and retired teachers have contacted the Guardian to complain about delays, backlogs and poor communication at Teachers’ Pensions, which administers the profession’s scheme on behalf of the government.
Sally Close said she was “just one of many teachers” who retired in August who had not received their tax-free pension lump sum. She was also awaiting her first monthly pension payment.
The Guardian has previously highlighted complaints about administrative problems and delays at the scheme affecting people getting divorced and partners of retired teachers.
However, it has now emerged that some newly retired teachers are awaiting money – in some cases tens of thousands of pounds.
“I retired in good faith, having taught for 25 years, and applied for my pension in March,” Close said. The 58-year-old, who lives in south London and taught psychology and sociology, said she was due a lump sum of about £36,000 and a pension of about £1,000 a month. Her “payable date”, according to the scheme, was 1 September.
She said the scheme did not seem to be able to give a date for when she and others would be paid.
Another teacher, Nicky Caveney, 59, said she had not received her pension lump sum payment of £65,000, also expected on 1 September. She told the Guardian she was on a holiday planned to celebrate her retirement this summer, but “instead I’m sick with worry as to how I’m going to pay the bills when I get back”.
Similarly, Caroline, 58, who retired this summer, said: “I haven’t a clue when I’ll get my money or how much I’ll get. I don’t have another income and am relying on the lump sum to clear my mortgage.”
Caroline, who taught for 30 years, is due a lump sum of about £40,000 and a pension of about £11,000 a year.
A primary school teacher of 32 years who recently made the decision to take early retirement at age 55 said she, too, was supposed to receive her lump sum payment on 1 September. “We have been unable to pay our large credit card bill this month (which has generated additional interest payments) and, if not resolved promptly, it will leave us unable to meet our monthly food costs, bills, mortgage and direct debit payments,” said the teacher from Warwickshire.
Current and ex-teachers have flooded the website Trustpilot with scathing reviews of Teachers’ Pensions: at the time of writing, 95% of the more than 700 reviews were one-star, the lowest rating available.
Teachers’ Pensions runs the Teachers’ Pension Scheme – one of Britain’s biggest, with more than 2.2 million members – on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).
The scheme is administered by the outsourcing company Capita, but in 2023 it lost the contract to Tata Consultancy Services. Tata was originally due to take over in October this year but this has reportedly been pushed back to summer 2026.
On Wednesday, the Guardian sent details of six cases – including those featured here – to Capita. On Thursday afternoon it told us: “We can confirm that four of these cases are resolved and are in payment, and two are expected to be closed within 48 hours.”
A Capita spokesperson added: “There are a number of reasons outside our control why payments can be delayed – in the cases outlined, some of the reasons included waiting for members’ transitional protection decisions [this relates to some older members who were allowed to remain in their final salary schemes while other members moved to career average schemes] and the submission of an incomplete application. We are working with the DfE on ways to address members’ inquiries more quickly and apologise for any delays in response times.”
A court judgment that found government changes to public sector pensions in 2015 fell foul of age discrimination laws has been linked to some of the delays as it has led to extra work being needed to recalculate many people’s entitlements.
A DfE spokesperson said: “A guaranteed income in retirement is one of the rewards teachers deserve for their hard work.” It is understood the department is satisfied with how Capita is handling inquiries about pensions being put into payment.
