From Angela MacDonald, Second Permanent Secretary
12 March 2026
As the lead for the Civil Service Pensions Taskforce, working alongside the scheme administrators, Capita, I’m committed to providing you with clear, factual, and regular updates on the work being done to try and resolve the current service issues with Civil Service Pensions. I know this is a very concerning subject for you and my team and I are keen to provide you with as much clarity as possible.
There has been progress on the milestones I set out in my last update. Call response times continue to track well and emails in the queues have been read and prioritised.
All existing death-in-service cases were addressed by 28 February 2026 and ill-health retirement cases addressed by 6 March 2026. We are maintaining service levels in these areas. As I mentioned in my last update, if you are affected by either of these circumstances and have not yet been contacted, then please contact Capita.
The current situation on retirement cases where Capita has received the completed paperwork is of the 8,063 inherited cases, 6,078 lump sums have been paid by 8 March 2026. We are now working to put the remaining regular pensions into payment.
Any members in hardship continue to be fast tracked. All priority cases are prioritised daily and routed for immediate action.
Many of you are keen to understand the impact and status of pension quotations, and whether you can retire as planned. The majority of this update is focused on guidance on this subject.
In my next update, I will provide details on a range of portal enhancements, which are due for completion by the end of March and should streamline the process for you.
Thank you for your understanding while this work continues.
Angela MacDonald
Second Permanent Secretary, HMRC
Civil Service Pensions progress update
1. Call volumes
In the week commencing 2 March 2026, the contact centre achieved an overall answer rate of 99% on two consecutive days (Wednesday, 4 March and Thursday, 5 March).
65.7% of calls were answered within 30 seconds, with an average wait time of less than four minutes. This is tracking towards the target of 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds, but there is more to be done to ensure that this is maintained.
2. Priority cases
Any members in hardship continue to be fast tracked. All priority cases (death in service, bereavement, ill-health and financial hardship) are triaged daily and routed for immediate action.
As a reminder, if you are an existing civil servant who has partially retired or a civil servant who has retired since 1 January 2025, you can contact your employer to access the transition support loan which is available to you.
For family members of civil servants who died in service, you can contact Capita via their phone lines for bereavement support. Your case will be prioritised and escalated to payment.
3. Pension quotations
Many of you have requested a pension quotation and will have questions about how Capita process these. Pension quotation requests are prioritised on the basis of the retirement date and not the date the quotation is requested. There are currently 20,585 pension quotations being processed.
For those approaching retirement, we are providing some questions and answers to help you understand the impact of the delays to the scheme and what this might mean for you.
Pension quotations
In what order will you prioritise pension quotation requests?
Pension quotations are being prioritised on the basis of the desired retirement date and not the submission date. The target when the service is running within service levels is to provide a quotation four months in advance of the retirement date. This timeframe allows you to receive your quotation, take any advice necessary to make your choices, return the paperwork and then for it to be put fully into payment.
I requested a pension quotation before 1 December 2025. What do I need to do?
Capita will write to you by 10 April 2026. You will be contacted via the portal, if you are registered, or if not then via your postal address. Capita will check if you are planning to progress, if your circumstances remain unchanged and gather any further information they require to progress your quote.
If Capita doesn’t hear from you within two months after they have written to you, your case will be closed and you will need to make a new request if you need a quote. Please respond as quickly as possible.
We know that there are a number of members with multiple periods of service who have not been able register on the portal so far. Capita are aware of this issue and will continue to work to resolve the portal issue while communicating by phone or post to any impacted member.
I have already submitted a quote, how long will it take?
We expect it to take 3 to 4 months to clear the outstanding quotation queue. In the coming weeks, we will start to post on the CSPS portal how many quotations have been processed. We will also include that in the fortnightly update from the next update on 26 March.
How can I plan for my retirement income if I don't get my quotation on time?
It normally takes up to four months from the point of application for a pension quote to a pension being in payment. This timeframe includes 2 months which is usually the time you might take to make your pension choices and therefore is personal to your situation and could be shorter than that.
When we are operating within normal service standards, if your paperwork is returned at least 10 days prior to your retirement date, then any lump sum due would be expected to be paid the next working day after your retirement date with your pension coming into payment a month later. In the current circumstances where the paperwork will be returned after your retirement date, then the lump sum due would be expected to be paid within 10 days of receipt and the pension paid a month later.
As an example, if you asked to retire in March 2026 and then receive your quotation late in May 2026, and take the usual length of time to review your options, you will receive your payments in August 2026 including the back payments of monthly pension from March to August 2026. If you return your signed paperwork faster than 2 months, then you will receive your payments earlier than August.
What do I do if my personal information is wrong when I get my quotation?
Please get in touch with Capita using the 'contact us' facility on the portal.
Changing my retirement date
If I change my retirement date, does my position in the queue change?
Yes, as quotations are worked in order of the planned retirement date. Changing your retirement date means a recalculation of your benefits including any additional data amendments.
I am concerned about the current pensions situation causing delays, can I change my retirement date?
Please contact your employer to discuss this request. If your circumstances do not allow you to stay working and you need financial support, you can access a transition support loan from your employer.
Who should I inform if I want to change my retirement date?
If you are an existing civil servant, please contact your employer to agree your new retirement date. If you are a former civil servant, please contact Capita via the ‘contact us’ service on the portal or via the telephone if you cannot register on the portal.
General questions about retirement
After normal service is restored at the end of June 2026, what is the earliest I can hope to retire?
Based on historical trends, it takes four months from the date of requesting a pension quotation to the date of retirement. If you request a pension quotation in July 2026, you will be able to retire at the end of November 2026 with your quotation and pension being processed on time.
I am not sure when I will retire but am considering it. What should I do?
If you are not planning to retire, but are interested in your potential benefits and are over 55, please wait until the retirement modeller is available on the membership portal by 31 March 2026. This will ensure the production of full quotations is focused on colleagues who have already decided to fully or partially retire.
How can I track the status of my quotation request?
There will be new portal functionality introduced by 31 March 2026. Track my case allows members to understand the status of their case.
Next fortnightly update
In the next fortnightly update, we will update you:
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on the progress of the technical upgrades and enhanced functionality to the Capita portal.
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inform you of the latest position on the backlog of pension quotations and provide further details on how Capita are progressing with pension payments.
