Kay Donald says she has received no pension payments since her husband Barry died last September, leaving her waiting almost nine months for money she says should have helped her move on. She sent the forms and supporting documents in October, but says nothing has arrived.
Donald says the delay has left her distressed and angry. Barry died a week before the couple's 34th wedding anniversary, and she found him lying dead behind the front door after going to bed, then tried to resuscitate him. He was 63.
She says the pension problems are stopping her from moving on. Donald says she has phoned, emailed and written letters of complaint, and has brought in both her MSP and her solicitor. “I have phoned umpteen times, I've emailed, I have written letters of complaint,” she said. “I've been constant with them, I've got my MSP onto them, I've got my solicitor onto them. It's just very frustrating.”
Capita apologised for the “worry and frustration” caused by delays and said it was working to establish normal service levels. Donald, though, says those assurances ring hollow when she still has had no payments for almost nine months and feels the company “don't seem to care”.
The case sits inside a much wider problem. Capita took over administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December last year after winning the contract in 2023, and the scheme has about 1.7 million members. Scotland has previously highlighted that thousands of people have been unable to access lump-sum payments or ongoing pension income because of problems with the company's systems.
For Donald, the unresolved question is not whether the delays exist, but when her own money will arrive. Capita has promised to restore normal service levels, but it has given no date by which widows such as Donald can expect the payments they say they are still owed.
