My husband died three years in the past however I nonetheless have not received his £17,000 pension: SALLY SORTS IT

My husband worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for over 30 years but died nearly three years ago. 

I applied for his civil service pension, which I should have received within three months. 

Several telephone calls later, and after sending everything twice, the administrators ‘closed my case in error’. 

I make ­regular contact and am always told my case will be escalated. Please help.

L.N., Lancashire.

Sally Hamilton replies: You described how you and your husband both set off for work one day in April 2023, with him saying he loved you and giving you a cheerio kiss. 

That was the last you saw him alive. On your way home that day, you received a call that turned your life upside down. 

Your husband and soulmate suffered a heart attack at work and died instantly.

He was 58 and just six weeks from retirement from his role on the Department for Work and Pensions’ disability helpline. 

You both had been ­planning to slow down and enjoy life. Instead, you had to cope with bereavement, carry on working full time as an NHS occupational therapist, and bring up your teenagers alone.

You received a death-in-service lump sum (life insurance paid to employees who die while working) and assumed the monthly spouse’s pension would follow.

You were due a widow’s pension for life and a monthly payment to each of your children while they remained in full-time education. 

Your sons were 13 and 17 at the time. The youngest is still at school and the other now at university. Like you, they have not seen a penny from the scheme.

Almost three years to the day since you lost your husband, you are still waiting. 

This baffling delay is bad enough but by the time you contacted me, you had become caught up in a debacle that has engulfed the Civil Service Pension Scheme in recent weeks.

Since a new administrator, ­Capita, was appointed in December, an already huge backlog of cases inherited from predecessor MyCSP has ballooned, leaving vast numbers of retirees waiting for their pensions to be paid.

Money Mail has been at the forefront of highlighting the plight of many who have been waiting for their pensions.

No delay is acceptable, but your three-year wait triggered by ­Capita’s predecessor is among the most shameful. 

I approached MyCSP for comment on what had gone wrong in your case but did not hear back. 

Your pension should have been sorted long ago, and I was determined to ensure your case be top of the pile at the new administrators.

I first asked the Cabinet Office, in overall charge of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, to help. It directed me to Capita, which I pressed on your case over many days. This began in mid-January.

It promised me that your case was being escalated. It stuck to its word and asked you to re-send information about your elder son’s education and provide updated evidence about his university course, which you did.

Meanwhile, in late January, Capita and civil service bosses issued a joint statement about the continuing crisis, saying they were ‘deeply sorry’. 

Capita says it has recruited extra staff to help clear the backlog of 120,000 cases. 

Urgent cases such as the bereaved, those taking early retirement due to ill health and those in hardship were to be first in line. I reminded Capita that you clearly fell into this first bracket.

After more toing and froing, Capita paid a backdated sum of £17,000 to you, and £5,775 to each of your sons – that’s a total of £28,550. 

You will receive about £380 a month from now on as a pension and the children the same sum until they finish their formal education.

All these payments are net of tax, so I urge you to contact HMRC to check if you and your sons are due a tax rebate. 

Capita has promised a written explanation of its workings, including what you need to give to HMRC. It will also consider compensation for your poor experience.

A Capita spokesman says: ‘We are very sorry to hear about the delay this member has faced and for the inconvenience this has caused. 

This case dates back three years, well before the ­service transferred from the ­previous provider to Capita in December 2025.’

You were mightily relieved and thanked me for my intervention. Had you known what lay ahead, you would not have used all the death-in-service sum you received to pay down your mortgage.

But without the pension income, cash flow was tight. 

You would have liked to pay for extra tuition for your younger son whose ­previously strong academic ­performance declined suddenly after losing his dad. You could not afford it. Hopefully, the money will help you address these issues.

I wish you and your boys well.

Jet2 took all three monthly payments in one go 

Late last year, I booked a £2,526 holiday with Jet2 to Madeira for Christmas. 

I paid using ­PayPal and was given the option of making three monthly payments, to spread the cost. 

When I checked my bank statement, I found the firm had taken the full amount, putting me overdrawn and incurring charges. PayPal refuses to admit it is at fault. 

Can you help?

C.H., Middlesbrough.

Sally Hamilton replies: When you came to pay for your holiday, you were attracted by PayPal’s ‘Pay in 3’ credit option. 

With this arrangement, the first payment is made at the time of purchase, followed by two monthly payments of the same sum. 

There’s no interest to pay and no late payment charges – although if a payment isn’t made, it can leave a black mark on a credit record.

I can imagine how furious you were when you saw the whole sum was taken and then by ­facing robot responses to your complaint.

I asked PayPal to investigate. It responded that the transaction hadn’t gone through via the buy-now-pay-later option because you would have needed to apply to PayPal for this first. 

This is so it can check a customer’s credit worthiness. Although the firm says it was not at fault, it was sympathetic and sent you £200 as a goodwill gesture.

Unimpressed, you told me you definitely ticked the option to ‘Pay in 3’ and there was no ­explanation that you couldn’t go ahead.

I asked PayPal to look again. After a ‘thorough analysis’, it said that the ‘Pay in 3’ process hadn’t, in fact, been initiated during the process, so it wasn’t a case of you being turned down for credit after all.

But it says the full balance to pay would have appeared on the checkout page.

You were not convinced, but had to cash in some Premium Bonds to cover the invoice. You have vowed to close your PayPal account in protest.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected], include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.