Pension disputes

Last updated: 07 Oct 2026

How should I respond to a request for repayment of overpaid pension?

For both statutory and trust based defined benefit pension schemes there is a requirement for pension benefits to paid in line with the rules of the scheme. This means that if you’ve been overpaid the administrators are required to amend your ongoing payments to the correct level and seek to recover overpayments in most cases.

Common reasons for overpayments and underpayments occurring are revisions received by administrators to pensionable pay or reckonable service after the calculation of pension benefits or incorrect increases to pensions in retirement relating to guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) records.

In some circumstances arguments can made that it is not appropriate for the administrator to recover the overpayment.

Members of public sector pension schemes can have overpayments waived under HM Treasury guidelines for managing public money in the event that the expected administration cost of recovering the overpayments is greater than the overpayments themselves. This guidance resulted in the Cabinet Office writing off overpayments for Civil Service pensioners arising from GMP rectification. You can find the HM Treasury guidelines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money

We recommend members with a request for repayment of overpaid pension benefits consider taking the following steps:

(1) Verify that the correspondence really is from your pension scheme administrator

Unfortunately there are many criminals targeting pension scheme members. Fraudsters can make their communications seem genuine. Refer to guidance from the Pension Regulator on spotting pension predators: http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/pension-scams.aspx

(2) Get a full explanation of how the overpayment arose

It is important to understand how the error arose and establish who was at fault initially. It is also important to know that the error has been fixed properly. Ask the scheme for a full explanation of how the error arose and confirmation that the latest figures are correct.

(3) How old are the overpayments?

The statute of limitations normally applies when administrators are seeking immediate recovery of the full amount of overpaid pension benefits. The statute of limitations is six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland the time limit is five years. It is therefore important to query the time period of the overpayment as well as requesting a breakdown of the overpayments for each tax year. You can then be a in a position to propose repaying the overpaid monies up to the statute of limitations limit.

The statute of limitations doesn’t apply when administrators seek to recover overpayments via a deduction from your future pension payments. There is a precedent that administrators should allow scheme members to a repayment plan that reflects the length of time the overpayment occurred.

(4) Can you challenge a decision to pursue repayment?

In these situations it should be possible for you to argue that (a) the problem was the scheme’s fault and (b) there is no possible way you could have been aware of the issue.

If your financial position has changed in a way that you cannot undo, (for example by spending the money on a holiday or on a generally improved standard of living over a period of time), it might be possible to argue that the scheme should write off some or all of the overpayment.

If you are a member, please contact Bectu if you would like help when making these points to your scheme.

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I have an issue with my pension – what do I do?

The first step before making a formal complaint is to determine what has gone wrong and the implications of it. The four terms for pension complaints that are useful to understand are: maladministration, financial loss, loss of expectation and stress and inconvenience.

  • Maladministration – inefficient or incompetent management of your pension.
  • Financial loss – maladministration has resulted in you losing out financially.
  • Loss of expectation – maladministration has led you to expect a greater entitlement than exists.
  • Stress and inconvenience – maladministration has resulted in stress and inconvenience to resolve the situation and take appropriate action for your personal finances.

When you write your complaint you need to be concise but comprehensive. Explain clearly what you are unhappy about, how it has affected you and how you would like it to be rectified.

You may wish to contact Bectu at this point for support with your complaint. The level of support provided will depend on the nature of the complaint.

Internal dispute resolution procedure

We recommend reviewing the complaints procedure for your pension scheme before submitting a complaint. Normally pension complaints regarding pension schemes need to be made in writing addressed to the Complaints Manager. We would expect your complaint to be acknowledged and to then be investigated.

Pension schemes normally have a two stage internal dispute resolution procedure. Stage one is for the initial complaints and stage two is to appeal against the determination of the stage one complaint.

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Who is responsible in a pension dispute?

To resolve a dispute regarding your pension it may be necessary to work out who’s responsible for the dispute.

The majority of pension complaints concern pension scheme administrators, as they are responsible for the bulk of the administration of your pension.

However, they do not have sole responsibility over the administration of all aspects of your pension because your employer has some administration duties. These relate specifically to: paying your contributions and the employer contributions to the scheme and for final salary schemes’ information about pay and service.

If your dispute is about incorrect information being sent to the pension scheme administrators or contributions not being paid, you should contact your employer in the first instance to resolve the issue.

If your dispute is about any other aspect of your pension, you should contact the pension scheme administrators.

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I’m not happy with the outcome of my pension complaint – what can I do?

If you are unhappy with the final response on your complaint you can escalate the issue to the Pensions Ombudsman (PO).

The PO is the impartial adjudicator who makes final and binding decisions regarding pension complaints on pension administration.

In order for complaints to be referred to the PO, members must first go through their pension scheme’s complaints procedure, commonly called internal dispute resolution.

The PO remit covers all complaints relating to the administrator of your pension scheme, while complaints regarding mis-selling of pensions comes under the Financial Ombudsman.

Members with pensions who have been transferred to the Pension Protection Fund have a separate Ombudsman to consider their complaints, called the Pension Protection Fund – Pensions Ombudsman.

The PPF Pensions Ombudsman is likely to have dealt with a similar complaint to yours in the past. You can use their website to search determinations to view the Ombudsman’s decisions on similar cases.

This can be useful to understand the considerations the Ombudsman makes when considering complaints and whether to upheld them or not. You can view their previous decisions here.

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How can Bectu help me with my pension?

Pensions is probably the most complex area that Prospect representatives handle on behalf of members, who are covered by hundreds of different pension schemes.

We offer advice and legal representation on pensions issues. Members seeking this should first contact their local union rep or full-time negotiator. Read more about how we can help.

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Get support as a member

Speak with your representatives: 
If you work in an organisation that has local Bectu representatives, you should speak to them about any work-related issues.

Call the member contact centre on 0300 600 1878 or email [email protected]

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