DID Press: More than 1,000 retired British military personnel have been ordered to repay pension overpayments after errors in the calculation of their retirement benefits, leaving some facing bills of more than £100,000, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The Ministry of Defence said the issue stemmed from miscalculations in two Armed Forces pension schemes that provide guaranteed lifetime pensions for approximately 432,000 military retirees.
Officials estimate that the total value of the overpayments amounts to around £5.1 million, with some individuals having received more than £100,000 in excess pension payments.
The ministry said Treasury rules require government departments to recover all public funds paid in error, even when recipients were not responsible for the mistake.
Although the problem was first identified in November 2024, affected pensioners did not begin receiving notification letters until this year.
Among those affected is James Ankles, a retired Royal Navy officer who served for 35 years as an aircraft engineer. He has been asked to repay £45,687 after officials determined that his pension had been overpaid.
Ankles said his monthly pension will be reduced by more than £1,000, with an additional £750 deducted each month for the next five years to recover the overpayment.
Another retired Royal Navy officer, Michael Evans, said he faces a monthly pension reduction of £414 and has been ordered to repay £16,000.
The Armed Forces Pension Society said it has identified 398 cases linked to errors involving National Insurance adjustment rules, while more than 1,000 additional cases involve miscalculations related to divorce settlements and other pension assessments.
The society’s Chief Executive, Neil Marshall, described the issue as the result of “failures in leadership, oversight, operational processes, and quality control.”
The Ministry of Defence said it would recover the overpayments “in a sensitive and proportionate manner” and would offer affected pensioners repayment plans as well as financial and welfare support throughout the process.
The company responsible for pension payment services also said retirees would receive appropriate assistance while the repayments are being managed.