England

MOD apology over pension error

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The Ministry of Defence has apologised after thousands of recently-retired veterans were underpaid on their pensions.

It is thought more than 5 thousand ex-military personnel who have left the armed forces since April last year are receiving about £200-£300 a year less than they should.

The problem arose because the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency failed to update the way it calculates entitlements when veterans choose to "commute" part of their pension so they receive a bigger lump sum on retirement.

The mistakes were uncovered by Commander Michael Goldthorpe, who left the Royal Navy last year after 33 years' service.

An MOD statement says: "We are aware of an inaccuracy with a relatively small number of Armed Forces pensions 'commutation' calculations since April 2010 and we are upgrading our IT systems to address this. Those affected will be fully reimbursed and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"Information was put on our website for veterans, who regularly use the MOD pensions calculator (accessible through both the Veterans UK website and the MOD website), so that Service personnel were informed of the discrepancy.

"This was the quickest and most effective way to reach those who may have been affected. A decision on compensation will be made when we are ready to make the correct and backdated payments."