Hundreds of veterans ordered to repay tens of thousands of pounds to Treasury after pension error

Have YOU been affected by the errors? editor@thisismoney.co.ukSee more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Updated: 05:15 EDT, 27 July 2026 Hundreds of veterans must repay tens of thousands of pounds after calculation errors led to pension overpayments. They have been told they must give back the money despite not being at fault.Campaigners are calling for the Treasury to write off a total of £5.1million in overpayments.This is Money first revealed the issue with the overpayments in June, when a Royal Navy veteran told us he was ordered to return £18,200.Thomas Meadows, the 73-year-old recipient of a prestigious Meritorious Service Medal, was dumbfounded to learn his Armed Forces pension had been overpaid for nine years due to an obscure accounting error. The affected pensioners have seen immediate cuts to their monthly pensions and face further reductions if they sign up to the repayment plans offered by the pension scheme. The errors relate to the Armed Forces' two final-salary schemes, which provide incomes for life for 432,000 retired troops. Thomas Meadows in uniform during 35 years in the Armed Forces. Meadows was told his Armed Forces pension had been overpaid for nine years due to an obscure accounting errorThe income from a final-salary pension rises each year in line with inflation. But the inflation increase seems to have been made twice in some years. Public sector organisations are obliged to recover overpaid funds regardless of who is at fault.The MoD identified the overpayments in November 2024, but veterans were only notified this year. James Uncles, 71, a former Navy warrant officer who served as an aircraft engineer, received a letter in February telling him to return more than £40,000.Mr Uncles was told his pension would be immediately cut by more than £1,000 per month - a drop of nearly 25 per cent. A further £750 will be deducted monthly over the next five years to cover overpayments made, unnoticed by him, since January 2021. Michael Evans, 68, a retired Navy captain, was given two weeks' warning in March that his pension was to be cut by £414 a month. He was told he needed to pay back a further £16,000 over 18 months.The Forces Pension Society, a guidance service for veterans, said there were 398 cases. But it is aware of a further 1,000 cases of other types of overpayment. Defence Business Services, a unit in the MoD, is responsible for the pension scheme.The MoD's Veterans UK assesses entitlements and keeps records. Finance firm Equiniti makes payments.The FPS's Major General Neil Marshall told The Times: 'Veterans are not being presented with clear calculations, so they have no way of confirming if overpayments are being properly corrected.' In June, a Ministry of Defence spokesman told This is Money: ‘Where payments have been made in error, we have a responsibility to recover taxpayer funds and will always seek to do so in a sensitive and proportionate way. This includes... sensible repayment schedules. Through Veterans Services, we provide one-to-one support to veterans and their families facing challenges.’Equiniti said it ‘supports in the recovery of overpayments’ and ‘works to ensure that all members receive the correct information and appropriate support’. What fellow veteran victims can do The Forces Pension Society says first verify your letter is legitimate, then follow up in writing to request further information. It suggests contacting your local MP for support, and explains how to complain in a step-by-step guide on its website. Here is the link: forcespensionsociety.org/2026/03/equinti-overpayment-of-armed-forces-pension-letters.To make your complaint for pension ‘maladministration’, you first need to use the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP). You can then take it to the Pensions Ombudsman if necessary. The Government has information at gov.uk/ government/groups/veterans-welfare-service and its helpline is 0808 1914 218 (option 6).