MoD apologises after thousands of veterans' have pensions underpaid

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

More than 5,000 ex-military personnel who have left the armed forces since April last year are reportedly 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.

He said he was "disappointed" that many of those affected have still not been told that they are being underpaid.

"They still haven't told the people who left before November 2010," he said.

"I am disappointed it has taken so long (to uncover] and that so many people were affected.

"The MoD were happy to sit back and not inform them they were being paid incorrectly," he said.

The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency said the problem will not be fully rectified until its computer systems are upgraded in September or October.

An MoD spokesman said: "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 in order to address this.

"Those affected will be fully reimbursed and we apologise for any inconvenience caused."