Warwickshire council writes off £2m in pension overpayments

The decision over writing off the overpayments was made by council leader Izzi Seccombe

A council has written off more than £2m in pension overpayments made to retired staff members dating back an average of 18 years.

Warwickshire County Council officers advised it would not be cost effective in many cases to pursue the overpayments partly due to the volume of cases and the costs of legal action.

Figures show there have been 1,180 cases totalling £2.2m.

An additional £45,000 will go to pensioners following underpayments.

The decision over writing off the overpayments was made by the council leader, Conservative Izzi Seccombe, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The extra money will be paid out to 122 pensioners where there has been an underpayment with the cash coming from the Warwickshire Pension Fund.

A report prepared this week explained the cases were highlighted due to a discrepancy between council figures and those held by HM Revenue & Customs.

It said: "Certain members have been identified as having been underpaid pension and others having been overpaid pension nationally and within the Warwickshire Local Government Pension Scheme (the Fund).

The report stated the average underpayment was £118 per year and listed reasons why the Fund would not seek to recover the overpayments.

It added: "Most people affected are likely to be elderly and vulnerable and already facing rising inflation and costs of living.

"These factors could impact the Fund's ability to recover some or all of the overpayment and lead to additional unrecoverable costs in taking any recovery action."