Wedding Joy Shadowed by Health and Pension Challenges

At 27, Caoimhe Jennings was preparing to marry the love of her life, her smile radiant despite the difficult circumstances she faced. Behind her joyful appearance, Caoimhe was contending with a terminal brain tumour diagnosis and a stressful struggle to access her ill health retirement pension from her former employer.

After a prolonged battle, Caoimhe has now received a lump sum payment. This resolution came only after her Member of Parliament raised the issue directly with the Prime Minister during a session in the House of Commons on the very day of her wedding.

Her MP has expressed concern that thousands of others may be in similar situations without the benefit of such high-level advocacy.

Background on Pension Administration and Apology

The pension administrators, Capita, have issued an apology for the distress caused by the delays. They attributed the problem to a backlog inherited when they took over administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Capita stated they are prioritising ill-health retirements and hardship cases, supported by additional resources in partnership with the Cabinet Office.

Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Caoimhe was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2025 after an optician noticed bleeding behind her eye. Since then, she has undergone chemotherapy, thirty rounds of radiotherapy, and two operations to drain fluid from her brain. She has been informed that she has only months to live.

Ongoing Pension Difficulties

Throughout her treatment, Caoimhe has also been engaged in a frustrating effort to access her ill health retirement pension from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), her former employer.

Her husband, Ollie, described the extensive communications they had with the pension administrators. They spent hours on the phone and exchanged numerous emails. HMRC had submitted paperwork to Civil Service Pensions and then to Capita, but a data transfer on 1 December between Civil Service Pensions and Capita appears to have caused the issue.

"We spent hours on the phone with them and originally they said that it was all fine and it would be treated as a priority and to expect more correspondence closer to her retirement date in January (2026)," he said.

"But that wasn't actually the case. So on 12 January we rang Capita again and after four hours on hold we managed to speak to somebody. That request has never actually got through."

The couple, residents of Claudy, County Londonderry, have now received a lump sum payment, but they believe it is incorrect and that they are owed additional funds, possibly up to £15,000.

MP Intervention and Wider Concerns

They brought the issue to their MP, Gregory Campbell of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who raised the matter directly with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the House of Commons.

The couple feel that without Campbell's intervention, they might still be awaiting resolution.

"Within twenty minutes of raising it at PMQs I had Capita on the phone to see what they could do to help," said Campbell.

"But the problem is there are many thousands of people in a similar position and they can't all rely on the fortunate position that I just happened to be in where their MP can get a prime minister's question and then people spring into action.

"There has to be a way now of getting this cleared so people don't have to go through this."

Capita's Response

In response to a query from NI, a Capita representative said:

"We are sincerely sorry for the distress this situation has caused.

"We can confirm that we have been in direct contact with the member and their representative to share our apologies directly, and that payments have now been finalised.

"This case was unfortunately affected by the backlog that Capita inherited when we took on administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme in December 2025.

"We have been working through this backlog and are prioritising ill-health retirements and hardship cases, supported by additional resourcing in partnership with the Cabinet Office."

Personal Impact and Outlook

Ollie reflected on the added stress caused by the pension difficulties during an already challenging time.

"The stress was the last thing we needed on top of Caoimhe's diagnosis."

Caoimhe remains focused on the positive aspects of her situation and the support she has received.

"I can't believe how kind people have been since I was diagnosed. It's unbelievable.

"I'm trying to stay as positive as I can. I'm hopeful that the radiotherapy and the chemotherapy have halte...