In his letter, Capita’s Mike Addenbrooke says (TES, March 19) that the teachers’ pension error (or worse) iceberg is all down to education authorities. Foolish man!
In 1989 I elected to purchase all my service prior to April 1988 for family benefits by contributing an additional 4 per cent from March 1, 1990 to January 31, 1993. In 1993 I was told by Capita that I had a 13-month gap in service during this period.
I didn’t have any such gap (same job, same school). Knowing I had a contribution gap at the start of my career, I agreed to the additional 4 per cent contribution period being extended for 13 months until February 1994.
In the January 2004 notification, not only was the gap-that-wasn’t still there, but my 13 months of extended additional contributions had disappeared as well. This disappearance trick with my money was pure Capita error. I’ll hazard a guess that the gap-that-wasn’t is also down to Capita rather than Islington, but time will tell.
Linda Lefevre Headteacher 35 Dartmouth Park Road Kentish Town, London NW5
