More than 1,400 British veterans ordered to repay tens of thousands of pounds after MoD’s pensions blunder

More than 1,400 British military veterans have been ordered to repay tens of thousands of pounds by the Ministry of Defence after the department overpaid their pensions.

The confession by the MoD was branded ‘straightforward incompetence’ by the Conservatives, who are demanding that the Government ‘put this right’.

The MoD identified the overpayments in November 2024, with some amounting to more than £100,000, but veterans were only informed about the department’s error this year.

Nearly 400 overpayments relate to the military’s two final-salary schemes, which pay out a guaranteed income for life and increased each year in line with inflation. 

But in some cases the inflation increase appears to have been made twice in some years, The Times reports.

And more than 1,000 other veterans have also been hit by overpayments due to other errors, according to a Freedom of Information request by the Forces Pension Society (FPS).

It is not clear if the error has been made by human staff or technology.

While the MoD said it recognises the error ‘may cause uncertainty for people’, it insisted its hands were legally tied and it must retrieve the cash. 

A spokesman said: ‘Where payments have been made in genuine error, we have a responsibility to recover taxpayer funds.

‘We will always seek to do so in a sensitive and proportionate way, including through tailored repayment plans and financial and welfare support from Veterans Services.’

Tory pensions spokesman Helen Whately blasted: ‘This is straightforward incompetence. 

‘Men and women who served this country are now being told to hand back money they had every reason to believe was theirs, through no fault of their own.’