How can I convince NHS pensions that I am not dead?

I stopped receiving my NHS pension in May and, when I rang to ask why, I was informed that I was deceased.

I have repeatedly called to no avail and my emails have received auto-generated responses.

The same thing happened last December and I was without my pension for four months, during which I had to borrow from my brother. That time, I was told that someone had changed my account details and my pension had been paid to the wrong person.

The problem was sorted out after I sent identity verification, and now here I am again, only this time I’m apparently dead.

My husband and I are under severe financial distress because of this error and are in dread of the end-of-month bills.

IM, Cape Town

Your plight has echoes of the Teachers’ Pensions fiasco in which retired teachers had their income stopped after they were declared dead by the system.

You worked in the NHS for 11 years before retiring to your native South Africa in 2015.

The blunder has left you in such dire straits that you can no longer afford the international calls to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which administers the pension scheme, and you mention that you have had to live with a broken tooth for a month because you can’t cover the dentist’s fee.

Last month you flew to the UK with money borrowed from a friend, to try to resolve the problem in person. It got you no further forward. Promised call-backs did not happen and you were told, two months after your first complaint, that your “death” needed to be referred to the fraud department.

Days after your arrival in the UK, an email informed you that because of a system upgrade, NHSBSA would only be able to assist with general queries for eight days.

A further week passed and you were informed that an investigation into your case was required and you would hear back within 30 days.

It seems nothing had been done to resolve the problem during the months you had been kept waiting, and no action was taken to escalate it when you flew over. In the meantime, you are stuck indefinitely in the UK, apart from your elderly husband and sleeping on a friend’s sofa while you try to get answers.

Three weeks after I contacted NHSBSA, it finally paid the arrears – by now three months’ worth – into your account and apologised for the distress and hardship you have been caused.

An NHSBSA spokesperson said: “While we cannot go into the specific details of the case, an error was made in the records, which we have now corrected. We take our responsibility to members extremely seriously, and this case has shown us where we need to do better.”

As for compensation, not least for the expenses you have been caused, it said it would discuss this with you.

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