Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many spouses of deceased armed forces personnel have been contacted for repayment after accidental overpayments of their spousal armed forces pension.

In line with most pension schemes, it is often unavoidable that an overpayment may occur following the death of a pension recipient. This is due to the timing of the individual's passing and the understandable delay in the pension scheme authority receiving the notification of death. Such overpayments are common and are typically recovered either directly from the recipient's bank account or from the estate of the deceased.

Requests for repayment can be initiated by a family member, a friend of the deceased, the deceased's legal representative, or neighbour who has completed the Gov.uk 'Tell Us Once' online form.

In the last Financial Year (2024-25), 1,003 outstanding 'Late Notification of Death' cases were raised under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. However, whether the beneficiary of an estate is a spouse or other recipient is not centrally recorded and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.