UK savers have been left thousands of pounds short after an IT error by a major pension provider. Customers of Scottish Equitable, which trades under Aegon, were reportedly left with gaping holes in their retirement pots after a failed IT system upgrade. The issue, which began in August 2024, has not yet been resolved for all customers in the intervening 17 months, The Telegraph reports.
One customer told the Financial Ombudsman that he had missed out on £1,000 in investment growth due to the error, and that a one-off contribution of £12,000 hadn’t been applied to his pension. Aegon was ordered to pay £2,200 in compensation to five customers in cases linked to workplace pensions over the last six months, following a string of complaints that were upheld.
Another saver, named as Mr A, told the Ombudsman of delays in locating contributions to his pension plan in the months following the IT upgrade.
Four months’ worth of contributions remained missing when he contacted the consumer complaints service last January, according to reports, and he also claimed that a payment of £12,000 had not been applied to his pension.
Aegon had located the “missing” funds by December 2025 and offered to carry out a loss assessment as well as handing him £350 in compensation.
A customer named as Mr B also received £400 in compensation after complaining that he had been unable to contribute to his pension for over a year after the upgrade, while another who also couldn’t access their account was handed £1,000.
Pensions expert Tom McPhail said tech errors causing issues for savers aren’t uncommon, but the length of time for which the Aegon problem has persisted is unusual.
“With these kinds of things, the sooner you head it off, the better and the less painful it is for everybody involved,” he told The Telegraph.
Aegon said only a minority of customers were impacted by the issue in the long term, and that dedicated customer support teams are in place.
A spokesperson for Aegon UK said: “In August 2024, we carried out a planned systems upgrade affecting some customers with older products no longer marketed. While most customers experience no disruption or only short‑term issues, a minority experience longer‑lasting impacts, and we are sorry for the inconvenience this causes.
“Where delays have occurred, contributions are held securely and applied once processing is completed, and no savings are lost. Dedicated teams are in place to support affected customers, and remediation is being applied where appropriate to ensure no one is disadvantaged.”