A retired accountant says she was left heartbroken after spending six long months trying to get her elderly mother’s pension reinstated.
Mervis Stanley, 87, had been receiving a widow’s pension from her late husband George, who worked for Gillette in Reading. But the payments suddenly stopped in June 2024 without explanation, according to her daughter, Annetta Stanley.
Annetta, who has legal authority to manage her mother’s finances, said she made countless attempts to contact the pension administrators, Aon, through phone calls, emails, and letters since February, but got nowhere.
“I’ve been in tears over this,” Annetta said. “I’m doing everything I can for my mum, but not having that income has made life incredibly hard for her.”
After the BBC got involved, Aon said the pension would be restarted, and the back payments would also be made.
George Stanley had come to the UK from Jamaica in the early 1960s as part of the Windrush generation, helping to rebuild Britain after the war. His wife and daughter joined him a year later, and the family eventually settled in Reading, where George worked at the Gillette factory. He and Mervis later retired to Jamaica in 1995, and after his death in 2006, his pension went to his widow.
For nearly two decades, Mervis received around £500 a month. But once Aon took over managing the pension scheme in 2024, those payments stopped.
Annetta, who lives in, said, “My dad worked so hard for that money. It’s upsetting to think that it could just stop without a proper reason.”
She added that the financial strain had made it difficult to care for her mum, who relies on carers and has ongoing health needs. “She’s trapped at home now. We can’t afford to take her to hospital or do much for her at all,” she said.
Aon claimed the delay was due to receiving documents that didn’t meet UK legal standards and said they had to confirm details to ensure the pension was still going to the right person. They added that it’s common practice for payments to pause if mail is returned unopened – a way to protect pensions from being wrongly paid.
But Annetta insisted her mum hadn’t missed any post, saying her carers regularly check the local post office, and she’s still receiving state pension letters.
Now 68, Annetta said no one from Aon ever contacted them with an apology. “I honestly didn’t think they’d respond. It was only after I reached out to the BBC that things started to move. If I hadn’t done that, I don’t think anything would’ve changed,” she said.
She worries others may be in the same position. “I worked in finance for 40 years, so I knew how to handle it. But even then, it was a really tough battle.”
Aon later confirmed that after receiving updated information, they’ve resumed Mrs. Stanley’s pension and issued the owed payments.
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