Government Clarifies: Pension Payment Delay
Citing “significant feedback” received regarding delays to the June Social Insurance HSBC online direct deposit pension payments,” the Department of Social Insurance provided an additional statement.
The Department said that the affected HSBC pension payments were direct deposits only, and payments were successfully made for those receiving physical cheques.
A Department spokesperson said, “We always emphasise the core value of providing excellent customer service to the public and the Department deeply regrets the gravity of inconveniences experienced by our affected pensioners, particularly over this holiday weekend.
“The Department wishes to advise that online direct deposit pension payments for HSBC customers will be paid after 12 noon on Tuesday, June 17, 2014.”
The Department said that the issue stems from an internal delay from the Department with its automatic pensioner file upload to the bank.
The spokesperson continued, “This is an unfortunate first for the Department and our monthly payments to our pensioners have been very consistent over the years. However automatic systems in place with the bank effecting a next day value of Monday, June 16th could not be reversed back to Friday, June 13th.
“We wish to thank HSBC in their attempts to work with us to reach a viable solution. Once again, the Department sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused.”
Sounds like an internal delay coming up with the cash.
that is not the case fool
Not acceptable! Pensioners depend on their monthly funds and to happen on a holiday weekend is unacceptable.
I agree with sml! Wholeheartedly. They had ample time to fix the problem, knowing it was a long holiday weekend. Senior’s can just about get by with having to buy groceries and medication! Did anybody in Social Insurance seek out any Senior who had no money to buy food or medication this weekend?
they like MONTHS behind!! >:I
Maybe the PLP shouldn’t have spent it all. Then the OBA wouldn’t have a problem finding it. Go check you know who he might have some left.
stop the sh==t talk
its not ish talk when it’s true mate.
Shut UP, this has nothing to do with PLP. If NTB customers got their money, then what’s the problem with HSBC
Sounds nice until YOU are the one on a fixed income.
Hate to ever hear this is a new Tax Scheme.
best way to guarantee our future pensions is to NOT scare away outside investment and embrace new workers. We can’t carry the can on our own, the well WILL run dry.
The truth is, no company and no government can guarantee future pensions for Bermudians simply by paying into the government system. The onus of planning for retirement has increasingly fallen on the workers themselves. This is evident in the way the majority of companies have switched from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution pensions.
The most amount of money that seniors can expect from these social insurance payouts is, I think, $982 a month – a mere pittance. Now who can live on $900 a month in Bermuda? This is why the majority of those on financial assistance are actually seniors in retirement age.
The only saving grace for Bermudian retirees in the future will be individual savings and the private pension plans that are set up with their employer, that is, where we pay the 10% contribution split between employer/ employee. These are the only things that will keep Bermudian out of poverty once they retire.
Of course, unless the Bermudian is working, they cannot take advantage of the 10% contribution split. That is why the answer is not simply to bring in more workers to pay taxes so Bermudians can get their $982 a month. The answer is to put Bermudians in those jobs first and foremost, because otherwise they are not going to be able to contribute nor can they live off these social insurance benefits alone.
I agree that you need to get the willing and able locals back to work, but without encouraging outside business and growing the workforce, pensions are on a crash course with meltdown. Or at the very least a pittance.
So you’re saying the unemployed Bermudian secretary should replace the expat CEO? Give me a break. Larry Burchall has been proving that jobs filled by expats create jobs for Bermudians for years now. When will people finally get it?!
Huh? I thought all this got fixed on 17th December 2012? Just shocking that mistakes still happen. Call the Auditor General, quick !
Crap happens in this cyber world.
Wait until were replaced by robots.
A great day to all.
This is sad, but no different from what mothers who have to rely on the child support of their children’s fathers go through each and every month, even when it is court ordered and deducted from a government salary. The deductions are made before the men receive their pay, which we all know is the 30th or 31st of every month, but yet, mothers are waiting until at least the 9th of the month or later before they receive payment.
I could only imagine the run around these pensioners receeived when they called . . .”I’m sorry sir, we are working on it.” . . .day 2: “I’m sorry sir, our hands are tied, as we are waiting for the accountant general’s office to process the payment.” “No sir, there is no one you can speak to in the accountant general’s office.” . . day 3: “sir I understand your frustration, but we are doing the best we can.”
Justin, that’s not what Portia is saying at all. Re-read her comment, “The answer is to put Bermudians in those jobs first and foremost, because otherwise they are not going to be able to contribute nor can they live off these social insurance benefits alone.”
Justin, the more expats employed in Bermuda the more pension contributions are taken with them when they leave Bermuda. The pot become depleted by their withdrawals. More expats smaller pot/more Bermudians larger pot.
The more expats that are employed instead of Bermudians means that Bermudians do not get the opportunity to make pension contributions and are more likely to depend solely on social insurance benefits and savings. But with no job, how do they generate income to save?
Expats come to Bermuda to earn much more than in London, New York and/or anywhere else with the exception of Dubai and other countries with low government tax structures for expats. They save the lion share of their earnings, but now through new laws being enacted in the UK they must pay their income tax in the UK whether or not it is earned in the UK (the same law applies in the US), plus they will take their pension contributions with them when they leave Bermuda; now they will have a lot less to spend in Bermuda.
If you are singing the praises that the average expat is a cash cow for Bermuda, essentially from middle management and to CEOs, then you should readjust your song sheet as expats will only contribution to the economy for their immediate expenses of housing, food, transport and make adjustable expenses of entertainment, travel, etc. Yet many Bermudians have relied upon expats as the lion-share source of their mortgage payments.
However, when it comes to pension contributions, the expat’s contributions will increasingly flow out of Bermuda just as easily as their ability to move their hard earned money into foreign currency accounts and move it out of Bermuda by the click of internet banking.
We need to be less reliant upon expat earnings to fuel the economy, as it is a double edge sword in both perception and justification of why we treat Bermudians as second class citizens.
Expats provide additional “revenue” that is injected into the economy. So we mistreat Bermudians (one comment on the blog recently bragged, one expat employee for every two Bermudian employees) and justify the mistreatment of Bermudians by claiming that Bermudians lack a sound work ethic.
London, England