MP Tucker & Govt On Pension Overpayments
[Updated] “The handling of efforts to recoup duplicate Social Insurance overpayments to over a hundred seniors is disheartening,” MP Robin Tucker said, while the Department of Social Insurance said they “extend its sincere apologies to those impacted by the recent recouped pension payments. ”
MP Robin Tucker Statement
Ms Tucker said, “The handling of efforts to recoup duplicate Social Insurance overpayments to over a hundred seniors is disheartening. As I see it, the issue is not the recouping of the funds, since that is the right thing to do, but the manner in which the recovery of the overpayments has been executed.
“Whilst I understand that a letter went out to seniors last month advising that the overpayment would be taken this month, many who rely on their pension cheques to eat, get medication and generally survive, should have had more time to prepare themselves for the full deduction. The execution of this recovery process was inconsiderate.
“Surely there was a better way to collect the overpayments from our seniors. For starters to enable seniors to prepare themselves, there should have been at least two months’ notice that the entire payment would taken, and several notification methods used to ensure maximum coverage. Rather than a single repayment leaving affected seniors broke, offer repayment options so monies could be repaid incrementally over a defined period, and also give the option for a onetime repayment for those who could afford to do so.
“At this time the Ministry of Finance doesn’t know why the overpayment occurred so can provide no comfort to pensioners that this situation won’t happen again. One can only hope that if there is another error in the future that efforts to recoup overpayments is handled more thoughtfully, especially towards our most vulnerable.”
Department of Social Insurance Statement
A Government spokesperson said, “The Department of Social Insurance extends its sincere apologies to those impacted by the recent recouped pension payments. This payment error was not the fault of the recipients, and while efforts were made to communicate with those affected by the duplicate payment issue, we recognize the distress and inconvenience this situation may have caused.
“The trust and well-being of our pensioners remain of the highest importance, and we are committed to providing the best possible service. The Department will prioritize handling such situations with the utmost care and attention.”
PLP Statement
Update Feb 27, 9.43am: A PLP spokesperson said, “To our seniors who were affected by the recent pension payment error, the PLP understands that every dollar of your pension matters, and when something disrupts that, even unintentionally, it creates stress and uncertainty. That is not what we ever want for our seniors.
“Due to a processing error, some seniors received duplicate pension payments. When the mistake was discovered, steps were taken to correct it, and we deeply regret the distress it may have caused. No one should ever worry about their pension payments. That’s why the government is identifying what went wrong and will take urgent action to ensure better safeguards and clearer communication moving forward.
“We acknowledged the mistake, took responsibility, and are making sure it doesn’t happen again.
“However, OBA MP Robin Tucker has decided that instead of working together to support our seniors, they would rather use this as an opportunity for political attacks on Civil Servants.
“Public servants, dedicated Bermudian men and women, work hard every day to make sure our seniors get what they need.
“Leadership isn’t about pointing fingers, it’s about fixing the problem. And it’s disappointing, though not surprising, that the same Opposition would rather attack hardworking civil servants than contribute to real solutions.
“Our focus remains on ensuring that our seniors receive the respect, security, and support they deserve.”
Incompetence in the Bermuda government. How unusual.
“recent recouped pension payments”
What? They were not ballot bonuses?
OUCH! And kudos for that comment.
No bonus needed while the obaUBPee keeps losing black voters every election.
They made a mistake. After years and years of no problems why not leave them alone. But in Bermuda you expect perfection 100% of the time. Okay. We are expecting it from you.
Welcome to Bermuda where we reward mediocrity and subpar performance.
This has nothing to do with the elected government.
Nothing negative ever does.
Of course it does. The elected government won’t accept accountability or responsibility, of course.
I am legitimately confused as to how the elected government is at fault for the errored processing of payments? do MPs and Ministers actually process the payments? I highly doubt it.
Mistakes happen and perhaps the best resolution was to spread out the recouping process over 3 months. However, to lay it at the feet of the elected government doesn’t actually make sense. I expected more from Ms. Tucker.
If things improve in civil service accuracy or responsiveness (rare I know), the PLP are never ‘genuinely confused’ about taking credit for it. But when things get screwed up you’re ‘genuinely confused’.
When a private company produces crappy products, or gives terrible service, do you think the management gets to say “nothing to do with us – we’re not the employees making these mistakes”. Or do you think managements are held accountable to take responsibility and make sure things run better?
” perhaps the best resolution was to spread out the recouping process over 3 months”
Agreed, but only after fair warning.
How about taking the money from the paychecks of the people responsible for allowing the overpayments to happen in the first place?
Not laughing…100% agree with comment
Absolutely!
Makes sense to me…leave the seniors with the $ and say we made a mistake but we’ll recoup it some other way.
The Government cannot give money away to voters! That privilege is reserved for Cabinet Ministers!
Having dealt with government on multiple matters, one thing is certain, despite pockets of praise, there is a significant number of civil servants who have no empathy, poor administrative skills, mediocre technical skills and a lack of critical thought process.
The result? The public gets shorthanded when the government makes a mistake.
PLP: Give extra payments to seniors before the election. Get (buy) the vote. Rescind the payments after we win.
For years they have gone ut right and fixed problems briughtvto them. But in this country you make a mistake and you get caned. Look in the mirror first . I thank them for getting it right 99 percent of the time. Did anyone who got the extra Funds call and tell them?
This isnt the first over payment remember the covid double payment , mistakes happen but a more suitable compromise could have been made maybe over 3 months
but lets also agree if you received more than what you should have …wouldnt you ask a question or thought they wouldnt find out ….
but this is the 2nd mistake lets be sure it doesnt happen again
I would think the best way to deal with it would be to contact those people and let them know that the next month they would not be getting a pension payment
“Leadership isn’t about pointing fingers, it’s about fixing the problem. And it’s disappointing, though not surprising, that the same Opposition would rather attack hardworking civil servants than contribute to real solutions.
Do mean kinda like the the PLP signs before, during and after the election?
“Leadership isn’t about pointing fingers”
Correct. It is about spewing hate.
Leadership is about attracting more surrogates to a white established political party for more votes.
And there is the proof of what I say
Yes the obaUBPEERS need to stop doing that every election. This smoke and mirrors is why they keep losing elections.