Dear Editor,
When a person has attained the age of 65 years they are entitled to receive an old age pension from the government once an application has been made and the relevant documents to support the application have been submitted. I attained the age of 65 years early in May of this year and submitted the specified application form along with the required supporting documents to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security in July. After visiting the NDC office responsible for the area in which I live, I collected my old age pension voucher book on two occasions, for which I am very thankful. The question that I was asked by the officer who issued the voucher happened to be the same question asked by the ministry staff member to whom I submitted my application. The question was, why did you wait so long to apply for your old age pension? My answer on both occasions was what difference would it make seeing that I have already reached the age of 65.
To my utter surprise the issuing officer told me that even though I reached the age of 65 in early May I would only be given pension vouchers for August to December I would like to know if that is fair. I shudder to think that if I had applied for my pension say, in February 2015, that I would have been given only two months retroactive payment. I honestly believe that once you have reached the age of 65 you are entitled to receive a pension no matter how long you take to submit an application for same. That age has already been attained and as such cannot be reversed, reduced or fast forwarded.
Take, for instance, if your rates and taxes are due in May 2010 and you decide to pay it in 2014. The months for which you will have to pay will be calculated from 2010 and not two months prior to the time when you are paying; that should be the case as well with the old age pension.
If this situation remains the same I am advising potential pensioners to apply for the old age pension even before they attain the age of 65 years. NIS is very different.
Yours faithfully,
Colin Gill
