• You are here:
• Home /
• Reports /
• Investigation Reports /
• 14 March 1997 - Investigation Report on the non-payment of arrears of contributory pensions.

14 March 1997 - Investigation Report on the non-payment of arrears of contributory pensions.

The Three Cases

The Three Cases

• (1) Mr John Smith *
• (2) Mrs Ann Brown *
• (3) Ms Helen Murphy *

* Not the Complainant's real name

(1) Mr. John Smith

14. Mr. Smith reached 66 years in April 1983 and would have been paid the contributory old age pension then had he applied. Mr. Smith remained on in employment after age 66 years until October 1986. He says he assumed he could not have any pension entitlement for as long as he continued in employment. Mr. Smith says that shortly after his retirement - probably in late October 1986 - he called to the Department's public office at Oisín House in Dublin to enquire as to any social welfare entitlements he might have. It would be fair to say that he had only a limited knowledge of the social welfare system but he says he felt he must have had some entitlements now that he was retired. [In fact, Mr. Smith had worked in a public sector body all his life and had paid full-rate social insurance up to 1971 and the reduced rate thereafter. The switch to the reduced rate - which does not provide cover for the contributory old age pension - arose due to his having become "permanent and pensionable" in his employment in 1971]. He says the advice he was given at Oisín House was that he did not have any entitlement. He says the official he met asked him where he had been employed and, on being told the particular public sector body, commented that he (Mr. Smith), like her (official), would have paid reduced-rate social insurance which gave no pension entitlement. Mr. Smith says he subsequently made a second visit to Oisín House in early 1987 to query again any possible entitlement he might have. He returned, he says, because his wife felt that he must have some entitlements after a lifetime at work. He says that the response of the official who met him was, in many respects, similar to that of the earlier official, viz. that as he had been in public sector employment he would not have paid full-rate social insurance and thus would not have any pension entitlement.

15. Some years later, in 1992, his wife rang the Department and arranged for Mr. Smith to meet an official of the Pension Section. At this meeting Mr. Smith was advised of a likely pension entitlement. He applied, was found eligible and was paid from a current date with three months arrears also being paid. Mr. Smith, and more particularly his wife on his behalf, then began a series of contacts with the Department with a view to having arrears paid. Their claim then was that arrears should be paid back to the date of his retirement (1986) on the grounds that the failure to claim in time was a consequence of the inaccurate advice given (as they contended) by the officials in Oisín House. It appears that even at that stage the Smiths assumed pension arrears could not be paid for a period during which Mr. Smith was still in employment. Following detailed investigation by the Department, it concluded that arrears could not be paid. This was because there was no record of Mr. Smith having visited Oisín House during either of the periods he mentioned and because the response of the officials, as described by him, did not tally with the designated practice for staff dealing with such enquiries at the public office.

16. In fact, the relevant Principal Officer at the Pension Services Office of the Department did recommend that Mr. Smith be offered a compromise settlement of one year's additional arrears consisting of three months arrears, to be paid on a statutory basis, and a further nine months arrears to be paid by way of an extra-statutory award. It appears this compromise was based on an acceptance that, on balance, the visits to Oisín House had been made and that Mr. Smith did not get the information necessary to "enable him to assess his position". The Principal Officer also expressed the view that there was "no clear evidence of wrong doing by any officer of the Department" . In the event, this compromise was not acceptable to the relevant Director within the Department. The Director took the view that ,

even if the visits to Oisín House had been made, "the onus would have been on him to make a claim". However, the Director did approve the payment of a futher three months arrears, making a total of six months arrears, which was the maximum permitted by the relevant regulation. Two years later, in June 1995, Mr. Smith complained to this Office about the non-payment of his pension arrears. At issue here is Mr. Smith's entitlement to pension arrears for the period April 1983 to December 1991 which amount to approximately �33,000.

(2) Mrs. Ann Brown

17. Mrs. Brown had been receiving contributory widow's pension since 1970. She reached 66 years of age in December 1985 and would have been paid contributory old age pension at that time, had she applied. However, she says she did not become aware that she could claim contributory old age pension until September 1993. She applied at that point and the contributory old age pension was awarded at the maximum rate. Initially she was awarded three months arrears prior to the date of claim; subsequently, a further three months arrears were paid giving the maximum of six months arrears allowed for in the regulation.

18. Mrs. Brown complained to this Office in December 1993. She felt the contributory old age pension should have been backdated to the date of her 66th birthday in December 1985. The old age pension was then (1993) worth �6.30 per week more than the widow's pension and in 1985 had been worth �5.15 per week more. She believed the Department should pay her this difference over the entire period. Her main argument was that she was unaware of her old age pension entitlement and that the Department - particularly as she was an existing client - should have advised her of this possibility when she reached 66 years. She maintains the Department did not so advise her and she did not discover her possible contributory old age pension entitlement until a friend suggested she might be entitled in 1993. At issue in her case is her entitlement to arrears - being the difference between widow's and old age pension - over the period December 1985 to March 1993. This amounts to approximately �2,000.

(3) Ms. Helen Murphy

19. Ms. Murphy qualified for invalidity pension from the Department in October 1988. She had been receiving Disability Benefit since February 1982. Invalidity pension is a social insurance payment and is based on contributions paid while in employment. She reached 66 years in March 1990 and would have been paid the contributory old age pension then had she applied. Ms. Murphy says she did not realise she had a sufficient social insurance record for the contributory old age pension and, acordingly, she did not apply for it. She did not want to claim the non-contributory old age pension - which is means-tested - so she continued to draw the invalidity pension. In 1993 the Department contacted her and invited her to apply for contributory old age pension. She applied in October 1993 and was found eligible. The contributory old age pension was awarded then, initially with three months arrears and subsequently a further three months arrears were paid. This meant that six months arrears were paid, the maximum allowed under the relevant regulation.

20. In February 1994 Ms. Murphy complained to this Office. She felt the Department should pay full arrears of the contributory old age pension back to her 66th birthday in March 1990. At that point she was unaware that she might have claimed the retirement pension - which is payable at the same rate as contributory old age pension - at age 65 years. In her complaint, she made the point that her entitlement to contributory old age pension was based on payments she had made (social insurance) and that it was unjust to withhold the arrears. She pointed out that the Department had a copy of her birth certificate and should have been fully aware of her entitlement. Subsequently, she told this Office that she had no recollection of the Department having contacted her in regard to possible contributory old age pension entitlement at any stage prior to 1993.

21. At issue here is Ms. Murphy's entitlement to arrears of contributory old age pension/retirement pension for the period March 1989 to April 1993. The actual arrears would be the difference between the invalidity pension already received and the higher rate contributory old age pension/retirement pension. The differential over the arrears period would average about �6 per week giving a total arrears amount of approximately �1,250.

Back to contents