"Being told I can’t have my pension… It’s just wrong"

Friday 09 November 2018

A Jersey retiree, who missed out on £6,500 of her pension pot because she wasn't aware when she could claim it, has urged the States to act to ensure that up to 400 islanders don't suffer the same "stressful" fate.

Elaine Huggett thought her pension was due two months after her 65th birthday - when it was in fact due from her 60th, but she says Social Security didn't tell her that.

She appeared in front of the States Complaints Board, an independent panel tasked with investigating unresolved grievances with departments, to voice her concerns about the department’s process as part of a complaint against the Social Security Minister.

She explained to the Board’s Deputy Chairman, Chris Beirne, who was sitting with David McGrath and Gavin Fraser, that when she applied for her pension forecast she wasn’t given any information about her pension age.

The law then changed, raising the pension age. Following this, she went on the States website to check her pension age and the calculator indicated it was 65 years and two months. However, she later learned through bumping into an old school friend, that she was in fact entitled to her pension earlier from the age of 60, and Social Security confirmed that.

She said that it was only by chance that she had learned her pension was due at 60, adding that if she had waited to be 65 years old and two months, she would have lost her money. 

Pictured: Ms Huggett thought she was due her pension after her 65th birthday.

Ms Huggett told the panel she felt discriminated against because she wasn’t paying contributions in Jersey, having been in and out of the island for 21 years. Dave Auffret, the Head of Contribution Benefit at Social Security, explained that his department does not contact people who have left the island when their pension is due, if they haven’t paid contributions in the six previous years.

Ms Huggett however said that her sister-in-law, who also lives out of the island, was advised, telling the panel: “It’s like there is one rule for one, one rule for another.” She also said that she had given the department the address of her daughter-in-law in Jersey, and that they shouldn’t have had any issue contacting her. 

The department said Ms Huggett’s sister-in-law was in a “slightly different scenario” because she was married, while Ms Huggett was divorced. Ms Huggett however argued that her pension had originally been linked to her husband and that the department had only become aware of her divorce shortly before her pension was due.

Gavin Fraser asked Mr Auffret if it was fair that people who are entitled to their pension would not be advised when it becomes due. He replied: “Everyone is very aware of what their retirement age is.” 

Pictured: Ms Huggett said she wants Social Security to pay her back £6,500.

While the Social Security department later offered Ms Huggett six months' pension in backpay, she said she wanted the whole amount - £6,500 - paid to her. Mr Auffret however explained that the law only allows the department to back pay six months, not more. 

“We are bound by the law,” he stated. However, Ms Huggett protested: “I am owed this money... You asked my husband, who I worked for, to pay regularly however you are not prepared to pay that money back… Who have you given my £6,500 money to?”

Mr Auffret said the money hadn’t been given to anyone and reiterated that the law didn’t allow the department to give money back. “We have done everything in our powers… We feel like we have done everything we can to help you,” he told Ms Huggett.

Pictured: Ms Huggett wants to avoid other people facing the same situation as she did. 

Ms Huggett also said she wanted Social Security to send a letter to the 400 people in the same situation as her. “I’m doing it for other people. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I went through. It is very upsetting, very stressful.

“After you worked all your life… I gave the island a lot, now I’m being told I can’t have my pension… It’s just wrong.”

The Complaints Board acknowledged that Social Security has updated the information regarding pension age on their website.

Mr Beirne stated that he didn’t want to receive another complaint of someone not being advised their pension was due. He urged the department to ensure women in the same situation as Ms Huggett are advised properly. Mr Auffret said they would consider putting a general message out, rather than contacting each individual separately.

The Complaints Board will release a report on the complaint, along with their recommendations, at a later date.