Dear Claudienne,

I am a retired vice-principal and I have been receiving a full pension from the Accountant General Department of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) since 2012. Despite a two-year wait to start receiving my full pension, since then I have had no problems with the receipt of my pension by direct lodgement to my bank account. I would always make sure that my Life Certificate was completed and submitted on time, sometimes by registered mail, sometimes hand delivered, and sometimes by ordinary post. However, on September 22, 2022 my pension for the month of October was not lodged to my account as per usual.

I went to the MOF to find out what was the problem and was told that my Life Certificate had not been received. This happened because the Accountant General’s office had been relocated from Church Street to the MOF and my Life Certificate went to the wrong address. I wrote them a letter in an effort to get the matter expedited, but although my pension for November was paid, I did not get the October payment.

I returned to the customer service tent at the MOF and was told by the supervisor that the money was not lost but had to be “keyed in manually”. He advised me to call later in the month and remind them. I did call and was advised to send a WhatsApp on the matter to their WhatsApp number. This was done on November 14, 2022, but nobody ever read that message as far as I could tell and certainly nobody responded. When at the end of November my pension for October still was not paid, I visited the Accountant General’s customer service unit again in the first week of December. I was told that there was an “issue” with my pension and that a payroll officer would call me that same day. However, to date, January 26, 2023, no one from the Accountant General’s office has called me and at the end of December my pension for the month of October still had not been paid.

I am writing to you in the hope that you can help. I read your column in the Sunday Observer and I see that many times you have helped people.

HB

Dear HB,

Tell Claudienne contacted the office of the Accountant General and notes that you have now received your pension payment for October 2022.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876- 936-9436 or cell # 876-484-1349 or write to Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-421/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail:edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.