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Grants and pensions paid under NSSA’s Pensions and Other Benefits scheme are mutually exclusive. A beneficiary is entitled to either a lump sum grant or a pension, depending on the number of monthly contributions made to the pension scheme, not both. A minimum of 120 months of contributions to the scheme is required to be eligible for a pension. If contributions to the scheme have been made for less than 120 months then a single lump sum grant is paid, provided contributions have been made for at least 12 months.

A beneficiary is entitled to either a pension or a grant, not both. The same rule applies, to all pension scheme benefits, whether it is a retirement benefit, survivor’s benefit or invalidity benefit.

Two beneficiaries who wrote to this column recently seemed to think they might be entitled to both a grant and a pension.
One said he had retired in 2010 and that his monthly pension was being paid each month into his bank account.

“Please advise whether or not I am entitled to the grant that is being mentioned in the Press media and, if so, how much and when can I expect it to be paid through my bank, since it is stated that it has to be disbursed within five years of going on pension,” he wrote.

Grants are only paid to contributors or their surviving dependants where they do not qualify for a pension because contributions have been paid for less than 120 months.

They are paid where contributions have been made for at least 12 months but less than 120 months. Those who are paid a pension do not receive a lump sum grant.

Grants normally have to be claimed (not disbursed) within five years of a person becoming eligible for the benefit (not five years of going on pension).

In the case of a retirement grant, this means that contributors who have contributed for less than 10 years should claim the grant within five years of retiring at over 60 years of age or within five years of reaching the age of 65, even if not yet retired, or within five years of retiring at age 55, if they qualify for an early retirement benefit due to the arduous nature of their employment.

To qualify for a retirement benefit at the early retirement age of 55, a contributor should have been employed for at least seven of the 10 preceding years in agricultural work, heavy truck driving, quarrying or some specified forestry or mining jobs.
Some people still do not seem clear about this.

“May I please know if I am entitled to a NSSA pension. Why, because I have been retrenched and I am finishing work at the end of July 2014. I am 53 years old. Some people are telling me that I won’t get any monthly pension until I reach the age of 55 years,” wrote one correspondent.
In fact this person will not be eligible for a monthly pension until he reaches the age of 60, unless he has been employed in one of the arduous job categories mentioned above for seven of the 10 years prior to his turning 55.

He will also only be eligible for a pension at age 60 if he is no longer employed and has contributed to the pension scheme for at least 120 months. If he has contributed for less than 10 years, he will, instead of a pension, be eligible for a grant, presuming he has contributed to the scheme for at least 12 months.

A lady wrote that after her husband passed away in 2005 she only received the lump sum and nothing else. She asked whether she could reapply for “his benefits”.

If the lump sum she is referring to was a survivor’s grant, then that is all she is entitled to. What it means is that her husband had contributed for less than 10 years and so she was not eligible for a pension but was entitled to a lump sum grant. A lump sum grant is only paid once.

However, there is another grant that can be claimed when a contributor or pensioner dies, namely the funeral grant. The funeral grant is payable to whoever was responsible for the funeral expenses.

If the lady whose husband died in 2005 only received the funeral grant then she can apply for the survivor’s benefit. If she received the survivor’s benefit but nobody claimed the funeral grant, then she could apply for the funeral grant, if she bore the costs of the funeral.

All grants, including the funeral grant, must normally be claimed within five years of a person becoming eligible for it. In the case of a survivor’s grant and funeral grant that means within five years of the contributor’s or pensioner’s death.

However, because many people seem to have been unaware that they could have made a claim for a grant, the five year maximum claim period has been suspended for the whole of 2014.

That means that anyone who was eligible for a grant, in terms of the NSSA pension scheme, but failed to claim it within the five years (or claimed the grant but had the claim rejected because it had been submitted after five years) can apply for it or re-apply for it this year.

However, anyone who already received a grant cannot apply for the same grant a second time. Late grant claims will also only be accepted up until December 31 this year. After that the five year maximum claim period will apply once more.

Another query was received about the personal submission of a life certificate. All pensioners were required to submit completed life certificates in person to NSSA by the end of last year, as confirmation they were still alive.

Those who have not yet submitted life certificates are no longer receiving their pensions. However, if they do submit them their pension will be reinstated. They have to submit them in person together with a copy of their national identification card.

“What if the pensioner is living in the rural area or they are disabled so that travelling is difficult for them. How do they submit their life certificates since it is said that they should be personally submitted?” the correspondent asked.

There may be some pensioners who are unable to travel or for whom travelling might be difficult because of their health. In such cases they or a relative should contact their nearest NSSA office to explain the situation and find out what alternative arrangements can be made.

Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. There is also a weekly radio programme on social security, PaMheponeNssa/Emoyeni le NSSA, at 6.50 pm every Thursday on Radio Zimbabwe and Friday on National FM. Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected], [email protected] or text them to 0772-307913. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706523 /5, 706545/ 9, or 799030/ 1.