A Government social insurance officer has hit back at a Royal Gazette report about a 75-year-old retired teacher who did not receive her pension payments for nearly two years.

Mrs. Yvonne Joseph said the onus for making sure social insurance payments were received was on the recipients.

"As a matter of general office procedure, steps are taken by the department's staff to follow up pensioners who do not return the continuation of benefit form,'' Mrs. Joseph said in a statement issued through Government Information Services.

She stressed that "the onus is on the beneficiary to make sure that the forms are returned annually and, in cases where they are not able to do this, family members should assist''.

Mrs. Joseph was responding to a report about the widow of piano great Lance Hayward, Mrs. Mary Hayward, who had gone without a pension cheque since March, 1990.

Her payments stopped because she did not return a "continuation of benefits form'' which is used to update records.

Family members found out about the situation after Mrs. Hayward tearfully telephoned a niece to say she had not received a cheque "for a long time'', and was running out of money.

Mrs. Hayward said she was never contacted by the Social Insurance office and her niece, Mrs. Janice Swainson, claimed Social Insurance did not even have her aunt's telephone number when she talked with them recently.

Social Insurance records, according to Mrs. Joseph, showed that three reminders were sent to Mrs. Hayward between March and July, 1990, although she does not remember receiving them.

Mrs. Hayward, who lives alone in Pembroke, suffered a stroke in 1990 and has admitted that her memory "is not what it used to be''.

Mrs. Joseph, who failed to respond to the newspaper's inquiries before the article was published despite repeated attempts to contact her, also took exception to the claim that the continuation of benefits form "could be the office's only method of determining if a pensioner was still alive''.

"By arrangement with the Registrar General's Department, Social Insurance is notified of all deaths,'' she said. "Furthermore, Social Insurance staff checks the newspaper daily for notices.'' The Royal Gazette has been unable to obtain an official description of the form's purpose or content, nor an explanation why its non-return necessitated the automatic suspension of pension payments.

Mrs. Swainson said as far as she knew, the form confirmed that the pensioner was alive and still living at that address. She was told this was supposed to ensure that the cheques were not being stolen.

Mrs. Hayward's pension has been reinstated, although she is only eligible for six months' retroactive payment. She may appeal this decision to the Contributory Pensions Appeals Tribunal.

At the conclusion of her statement, Mrs. Joseph said she did not want to "prejudice Mrs. Hayward's (appeal) case by discussing further details of it in the press''.