A One Bermuda Alliance MP has criticised the “inconsiderate” handling of recouping funds from the double payment of some seniors’ pensions.

Robin Tucker, who was elected last week to represent Hamilton South (Constituency 7), said that the Department of Social Insurance’s attempt to rectify the overpayment, while necessary, was handled poorly.

She explained: “While I understand that a letter went out to seniors last month advising that the overpayment would be taken this month, many who rely on their pension cheques to eat, get medication and generally survive should have had more time to prepare themselves for the full deduction.

“The execution of this recovery process was inconsiderate.”

Ms Tucker was speaking after a senior received a pension payment this month of $16.20 — a fraction of what would normally be a payment of about $700.

The Ministry of Finance said that 136 seniors were accidentally given double their scheduled payment in April 2024, which was eventually confirmed in September.

It made arrangements to rectify the problem this month and warned seniors via a letter sent in January about the planned payment cut.

Ms Tucker called the handling of the situation “disheartening”.

She added that the problem was not that the ministry recovered the funds, but how the process was carried out.

Ms Tucker said: “Surely there was a better way to collect the overpayments from our seniors.

“For starters, to enable seniors to prepare themselves, there should have been at least two months’ notice that the entire payment would be taken and several notification methods used to ensure maximum coverage.

“Rather than a single repayment leaving affected seniors broke, offer repayment options so monies could be repaid incrementally over a defined period, and also give the option for a one-time repayment for those who could afford to do so.”

She added: “At this time, the Ministry of Finance doesn’t know why the overpayment occurred, so can provide no comfort to pensioners that this situation won’t happen again.

“One can only hope that if there is another error in the future that efforts to recoup overpayments are handled more thoughtfully, especially towards our most vulnerable.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance said this week: “The Department of Social Insurance extends its sincere apologies to those impacted by the recent recouped pension payments.

“This payment error was not the fault of the recipients and, while efforts were made to communicate with those affected by the duplicate payment issue, we recognise the distress and inconvenience this situation may have caused.

“The trust and wellbeing of our pensioners remain of the highest importance and we are committed to providing the best possible service.

“The department will prioritise handling such situations with the utmost care and attention.”

• Affected pensioners and anyone else with questions should call the Department of Social Insurance on 294-9242 or e-mail socialinsurance@gov.bm