The National Pension Commission(PenCom) says it has reviewed laws on how to handle controversial claims from relatives of deceased contributors and retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
PenCom stated this in a circular to all licensed pension fund operators titled, ‘Review of some matters relating to the administration of retirement and terminal benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
The pension industry regulator states that Section 4.5.4 (e) of the Revised Regulation on the Administration of the Retirement and Terminal Benefits (the Regulation) stipulates, “Payment of death benefits shall be made to the named Administrator on the Will admitted to Probate, Administrator/Legal Beneficiary(ies) in the Letters of Administration (LOA), Estate Account or as may be directed by a Court of competent jurisdiction.”
“Section 4.5.4 (g) of the Regulation stipulates, in the event, a PFA receives two LOAs or Court Orders from two named beneficiary (ies), the PFA shall act as a mediator to facilitate reconciliation between the two parties with the view to reach an agreement on which LOA or Court Order is to be adopted for processing the benefits.
“Section 4.5.4 (h) of the Regulation stipulates, in furtherance to Section 4.5.4 (e) above, where the two named Administrators agree on which LOA or Court Order to be adopted, the PFA shall request the parties to indicate their consent to same and process the death benefits in line with the Terms of Agreement which shall become binding on the parties.
“Section 4.5.4 (i) of the Regulation stipulates, where the two named Administrators could not reach an agreement on which LOA or Court Order to be adopted, the PFA shall refer the parties to arbitration or mediation.
“Section 4.1 of the Regulation stipulates, “a retiree shall be eligible for pension arrears, only for the period between the date of retirement and date of consolidation of his/her RSA. For retirees from self-
funding agencies and the private sector, pension arrears shall be for no more than six (6) months.”
