CLAIMS DISALLOWED. The number of claims for widows' and orphans' pensions disallowed or withdrawn during the year was as follows: (a) Claims by widows whose husbands died before 4th January, 1926 (b) Claims in respect of orphans whose parents died before ... ... (c) Claims by widows whose husbands have died since 4th ... ... ... (d) Claims in respect of orphans whose parents have died since 4th January, 1926 ... 4,620 25 6,291 156 The main causes of rejection have been the same as described in last year's Report (page 147). A statement regarding Appeals made by unsuccessful claimants to the Referees appointed under the Act will be found on page 197. REGULATION OF PENSIONS IN PAYMENT. The work of the Department in adjusting and regulating pensions in payment has steadily grown, of course, as the number of beneficiaries under the scheme has increased. The nature of this work, as regards widows' and orphans' pensions, was described in some detail in last year's Report (pages 147-148), and it is being performed on lines of now well-established procedure, which are being followed, in general, as regards contributory old age pensions also. The Department endeavours, where some change in a pension has to be made or authority for its payment renewed, to take the necessary steps in advance, in order to avoid any interruption in the weekly payments, but the effectiveness of the machinery in this respect of necessity depends, to some extent, upon the promptness of the pensioner's own co-operation. The same arrangements as hitherto have remained in force for reimbursing Boards of Guardians in respect of relief granted to persons pending settlement of their claims for pension, this being done from the arrears which may have accrued between the date of the claim for pension and the date of its admission. The following figures show the approximate amounts so paid for the year ending 31st March, 1928 In respect of claimants for Widows' and Orphans' ... ... £ 19,300 In respect of claimants for unrestricted Old Age ... In respect of claimants for Contributory Old Age NON-CONTRIBUTORY OLD AGE PENSIONS AT AGE 70. The carrying into effect of the provisions which came into force on 2nd July, 1926, with regard to unrestricted old age pensions for persons who attained 70 years of age prior to 2nd January, 1928, as explained on pages 148 and 149 of last year's Report, has continued in a decreasing measure during the year under review. The following statistics show the position for the year as regards pensions awarded by virtue of these provisions : Number of claims received during the year:— New claims ... Applications for increase to full rate of pensions previously Total 85,491 369 5,866 742 7,011 Number of claims admitted during the year: New claims Applications for increase to full rate of pensions previously Widows in receipt of widows' pensions up to age of 70 and age. Number of pensions awarded during the year 707 CONTRIBUTORY OLD AGE PENSIONS BETWEEN AGES 65 AND 70. These pensions, which constitute the main old age provision of the contributory scheme proper, scheme proper, came into operation on 2nd January, 1928. They are payable to insured men and women who have attained the age of 65 and possess certain qualifications as regards the duration of their insurance and the number of their contributions, and to the wives between the ages of 65 and 70 of insured men who are themselves entitled to pensions. Eligibility for these pensions is also conditional upon continuous residence in Great Britain for at least two years immediately preceding the date of entitlement to pension, and upon the claimant having been last employed (excluding temporary employment) in Great Britain. It was estimated that 450,000 claims for these pensions beginning on 2nd January, 1928, would be made by persons between the ages of 65 and 70 on that date, and the necessity was foreseen of making arrangements well in advance to cope with the great task of dealing with these claims. Early in 1927, therefore, steps were taken to obtain from Approved Societies particulars of all their members who would be between 65 and 70 years of age on 2nd January, 1928, and whose contribution records indicated a probability that they would have the necessary insurance qualifications for contributory old age pensions on that date. To these persons a form of application was sent accompanied by an explanatory leaflet. About the same time. forms of application were made available at Post Offices for persons who might desire to claim pensions but had not received a form direct from the Department. These steps made it possible to spread the work of examining claims for pensions due in the first week of January, 1928, over several months and enabled the payment of pensions to the vast majority of successful claimants to come smoothly into operation. on the appointed day. In dealing with these claims valuable assistance has again been given by Approved Societies and the General Register Office in overcoming difficulties arising with regard to a claimant's insurance qualifications for pension, or with regard to the establishment of a claimant's age or marriage. In the latter connexion over 600,000 searches have been made to date in the records of the Registrar General's department. Efforts have been made by the Department, often involving long and complicated investigations by its Outdoor Staff throughout the country, to assist claimants in making good their title to pension where they themselves have been unable to supply adequate information to enable the validity of their claims to be established through the normal channels. Despite the opportunity which was given to persons between the ages of 65 and 70 on 2nd January, 1928, of applying in good time for pensions beginning on that date, a large number of belated claims have reached the Department, and the onerous task of bringing this part of the scheme into operation has imposed the greatest pressure during the last three months of the year under review, during which, of course, the steady influx of claims by persons reaching the age of 65 since 2nd January, 1928, has also begun. The number of unsuccessful claims for pensions at 2nd January, 1928, has been comparatively small-approximately 7.5 per cent. of the whole. The causes of rejection have been, in the main, (a), failure to show five years' continuous insurance immediately prior to date of entitlement, (b) inability to satisfy the average number of contributions " test for the two years ended July, 1925, and July, 1926, respectively, and (c) evidence that the age of 65 has not been reached. As regards (a) a certain number of applicants not eligible for pensions on 2nd January, 1928, may become entitled, on submission of fresh claims, when they have completed five years' insurance, provided they are then still under 70 years of age and satisfy all other conditions. The notice rejecting their claims at 2nd January, 1928, makes this clear. The arrangements for the payment of contributory old age pensions at Post Offices selected by the pensioners correspond with those under which the widows' and orphans' pensions are paid. An applicant whose claim is admitted is instructed to apply at the Post Office for his or her Pension Order Book, which the Department has in the meantime sent to the Postmaster concerned, steps being taken to ensure that the person to whom the book is issued by him is the proper person to receive it. Thereafter, during the period of its currency, the book remains in the possession of the pensioner, who presents it week by week at the Post Office to receive payment on the appropriate order. A few weeks before the date on which the last order in the book is payable the pensioner is required to send to the Department a "life certificate," on the strength of which a fresh pension order book is issued when the currency of the earlier book expires. The following statistics show the position at 31st March, 1928. Claims for pensions from 2nd January, 1928: Claims for pensions from dates subsequent to 2nd January, 1928: — Number of claims received ... ... 42,540* 31,166 Amount paid in respect of these pensions (approximately):— For the week ending the 31st March, 1928 (at Post Offices) £ 202,500 2,546,500 PERSONS ENGAGED IN EXCEPTED EMPLOYMENT. The total number of persons engaged in those employments under the Crown, Local Authorities, and railway and other statutory companies, which are covered by certificates of exception from compulsory health insurance, is now approximately 319,000 (250,000 men and 69,000 women), the number of authorities. holding such certificates being 528. Of these, 168 Police Authorities and 6 other employers hold certificates of total exception under the Contributory Pensions Act covering approximately 52,000 persons, of whom all but a negligible number are men. Note. These numbers include, respectively, 90,990 and 5,142 double claims for man and wife, where the wife claims a pension in right of the husband's insurance. In some cases where the husband became eligible for pension on 2nd January, 1928, the wife's title does not arise until after that date. This number includes about 12,000 pensions awarded to wives (over 70) of insured men between the ages of 65 and 70. Of the remaining 354 authorities, 211 bodies, employing about 223,000 persons hold partial exception, (i.e., from old age pensions insurance but not from insurance for widows' and orphans' pensions), leaving 143 authorities with approximately 44,000 employees insured for old age as well as for widows' and orphans' pensions. Contributions paid during the year ended 31st March, 1928, in respect of persons engaged in excepted employment who are insurable under the Contributory Pensions Act amount to about £334,000. APPROVED SOCIETIES AND CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS. As is indicated elsewhere in this Report, the third group of pensions under the Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act, 1925 (viz., old age pensions for insured persons who had reached the age of 65) became payable as from the first week of January, 1928. The grant of these pensions has been made dependent upon certain insurance conditions being satisfied (i.e., at least five years of insurance, a minimum total of contributions, and a prescribed average of contributions over given years), and, in order to ascertain whether these conditions have been fulfilled, it has been necessary in the case of each claim for particulars of the claimant's insurance to be obtained from his Approved Society. The general arrangements for dealing with the first batch of pension claims falling within this category are set out in detail elsewhere (page 176), but it may be mentioned here that in anticipation of the payment of these pensions from January, 1928, it was necessary for Societies to furnish particulars of insurance in respect of nearly half a million members. The task of supplying these particulars, and in many cases of dealing with subsequent enquiries, frequently entailing revision of the member's position in the light of new facts, has meant a substantial amount of work for Approved Societies, and in rendering this service Societies have assisted materially in the successful initiation of the third and last group of pensions payable under the Contributory Pensions scheme. National Health Insurance Joint Committee. GENERAL. During the year the Joint Committee have been largely engaged in considering and making Regulations under the National Health Insurance and Contributory Pensions Acts, including Regulations revising the reserve and transfer values to be credited to Approved Societies in respect of persons becoming members for the purposes of National Health Insurance. |