Trapped pensioners told to repay $16,000
Two New Zealand pensioners stuck in Australia face potentially having to repay their super, after receiving a letter including a $15,000 ($NZD 16,000) from the Ministry of Social Development.
“We have stopped your payments and you will need to pay back the money you owe,” the government ministry told the pensioners.
Maureen and Rob Wardle, both in their 80s, were shocked to receive the bill after being stuck abroad for nearly a year.
“Our New Zealand super was stopped on November 9,” Maureen told the New Zealand Herald, explaining the couple’s resulting financial and emotional distress.
However, the bigger blow came on December 6, with the delivery of the letter demanding the Wardles repay all the money they received from New Zealand while they were in Australia.
Having left New Zealand last April, the couple have exceeded the maximum 26 weeks New Zealand pensioners are allowed to be overseas while continuing to receive their super.
As a result, Mr Wardle now owes $7139.81 and Mrs Wardle owes $7936.76, totalling $15076.57.
With no super coming from the New Zealand government over the last three months and no Australian support for people in similar situations, the couple say all their money has been spent surviving abroad, leaving none to repay their debt.
“As you can imagine, all this has been a huge worry for us. We are in our 80s and not computer savvy,” Mrs Wardle said.
“We just want to go home to go into Work and Income and talk to someone in person.”
The couple received the December 6 letter from an international customer service officer based in Wellington.
The letter read: “We always want to make sure we get it right for people so we recently reviewed your payments after we found you’d left the country on 25/04/21 on flight number NZ149.
“Because you received New Zealand superannuation, we can continue to pay you for the first 26 weeks you’re overseas as long as you return within 30 weeks. If you don’t return within the 30 weeks, we will have to stop your New Zealand superannuation from the day after you left the country.
“We wrote to you about this on 27/10/21 and I’m getting back in touch to let you know we paid you too much. You need to pay some money back. From 26/04/21 to 09/11/21, unfortunately, you received money from us you didn’t qualify for because you were overseas.”
To make the situation more stressful, Mrs Wardle said she is worried about how the couple will continue to afford to live, with the closed New Zealand borders meaning they still can’t go home.
New Zealand opposition revenue spokesman Andrew Bayly expressed deep concern about the couple, saying that situations like theirs should never have been able to occur.
Mr Bayly has been working with a number of Kiwi pensioners in similar situations to the Wardles, with some trapped in Australia and one couple in Morocco.
“The issue of superannuitants who are stuck overseas and have been unable to get a spot in MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) is widespread. In fact, I would imagine virtually all electorate MPs have been approached by superannuants caught in this difficult situation,” he said.
“Given many seniors rely on their super to pay for their living costs, it is appalling that there is such a merciless approach that many superannuitants face the prospect of having their super cut off or, in some cases, having to refund their super.”
The Wardle's situation comes after news of New Zealanders in similar situations who are struggling to return home via the country’s quarantine system, which enables Kiwis to book spots in government-run quarantine facilities.
In their case, Mrs Wardle said they went to Australia so her husband could undergo surgery.
While he was recovering, the borders unexpectedly closed.
They were able to return to New Zealand for just one week in April, before flying back to Australia for more surgery.
When asked whether they could have returned while the trans-Tasman bubble was in operation in July, she said sickness prevented them from leaving the country.
“Unfortunately my husband has an aortic aneurysm which has caused multiple surgeries. He had another endoleak and went into hospital again on July 21 for transcatheter therapy for embolisation with angiography.
“Our New Zealand pension is our main source of income as the interest rates are so low on investments so we have become dependent on it [and] you can imagine our distress when it was cut off for no fault of our own,” she said.
“We have found it physically impossible to get back to New Zealand in the time frames due to Covid.”
George van Ooyen, the ministry’s client service support group general manager, said applications for super to extend beyond 26 weeks were being considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
“This is available to people whose absence from New Zealand is solely linked to the travel bubble closure, and it will continue as long as it is needed,” he said.
“We encourage New Zealanders overseas to contact us and discuss how we may be able to help within the parameters of discretion legislation allows us.”
Image: The New Zealand Herald