READERS' FORUM:Have your say

A reader from Drogheda contacted Pricewatch to share his frustrations about income protection policies which he says “cause more distress than they are worth when trying to make a claim”.

In 2006, he had to retire from his job as a teacher due to stress and depression caused by workplace bullying. He had paid into an income protection policy with Irish Life since the 1980s. Although a Department of Education assessor recommended that he should be permanently retired from teaching on health grounds, he had to fight for almost two years before his claim was accepted by Irish Life.

His claim was initially declined after two assessments by psychiatrists on Irish Life’s referral panel. It was finally accepted in 2008 following a third assessment, commissioned by the company after the reader indicated he would appeal his case to the Financial Services Ombudsman. Irish Life backdated his payments to the date of the original claim.

However his claim has now been stopped on the basis of a fourth assessment, conducted earlier this year. Irish Life told Pricewatch that this was a normal review of an ongoing claim and it found that the customer’s condition had improved “to a point where he was again fit for work”. He is now appealing the case to the Ombudsman.

“Now I find that while my employer regards me as unfit for work, and I am recognised as disabled [the State granted him a disability travel pass], and my GP can confirm I suffer from recurring bouts of depression and am on continuous medication for it which was recently increased, I have Irish Life telling me I am fit for work,” he says.

Irish Life rejected the suggestions that its claims process is unfairly stressful and said that it doesn’t try to avoid paying out on income protection cover.

Chasing the pension levy

A reader got in touch in connection with a situation that has left her “totally confused”. She worked in the public sector for 18 months but in February, her contract was not renewed. “When you join the public sector you begin paying into the public sector pension, and if you work in the sector for less then two years, the pension is repaid to you. I received my repayment in April/May,” she writes.

She contacted Revenue, via their website, to find out if the pension levy would be repaid as she no longer has, or qualifies, for the public sector pension.

“I received an e-mail stating that the repayment comes from my employer, I’ve written to my former employer and I haven’t heard anything back or acknowledgement of my correspondence.”

She called into the PAYE public office and explained her query. “The person dealing with me was very good and understood my query and seemed to agree with me, as in why pay a tax on something you no longer have or will benefit from, if you pay too much (PAYE) tax, you are refunded. However, he had never come across this before and had to send my query to his supervisors.”

Last week she received a reply. It was just a one-liner, “. . .there is no refund due in respect to your Pension Levy Deductions’. There was no explanation as to why.

“I have always been able to understand the PAYE tax system. I am able to work out my tax and allowances and know if my payslip is correct. I guess that makes me a little unusual, but maths is my thing! Also, if the reason for something is explained to me, I will understand. I really don’t understand this one.” She thinks Revenue hasn’t thought this one through for those who have their pension paid back to them and who have therefore “paid a levy on thin air”. “The PRD is completely different to the income levy. On whatever you earn (gross), you pay, eg, 2 per cent on. That is unarguable, you either earn an amount or you don’t. But the pension is different, this is something I no longer have. The amount of PRD I paid in the 13-14 months since its introduction easily equates to a month’s salary, so it is not a small amount and as I’m still currently looking for work, it certainly isn’t a small amount.” We contacted Revenue and a spokesman confirmed that she should be due a refund and that it should come directly from her employer, so she was advised to follow it up directly with them. Revenue is also looking into the circumstances surrounding the issuing of a letter which appeared to contradict this position.

Still waiting for ash refund

A reader called Norman Leeson has been in touch to see if any readers have received refunds from Aer Lingus in connection with cancelled flights arising out of the volcanic ash of a couple of months ago. “This problem arose on April 15th last. “I’m still waiting,” he writes.