Our gaffe but you pay, ministry tells beneficiary
The Ministry of Social Development has apologised after it asked a beneficiary to cover the cost of its own mistake.
In a letter dated January 12, posted on social media, MSD manager of centralised services Clive Gower-Collins informed a client ‘‘the system’’ had suspended their sole parent support payment following a declaration of their income earlier in January.
The suspension was a mistake, the letter continued, and when an attempt was made to fix the error, $560 was mistakenly paid to a company called Oaks Property Management Ltd.
The payment could not be recovered because of ‘‘system limitations’’ and put the client $597.15 in debt for the declaration period.
The client was then given the option of seeking a refund from Oaks Property Management Ltd themselves to pay back to the ministry, or keep the debt and pay it back at a rate of one dollar per week.
‘‘We apologise for this error that has occurred and recognise it is not the most ideal situation,’’ the letter continued.
It then invited the client to ask for a review within three months should they disagree with the decision.
A social media post showing the letter has attracted the attention of dozens of angry commenters.
Some described it as ‘‘disgraceful behaviour’’, while many queried why the MSD’s mistake became the client’s responsibility to fix.
In a statement, MSD group general manager of client services George van Ooyen said it would look into the incident ‘‘first thing on Monday and seek to resolve it for all parties’’.
‘‘We’re sorry about this situation, and we certainly could have handled it better.’’
The person who posted the letter on social media has been approached for comment.