Checks on Overseas Pensioners
We are only able to pay benefits to Scheme members and their dependants. As a result, we carry out monthly checks on our pensioner records to make sure that we are only paying pensions to individuals who are entitled to receive a pension from the Scheme. We do this by checking details against the UK death registers.
The Scheme does have a number of pensioners who live overseas for whom we are unable to carry out these checks. Instead, we carry out manual checks on a random sample of our overseas pensioners on a yearly basis. Currently this is done with the help of Western Union, so a small number of overseas pensioners will receive a letter from the Scheme to visit a local Western Union office. This is a genuine exercise conducted by the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme.