There's a peculiar scheme here in Ireland concerning pensions...a married couple receive a joint pension...paid to the husband only mind you...but when the wife reaches pensionable age...and here it is sixty-six...they can claim their portion of the joint pension in their own right.
You don't have a choice actually...you have to make a claim whether you want to or not...
Still with me?
About a month ago I received the claim forms and dutifully filled them in, which was easy 'cos I haven't oodles of money to declare...Himself had to sign the forms to say he agreed with me having my own portion of money...back to the Dark Ages there!
Sent the forms away with three bank statements and copies of marriage cert and birth cert...they wanted the originals...they could go and boil their heads if they thought I'd send those...
Back everything came at the end of last week...with another two forms to fill in and a stern letter warning me that my claim would be rejected if the new forms were not returned within twenty-one days...and they wanted bank statements for the last three months, which they'd sent back...with the new forms.
Now the new forms were simply replica's of those I've already filled in...how much land do I own and how many head of cattle...
I printed very neatly in my best printing...NONE...in every single space.
It'd make more sense if this was going to be vast quantities of extra money each week...but it isn't. It's just the bit out of the pension we've been getting for nine years that Himself is entitled to for me...
A robbing Peter to pay Paul exercise...and to give some dim clerk in an office a job.
Stuffed it all in a sturdy brown envelope and sent it away...
I'd love to know how people actually manage to defraud the government departments out of monies...it's certainly hard enough got when it's all legal and above board...
The cow in the photo isn't a cow...it's a teenage bull, who took an interest when I was picking blackberries one afternoon.
