Delays dog processing of KiwiSaver funds
By GILES BROWN - The Press | Monday, 28 January 2008
Thousands of KiwiSaver contributions made between July and September have not been processed.
Emiel den Haring is just one whose contributions have been made to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) but have not yet reached his savings scheme.
KiwiSaver's own figures state 15,000 contributions have not been fully processed since July-September.
Den Haring, from Christchurch, says he feels let down by KiwiSaver after IRD took his money over seven months but has so far failed to forward it to his savings scheme.
People joining KiwiSaver pay money once or twice a month to the IRD, which is then passed on to saving scheme providers.
Den Haring, from Somerfield, joined KiwiSaver when it began on July 1. He said he and his wife had not yet had a combined $1600 paid to their nominated providers.
Warehouse manager den Haring, 52, said he was keen on KiwiSaver when it first began, but was disappointed by the delay. "My gripe really is that the IRD have been collecting this money and should be sending it across to our provider.
"The IRD probably see it as a wonderful little windfall."
He and wife, Joanne, 53, who manages a cafe, had paid more than $800 each to the scheme. His money should go to investment firm ING while his wife was paying hers to Westpac.
When he contacted ING a fortnight ago it told him the money had not yet been paid in.
The KiwiSaver information pack states contributions from individuals are held for three months by the IRD before being passed on. While the money is held it earns 5.36 per cent interest -- money which follows the KiwiSaver contributions when they are transferred to the nominated scheme.
IRD said 3 per cent of more than 500,000 contributions received between July and September have been left unprocessed -- about 15,000 transactions.
In a statement, KiwiSaver said it had to check it had all the "necessary information" before transferring the money to an individual's account.
"We're working with employers, payroll providers and scheme providers to resolve those that have been held up and have introduced some changes to our procedures recently to speed up the process."
Have you had problems or delays with your KiwiSaver scheme?
Email: reporters@press.co.nz
Email alerts
Text alerts
RSS Feeds
Make Stuff my homepage• GPG wealth hit in 'unsatisfactory year'
• Gloom ahead despite smaller trade deficit
• Dramatic fall in employment confidence
• Price cycle near bottom - Fonterra
• Insurance premiums likely to increase
• Relief for exporters as dollar weakens
• Warehouse result pleases market
• NZ bargain-hunters advised to be wary
• Crisis halts apartment block
• Bank card sales drop by 2.8pc
• Red Sheds ride out rough times
• Goodman refinances debt
• Sharemarket trades fall 5pc in 2008
• Couch potatoes save country
