ORANJESTAD (AAN) – Aruba’s Ombudsman has concluded that the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVb) improperly handled the recovery of AOV pension benefits that were overpaid due to an administrative error.
According to the report, an administrative mistake made by SVb in 2018 resulted in a pensioner receiving a higher AOV pension than legally entitled between November 2018 and November 2021. The overpayment exceeded AWG 30,000 before the error was discovered.
While the Ombudsman confirmed that SVb has the legal authority to recover pension benefits paid in error, the investigation found that the recovery process did not comply with several principles of good governance and proper administrative conduct.
The report states that SVb failed to detect the error promptly, began deducting money from the pensioner’s payments before issuing a formal administrative decision, and did not properly inform the individual of their rights to appeal or request reconsideration. The Ombudsman also criticized the use of a civil debt acknowledgment instead of following the appropriate administrative procedure.
As a result, the pensioner faced significant debt repayments, reduced pension payments and tax-related difficulties caused by an error that was not their fault.
The Ombudsman recommended that SVb strengthen its internal controls, improve communication with affected citizens, follow proper administrative procedures and consider compensation or partial debt forgiveness in appropriate cases to reduce the impact of government errors on individuals.
