Government Institutions Pension Fund implores all active members to update their personal files such as the beneficiary nomination forms and their records at their respective places of employment. 

General manager of marketing and stakeholder engagement Edwin Tjiramba at GIPF said members should be mindful that all pension funds are guided by their rules and the Pension Fund Act when distributing benefits due to members. 

“Therefore, it is important that all members’ beneficiaries are listed on beneficiary nomination forms to avoid delays in pension benefit payouts,” he said in a statement released yesterday.

According to Tjiramba, the most important document that guides the GIPF board of trustees in distributing a member’s benefits is a beneficiary nomination form, which identifies beneficiaries whom the member has chosen to receive their death benefits in the event of a claim. 

He further clarified that a beneficiary nomination form does not replace a will/testament but only serves as a guideline to the board of trustees of a fund when paying out death benefits: “Thus, it is required of each member to ensure that their form is updated annually or when the need arises – for example in instances of a marriage/divorce, the birth/death of a child/children or when there is a change in employment”.

Failure by members to update their GIPF nomination forms and other personal records at their respective places of employment, he said, creates challenges for the member’s human resources divisions. 

Such challenges cause a delay in the payment of benefits, resulting in a greater strain for loved ones once a member passes on.

“The GIPF implores all individuals with access to pension benefits – to plan for the future by ensuring that their GIPF nomination forms and personal records at their employers are updated. Life has proven to be unpredictable. The GIPF strives to ensure that members’ benefits are distributed to the rightful beneficiaries,” he noted.