§ 38. Captain STRICKLANDasked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been directed to the fact that after a contributor under the national health and pensions insurance has handed over his card to his approved society he has no means of proving the surrender of the card, and that in the event of such a card being subsequently lost he is compelled to stamp a duplicate card or lose benefit; and whether he will consider the issue of an approved form of receipt when such cards are surrendered?
Sir H. YOUNGIt is the duty of an insured person, on surrendering a card to his approved society, to present his record card, on which the society is required to enter the number of contributions paid. He is then entitled to credit for those contributions even although the stamped card may subsequently be lost. The form of receipt suggested in the second part of the question is, therefore, already provided. Even if the contributor neglects to obtain a receipt in this way, he may be able, by submitting other evidence under the procedure for settling disputes between societies and their members, to prove that a card which has since been lost was in fact duly surrendered.
§ Captain STRICKLANDIs not the right hon. Gentleman aware of a specific case in which, although the employer can prove that deductions were made from wages, the man cannot prove that his card has been handed in, and he is called upon to pay £1 19s. when he has already paid his subscriptions and the employer has paid his?
Sir H. YOUNGSuch a case could only arise when the two following circumstances were present: First of all, that the man had failed to present his record card, and, in the second place, that he had failed in the normal procedure provided for the settlement of such difficulties by his society, to provide any evidence to satisfy whatever the authority is that the contribution card has in fact been presented.