Claim an NSSA pension or benefit

What you'll usually need

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• NSSA's claim form (one form, called P9/10), with the employer's section filled in, signed and stamped by your last employer
• A certified copy of your national ID
• Your payslips for the last 3 months, stamped and signed by your employer
• Current bank statements for your local-currency and US dollar (Nostro) accounts
• For survivors: certified copies of the death certificate; the marriage certificate, a confirmation of customary marriage, or three original affidavits (one from the spouse and two from the deceased's relatives); the children's long birth certificates; a guardianship certificate or letter if a guardian is claiming; and the deceased's long birth certificate if a parent is claiming. Also bring the deceased's last 3 payslips and your current bank statements.

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Steps

1. Check that you qualify. You can claim from age 60 once you have stopped working, or at 65 even if you are still working. If you did listed heavy work for at least 7 of the 10 years before you turned 55, you can claim from 55 once you stop working. Listed heavy work includes underground mining, quarrying, some forestry jobs, heavy truck driving and farm work.
2. Check your contributions. If you contributed for at least 10 years (120 months), you get a monthly pension. If you contributed for between 1 and 10 years (12 to 119 months), you get a once-off grant instead.
3. Take the form and documents to your nearest NSSA office. Or start the claim online on the NSSA self-service portal: choose "Claims Portal", then "Submit a Claim". You can track your claim there too.
4. Claim within 12 months for a pension or survivors' benefit, or within 5 years for a grant or the funeral grant. If you miss the 12-month pension deadline, claim anyway. NSSA can accept a late pension claim, but it pays only from the date you claim. NSSA normally refuses grant claims made after 5 years.

Good to know

• Survivors' benefits go first to a husband or wife, but only if the marriage took place before the contributor retired or became an invalid. Next come children under 18 (under 25 if studying full time, any age if disabled). Then come parents and other dependants.
• The funeral grant goes to whoever paid for the funeral. It is paid if the person who died had contributed for at least 12 months, or was receiving a pension.
• For help, call NSSA's contact centre on Call 402, email Email contactcentre@nssa.org.zw, or WhatsApp WhatsApp 0713 556 000.