A man with grey hair pulls a crumpled letter out of his pocket at a small post office counter on February 7. He squints at the print and then lets out a sigh. The clerk tells him again that his pension will only go up if he sends in a “missing certificate” online by the 8th of February. He has a simple cell phone, no computer, and his daughter lives two towns away. While he tries to figure out a form written for screens he doesn’t own, the queue behind him moves around impatiently.
He puts the letter back in his pocket outside, where it’s cold. A neighbour says, “My grandson did it for me online. It only took two minutes.” Some people can do it in two minutes, while others need a wall.
The pay rise is coming. But not for everyone.
Pension increases that seem like a digital lottery
The government has announced that pensions will go up starting on February 8. This is seen as a long-awaited boost in the middle of rising grocery and heating costs. The catch is hidden in a single, cold queue: the increase only applies to people who have sent in a missing certificate, which is usually done through an online portal. On paper, it’s just a technical detail, but in thousands of living rooms, it’s a real problem.
Retirees all over the country are looking for old passwords in drawers, asking family members who are “good with computers,” or just giving up. The promise of a few extra euros each month now looks like a lottery that mostly benefits people who have computers. The rules are written in bytes, not ink.
Maria, 74, lives alone in a small village 30 kilometres from the nearest big town. Her pension doesn’t even cover her rent and medicine. She got the letter about the certificate, put it carefully on the kitchen table and stared at the line that said, “upload the document to your personal space.” She doesn’t have her own space. She has a landline phone and a TV with three channels that work.
Her son lives in another country and calls her on Sundays. By the time he tries to help her navigate the pension website, she has already gotten lost on the login page. One failed attempt after another, and then the dreaded message: “account blocked for security reasons.” The rise on February 8 is not a social measure for her; it is a reminder of how far the world has moved on without her.
There is a cold math behind these individual stories. To save money, speed up processing, and make checks the same, governments tell people to go online. In the name of fighting fraud and saving public money, they want proof of life, proof of residence, or updated bank information. It looks neat and organised on a spreadsheet.
The policy makes an invisible line on the ground between people who can click and people who can’t. The ones with fibre broadband, smartphones, and nephews who “do everything online” get through easily. The others stand in queue at counters that don’t have enough staff, call hotlines that play music for 40 minutes or wait for a neighbour to lend them a tablet. This is how a change that should help retirees quietly turns into a filter.
How to send in the missing certificate when the internet seems like a different world
If you can’t get into the online portal, the best thing to do is simple: don’t stay alone with the letter. Put it in an envelope, get your ID, and go to the nearest place where people still answer questions. It could be a town hall, a social worker’s office, a pension fund agency, or even your regular post office if it has a public service desk. Show the letter and say clearly, “I need to send this certificate, but I don’t have internet.”
Most of the time, the staff can print the right form, help you fill it out by hand, and send it by registered mail. Some pension funds still accept documents sent through the mail when people are in a “digital dead zone.” Some people have phone appointments, during which an advisor walks you through filling out the form. It may seem like it takes a long time, but every stamp and signature is a small act of resistance against being left behind by a screen.
Many retirees make the mistake of waiting too long, thinking that the problem will fix itself. A letter is stuck to the fridge with a magnet, the deadline passes, and the pension comes in the same amount. Shame is another factor. No one likes to say, “I don’t get this,” especially to their own kids or to a busy clerk behind glass.
Let’s be honest: no one really reads every word of those letters from the government the day they get them. We all put off things that annoy us. The system relies on that habit and punishes people who are late. If you are the child or neighbour of a retiree, the best thing you can do to help is not very heroic. All you have to do is say, “Show me your mail, let’s look together,” and then turn that pile of envelopes into a list of things to do.
Sometimes the most angry people in these stories aren’t mad about the missing euros; they’re mad about their dignity. A retiree said to me, “I worked for 42 years, and now my whole life depends on a password I keep forgetting.” One person, with tears in their eyes, joked, “Maybe I should send them a selfie with today’s newspaper.” The message is clear, even though it’s funny: they don’t want charity; they want rules that make sense in their lives.
- Call your pension fund and ask if they will accept certificates sent by mail or brought to a local office.
- Find out if your town hall has a digital help point where someone can log in with you.
- Get your ID, last pension statement, and the letter about the certificate ready ahead of time.
- Ask a family member or trusted neighbour to be there for any phone or in-person meeting.
- Write down every date, name, and reference number in a notebook so you don’t tell the same story twice.
A rise that starts a bigger talk about who gets left behind
Some bank accounts will get the pension increase on February 8, while others will not. The line on paper is “who sent the missing certificate on time.” In reality, the line is more blurry: it separates people who are connected from those who aren’t, and those who have support networks from those who are getting older alone in small apartments. The measure shows something uncomfortable about our societies: we give up more and more of our social rights to quiet websites and hope that no one falls through the cracks.
What happens when you have to take a test on digital agility all the time? Families are making up their own answers, printing out forms, sharing passwords, and driving parents to busy offices. People who work at these counters, who are often under a lot of stress themselves, see the anger up close.
The real question behind this short pension story might not just be “Where is my rise?” “What kind of system are we building if a missing click can end a life of work?”
Main pointDetail: What the reader gets out of it
Look into your situation earlySend letters, call your pension fund, and ask them directly about the certificate that is missing and is connected to the rise on February 8.Lessens the chance of losing money just because of a deadline or a mistake.
Choose offline optionsSome agencies, local town halls, and social services can print, fill out, and send forms without the internet.It gives people who don’t have access to technology or aren’t sure how to use it a clear path.
Keep track of things and ask for help.Involve family, friends, or advisors, and make sure to write down names, dates, and reference numbers.If you need to fight a missing rise later, this will help your case.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Who will get the pension increase starting on February 8?
People whose pension fund has received and verified the requested certificate (usually a certificate of life or updated information) before the processing cutoff date.
Is it still okay to send the certificate after February 8?
Yes, you can usually send it later, but your rise will only apply to the next payment cycle, not to February.
What if I don’t have a computer or internet at home?
You can call your town hall, social services, or pension agency to ask for paper forms or help in person. Some places even have digital help points just for this.
If I do nothing, will my pension go down?
Your basic pension usually doesn’t get cut right away, but the increase might be stopped. Payments can also be stopped if you don’t show proof of life or residence for a long time.
Is it possible for a family member to take care of everything for me?
Yes, a child or trusted adult can help you set up an online account, upload documents, or talk to the fund on your behalf if you give them permission and usually write them a letter.
