relatives of the widow of jazz great Lance Hayward, who has not received a pension cheque in almost two years.

Mrs. Mary Hayward of Pembroke forgot to return a form to the Social Insurance office in 1990. It wasn't until she made a tearful call to her niece, Mrs.

Janice Swainson, that anyone realised the payments had stopped.

The 75-year-old retired teacher told relatives she simply thought the cheques would eventually start coming again, and did not know she was supposed to send anything to the Social Insurance office.

"Every month I looked for (the money), but it was never there,'' Mrs. Hayward said.

Mrs. Swainson called the cut-off of funds "ridiculous'' and said the system currently used to update records did not take into account the physical and mental limitations of some pensioners.

"Some are crippled by arthritis and can't write, or are blind and can't read,'' she said. "And my aunt's memory is not what it used to be.'' Mrs. Swainson wondered how many other senior citizens were in the same situation.

"It's their hard-earned money,'' she said. "Not Government's.'' Mrs.

Hayward, who lives alone, said she only ventured out of her Berkeley Road home occasionally because she was unable to walk any great distance and required transportation.

The missing document in question, a "continuation of payment of benefit form'', is sent out annually to pensioners by the Social Insurance office. The completed form must be returned within 18 days to avoid a cancellation of payments.

According to Mrs. Swainson, because Social Insurance is apparently not notified of deaths on the Island this form could be the office's only method of determining whether a pensioner is still alive.

This would make it possible for a deceased pensioner to continue "receiving'' cheques -- as long as someone mailed the completed form back each year. The unauthorised recipient could then forge the deceased's signature and collect the money each month.

Mrs. Swainson said Social Insurance should keep track of deaths themselves, like the Parliamentary Registrar.

Registrar General Mrs. Marlene Christopher said yesterday that her department went through its own death records, checked the coroner's list and read newspaper obituaries regularly. Staff then crossed out the names of deceased persons on the list of registered voters.

A continuation of benefits form was mailed to Mrs. Hayward in February, 1990, and her pension payments were suspended one month later after Social Insurance received no response. Three reminders, mailed over the following five months, also went unanswered.

Mrs. Swainson said that in addition to memory problems, her aunt suffered a stroke that same year.

"They shouldn't even be depending on the senior citizens to fill out these forms,'' she argued. "They should send someone to their homes like social workers. You're not dealing with teenagers or middle aged people here.'' Mrs. Hayward said her son, Independent Member of Parliament Mr. Stuart Hayward, got the necessary paperwork taken care of once he found out about the situation. Her pension is set to resume this month.

However, Mrs. Hayward will only receive six months' retroactive payment. She has been told that she has the right to appeal this decision to the Contributory Pensions Appeals Tribunal.

"I'll be glad to get it every month again like I'm supposed to,'' Mrs.

Hayward said. "This has affected my cash flow -- I have to pay my bills.'' Attempts to contact Insurance Officer Mrs. Yvonne Joseph at Social Insurance for comment have been unsuccessful in recent days.

MISSED INCOME -- Mrs. Mary Hayward will again be receiving her pension cheques after a missing form cost her almost two years of benefits.